Cigr SC11-01 Meeting, Paper No.

132, Paris 2002

IMPACTS ON TURBINE GENERATOR DESIGN BY THE APPLICATION

OF INCREASED THERMAL CONDUCTING STATOR INSULATION

M. TARI, K. YOSHIDA, S. SEKITO*, H. HATANO R. BRTSCH, A. LUTZ

Toshiba Corporation
Von
Roll Isola

Japan

SUMMARY
The increase of power density (capacity /weight ratio)
of indirect-cooled generators can be achieved by
improving the thermal conductivity of stator coil
insulation. Of several concepts, this is the most reliable
from the viewpoint of a long lifetime. This newly
developed HTC (High Thermal Conducting) insulation
system has achieved double the thermal conductivity by
replacing a part of the epoxy resin with a high thermal
conducting filler, while keeping almost the same
breakdown and voltage endurance characteristics
compared to conventional insulation systems.
By adopting this HTC insulation system, the maximum
unit capacity of air/hydrogen indirect-cooled generators
can be increased up to 400 MVA and 600 MVA
respectively. Lower electrical losses in coils and
decreased windage loss due to a reduced cooling gas
can contribute to high generator efficiency, because of
the lower coil working temperature. An industrial use
350 MVA class generator with HTC insulation shows
remarkable reduction of coil temperature in shop tests.
At rewinding of operating generators, this increases
generator output by 10 - 15 % without any change of
coil design, except for the insulation system.
KEYWORDS
Turbine - Generator - Stator - Winding Insulation Cooling - Thermal Conductivity - Control
1. INTRODUCTION
Recently, there have been rapidly increasing commercial
applications of electric power generating systems
incorporating gas turbines. Gas turbine driven
generators require a simple structure, improved
operationability, high reliability, low life cycle cost, and
short production period. Turbine generators with
indirectly air/hydrogen-cooled stator coils have

* 2-4, Suehiro-Cho, Tsurumi-Ku, Yokohama 230-0045

Switzerland

experienced successful long-term operations, and their

operationability and reliability have been certificated.
And also, these advantageous features respond to
requirements. In particular, the unit capacity
enlargement of turbine generators with long and large
indirect-cooled stator coils is becoming a critical issue.
This has been brought about by the recent demand for
increasing unit capacity of gas turbines that characterize
frequent start/stop operations and fast loading to full
power. To achieve unit capacity enlargement while
maintaining high reliability, the worlds first high
thermal conducting (hereinafter called HTC) stator
insulation system has been developed and it has been
successfully applied to industrial and large capacity
turbine generators [1].
This paper introduces the impacts on generator design
by the application of increased thermal conducting
stator insulation and its advantages.
2. BASIC CONCEPTS FOR UNIT CAPACITY
ENLARGEMENT
The unit capacity enlargement of indirect-cooled
generators is limited mainly by the current capacity of
stator coils. While coil insulation is required to provide
appropriate dielectric characteristics that are maintained
throughout the life of generators, conventional
insulations act as a thermal barrier. Therefore, these
kinds of insulation are a critical factor for generators
with indirect-cooled stator design where the heat
generated in the conductors is transmitted through the
insulation walls.
In response to two consistent features, several design
concepts are proposed, as shown in Fig.1. These are
reduced insulation wall, global vacuum pressure
impregnation (GVPI), HTC insulation and high thermal
class insulation. Coil temperature decrease along with
increased electrical stress as a result of reduced
insulation thickness is shown in Fig.2.

1. Reduced wall thickness

Shorter machine life

2. Global VPI insulation

Changing coil slot contact

3. Increased thermal conductivity

Decreased coil temp.

