Enhancement of a high speed de-excitation system for brushless synchronous machines by large blocking voltage semiconductors

One of the main disadvantage of the synchronous machines with brushless excitation is that the field winding is not accessible for the de-excitation. The de-excitation process is very slow as the field current flows through the rotating diodes which operate in freewheel mode. Therefore in case of an internal fault, despite the correct operation of the protection relays, the machine could have severe damages. A high-speed de-excitation system for these machines was developed. The de-excitation is achieved by inserting a resistance in the field circuit by a static switch semiconductor based, obtaining a dynamic response similar to that achieved in machines with static excitation. This paper presents the improvement in the de-excitation system in the second commercial 20 MVA hydro generator in operation. In this case, high blocking voltage semiconductor was used, making the dynamic response even better, than in the first hydro generator.