A novel excitation assistance switched reluctance wind power generator

The high inductance of a general switched reluctance generator (SRG) may prevent the excitation of the magnetic field from being quickly established enough, which may further limit the output power of the SRG. A novel excitation assistance SRG (EASRG) for wind power generation is proposed in this paper to solve the above problem. C-shape stator cores are employed in a modular design concept for quick maintenance or replacement, and a ring-shape excitation assistant coil is sandwiched in the space between the modular stator cores. The magnetization and torque characteristics are simulated by 3-D finite element analysis. The prototype of the proposed EASRG is built and the preliminary measurement of the inductance was done. The relative big difference between the measured and calculated result of the maximum inductance may be caused by the machining error of the air-gap. The prototype would be further examined and tested to prove the feasibility of the design.