4. High working temperature

Accelerated thermomechanical deterioration

Fig.1 Design concepts for upgrading/uprating

70

Standard design

Conventional
HTC

60
50
40
0.8

1.0
1.2
1.4
Electrical stress (p.u.)
Fig.2 Coil temperature decrease with doubled thermal
conductivity and increased electrical stress
Less insulation thickness has a minor effect on lowering
the coil temperature, having a rather small impact on
generator capacity change while increasing electrical
stress. For example, even if the electrical stress is
increased 1.2 times of standard design, the coil
temperature reduction will remain only 5K while the
machine life is shorten. On the contrary, the doubled
thermal conductivity of stator insulation could ensure
the remarkable decrease of coil temperature more than
10K.
Meanwhile, GVPI system is a reasonable concept from
the viewpoint of thermal transmitting in slot, because
the initial coil/slot gaps are eliminated. This system is
well suited to small and medium capacity generators
with rather short coils. However, for large generators
with long and large coils, the initial coil/slot contact
condition seems rather difficult to maintain over a
number of years due to thermal expansions and
shrinkages of the coils, resulting from frequent start/stop
and adjustable load operations [2].
For high thermal class generators, long stator coils
operated at elevated temperature will have the harmful
influence on coil end support structure and slot packing
system due to increased thermal expansion [3].
Furthermore, insulation deterioration will be accelerated
by high thermo-mechanical stresses resulting in
electrical and mechanical wearing at rapid and transient
temperature changes during adjustable load and frequent
start/stop operations on gas turbine driven generators.

Apart from these design concepts, HTC insulation

designed at F-class/B-rise is adopted with top priority
given to long-term reliability. The increased thermal
conductivity of the main insulation effectively
suppresses the coil temperature rise without any design
change including wall thickness. As shown in Fig.3,
HTC insulation will reduce the temperature difference
between the internal and the external surfaces of the
insulation layer. When the measured temperature is kept
at the same level as the conventional design generators,
the stator current could be larger and the generator
capacity could be increased without changing frame size.
On the other hand, if the stator current is kept as same
as the conventional generators and quantity of cooling
gas is reduced in proportion to stator coil losses, the
conductor temperature could be effectively downed as
shown in Fig.4, resulting in higher generator efficiency.
This design concept will provide remarkable design
flexibility along with greatly improved design freedom
range.

ETD

HTC insulation
Temperature

Coil temperature rise (K)

80

Conventional

HTC

Fig.3 Impacts of HTC insulation on generator

3. CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF HTC INSULATION
SYSTEM
Indirect-cooled coils generally operated at higher
temperatures than direct-cooled ones must have higher
reliability under thermal cycling.

Temperature Rise (K)

60

Conventional
HTC

50
40
30
20
Ins.

10

Core

Ins.+Spacer
Conductor

Core

0
Position in slot
Simulated coil temperature distribution

Thermal conductivity (p.u.)

Therefore, development of HTC system is finally

decided to take into consideration of the maximum
utilization of the same material composition and VPI
process for half-turn coils as the existing F/B insulation
system, whose reliability has been proven by many
applications to indirect-cooled generators and long-term
operational experiences. This means that impregnating
resin, manufacturing process and coil assembling
procedure would be kept as the same, giving substantial
advantages from the viewpoints of productivity and
economy.
The target of the newly developed HTC insulation
system is to double the thermal conductivity of the
insulation, while preserving the well-proven
characteristics inherent in conventional ones (Fig.5).
3
Acceptable
2

Not acceptable

Target

1
Conventional
0
0.01

Fig.5

0.1
1
Voltage endurance life (p.u.)

10

Basic concept of HTC insulation system

Among the major compositions of conventional

insulation, the thermal conductivity of resin is by far the
lowest when compared with mica paper and glass cloth.
Therefore, epoxy resin was to be partly replaced by a
high thermal conducting filler. This improvement
involving the modification of mica tape only is the most
advantageous for the common use of existing
manufacturing facilities for the conventional insulation
system. However, there was a requirement to make sure
that modification of mica tape necessitated by adoption
of the filler would not influence any physical properties
other than thermal conductivity.

However, for development, in order to prevent loss of

filler during taping and to maintain impregnability
during impregnating, type of filler, filler grain size, filler
quantity and its arrangement have been optimized
through comprehensive experimental studies.
4. DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF HTC
INSULATION SYSTEM
4.1 Evaluation tests on HTC mica tape
In the course of mica tape development, the filler
quantity and the manufacturing process were optimized
to avoid any change of other characteristics. Conformity
with the existing coil manufacturing process in respect
to tapingability, impregnability and compatibility with
the impregnating resin were confirmed.
The thermal conductivity of the insulation is influenced
with taping tension, pressing process after impregnation
and final physical dimensions in addition to mica tape
quality itself [4]. Measurements of thermal conductivity
on specimens taken from industrial use coils showed
around twice the conventional value and meet with the
basic concept (Fig.6), and the conductivity distribution
along the longitudinal direction also showed stable
values.
Thermal conductivity (p.u.)

Fig.4

3
2
1
0
0
Fig.6

10

15
20
25
30
35
40
Coil number
Thermal conductivity of HTC insulation coils

To test the ductility of insulation with filler added, the

surface strain at bending rupture of the insulation layers
was measured. The results showed no change from
conventional insulation system and enough ductility
against excessive electromagnetic forces at the instance
of line faults (Fig.7).

1.0

0.5

Conventional
HTC
0

40

Fig.7

120
80
Temperature (C)

2.0

160

Surface strain at bending rupture test

Furthermore, the mechanical strength of HTC insulation

was equivalent to that of the conventional insulation at
working temperature.
4.2 Evaluation tests on HTC insulation coils
HTC insulation coils were assembled into 600 MVA
class model slots, and heated by AC current to conduct
thermal cycling at 40-155 C for evaluating long-term
reliability as shown in Fig.8. The tan change of HTC
insulation coils after 1,000 thermal cycles was small
comparing with initial figures, and the resistance against
repeated thermal cycling was evaluated successfully as
shown in Fig.9.

Electrical Stress (p.u.)

Strain capability at fracture (%)

Furthermore, in order to evaluate dielectric

characteristics after adding filler, voltage endurance
tests were conducted on industrial use coils including
large size coils exposed to the thermal cycling discussed
above. The test results showed the same or better
characteristics compared with conventional insulation
over a wide range of electrical stress, and met with the
basic concept (Fig.10).

1.5

1.5
After 1,000cycles

1.0

1,500Hz

0.5
Conventional
HTC

0.3 0
10

101

102
103
Time (h)

4.3 Evaluation tests on HTC insulation generator

Temperature measurements were conducted on a 350
MVA class hydrogen-cooled turbine generator with
HTC insulation coils at shop tests. In comparison with a
conventional insulation generator of the same frame size,
HTC insulation generator showed a remarkable
reduction in coil temperature.
Not only was the coil surface temperature lower, but
also the conductor temperature measured by a special
method was much lower in comparison with the
conventional generator. Furthermore, the temperature
difference between the internal and the external surfaces
of HTC insulation was found to be smaller as shown in
Fig.11.

Initial
After 1,000 cycles

Tan (%)

1.5
1.0

80
60
40
20
0
-4000 -2000

0.5
0
0
Fig.9

0.2

0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2

Applied Voltage (p.u.)

1.4

Tan change due to thermal cycling

1.6

Gas temp. conv.

Gas temp. HTC

72
64
56
48
40
32
24
16
8
0

Armature current (kA)

2.0

ETD temp. conv.

ETD temp. HTC

100
Temperature rise (K)

Thermal cycling test of HTC insulation coils

105

Fig.10 Voltage endurance test

Conductor temp. conv.

Conductor temp. HTC

Fig.8

104

Armature Current

2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000

Duration (s)

Fig.11 Temperature tests at rated stator current

three phase short circuit
In addition, sudden three phase short-circuit tests were
conducted to evaluate the resistance against excessive

electromagnetic forces. Detailed inspections on the end

winding insulation surface after the tests showed no
abnormality.
5. ADVANTAGES OF HTC INSULATION
GENERATORS
The newly developed HTC insulation can improve
thermal conductivity of insulation while maintaining
electrical stresses and coil temperatures at the same
level as conventional insulation generators. By
appropriate combination of HTC insulation technology
with an improved generator ventilation system and
optimized frame structure, the maximum unit capacity
of indirect-cooled generators is remarkably increased as
shown in Fig.12.

Old
design

Stator
water-cooled

New
design

Old
design

Hydrogen
-cooled

Air
-cooled

New
design

New
design
0

200

400

600

800

1000

Unit capacity (MVA)

Fig.12 Enlarged capacity range for indirect-cooled generators
The power density and efficiency of the generators
could be attained at a level comparable with those of
water-cooled generators. The increased power density
of HTC insulation generators is shown in Fig.13, and is
found to be equivalent to that of water-cooled
generators.

Output coefficient C (p.u.)

2.5
Stator water-cooled

2.0
1.5
1.0
Indirectly
hydrogen-cooled

0.5

HTC insulation

P=CD2Ln
(n: rounds per minute)

100

200 300 400 500 600

because of the simplified coil structure. Moreover, no

necessity of auxiliary equipment such as a stator watercooling unit will be profitable from the viewpoint of
economy.
6. DESIGN IMPACTS WITH HTC INSULATION
HTC insulation is found to reduce the temperature
difference between the internal and the external surfaces
of the insulation wall without any change of insulation
thickness and coil structure. Therefore, stator current
can be increased, resulting in uprating of the generator.
For the same generator capacity, reduction in coil losses
and windage loss accompanied by reduced quantity of
cooling gas will improve generator efficiency.
Furthermore, during operations at peak load specified to
the output characteristics of gas turbines, coil conductor
temperatures are higher than at base load operations.
With some applicable standards, the peak output of a
generator is restricted with the estimated maximum
permissible temperature of the conductors. Because the
difference between the maximum conductor temperature
and ETD coil temperature in HTC insulation generator
is decreased, its peak capacity can be increased more
than that of conventional insulation generators.
In the case of increasing unit capacity with the same
frame size, HTC insulation generators offer high
reliability because they can be designed for the same
electrical stress and the same temperature as
conventional generators.
The fact that mechanical deterioration caused by rapidly
increasing requirements for frequent start/stop and
various load operations for load adjustment is now
generally recognized as the critical insulation
deterioration factor. This learnt to be resulted in
insulation deterioration accompanied by high coil
temperature, high electrical stress and rigid coil
assembling in slots. It is also clear that the basic concept
of HTC insulation generators ensures long-term
reliability under these operations.
The various advantages achieved by HTC insulation
technology are not limited to newly designed generators,
but also apply to operating generators at rewinding of
stator coils as listed below:
For the same generator capacity in kW
- Larger apparent capacity (larger reactive power)
- Improved generator efficiency
For increasing generator capacity
- Increased generator capacity with minimum design
change (10-15%)
- Simplified cooling system (from direct-cooling to
indirect-cooling)
- Reduced electricity power supplied to auxiliary
equipment by eliminating of coil coolant and its
cooling unit

700 800 900

Capacity P (MVA)
Fig.13 Generator output coefficient
HTC insulation generators with indirect-cooled coils do
not need to provide cooling hydrogen gas or water
passages in the coils, thus contributing to high reliability

Furthermore, site rewinding by using half-turn coils

with VPI process allows shortened rewinding period for
whole winding, applicable partial rewinding, easy
removal of existing coils and no transportation of a
heavy stator to the factory.

7. CONCLUSION
The newly developed HTC insulation is compatible
with well-established coil manufacturing processes, and
also applicable to proven design at the same electrical
stress and coil temperatures as much experienced
conventional insulation generators. Furthermore, the
applications of such advanced HTC insulation
remarkably increase the maximum unit capacity of
indirect-cooled turbine generators, providing high total
cost merits from the viewpoints of design,
manufacturing and efficiency.
Stator rewinding of operating generators enables
increased generator capacity and improved efficiency
without any change of coil design, except for the
insulation system.
The newly developed HTC insulation system can
minimize design limitations as discussed above, and
provide distinguished flexibility in the design stage.
Various requirements from customers could be surely
responded because of the improved aspects of this
technology. This advanced technology would guarantee
much profit to customers.
8. REFFERENCES
[1] M. Tari, K. Yoshida, S. Sekito, R. Brtsch, J. Allison,
A. Lutz, HTC Insulation Technology Drives Rapid
Progress of Indirect-Cooled Turbo Generator Unit
Capacity, IEEE PES Summer Meeting, Vancouver, July
2001.
[2] G. Griffith, S. Tucker, J. Milsom and G. Stone,
Problems with Modern Air-Cooled Generator Stator
Winding Insulation, IEEE Electrical Magazine, Vol.16,
No.6, pp6-10, 2000.
[3] R. E. Joho, Study of Stressing Turbo generators
beyond their Established Thermal Limits, CIGRE SC11
Meeting Preliminary Report, Stockholm, June 2001.
[4] M. L. Miller, F. T. Emery, Thermal Conductivity of
High Voltage Stator Coil Groundwall Insulation, EIC
Conference, Chicago, October 1997.