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Stator-Interturn-Fault Detection of Doubly Fed Induction Generators Using Rotor-Current and Search-Coil-Voltage Signature Analysis
Dhaval Shah, Member, IEEE, Subhasis Nandi, Senior Member, IEEE, and Prabhakar Neti, Senior Member, IEEE
AbstractA novel technique for detecting stator interturn faults in a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) is proposed by analyzing its rotor current and search-coil voltage. So far, faultdiagnostic techniques proposed for stator-interturn-fault detection in DFIGs are based on analysis of stator current or vibration of generator. Results from these methods are ambiguous because they either fail to account for condition when the DFIG is operating under imbalanced load or these methods are based on experimental results alone without any theoretical basis. Our recent observations suggested that harmonics induced in the rotor circuit are very promising in detecting stator interturn faults in DFIGs. Hence, in this paper, an in-depth investigation is conducted to determine the origin of various harmonic components in rotor currents and their feasibility to detect stator interturn faults unambiguously. Detailed analysis is presented, which explains the mechanism by which the stator-interturn-fault-related harmonics are induced in the rotor circuit. The theory is veried with simulation and extensive experimental results. To conrm the feasibility of the proposed technique for detecting stator interturn faults and obtain results on speed sensitivity of fault detection, a prototype of digital-signal-processor-based fault-diagnostic system has been developed, which is capable of producing very fast trip signal in about 2 s. Index TermsDoubly fed induction generator (DFIG), motorcurrent signature analysis (MCSA), stator interturn fault.

Fig. 1. Power-ow diagram of a doubly fed wound-rotor induction generator operating in subsynchronous mode [9].

I. I NTRODUCTION ESEARCH in the area of fault diagnosis and condition monitoring of wind generators has generated keen interest as the clamor for renewable energy [1][5] becomes louder and clearer due to burgeoning oil prices. Wind generators used for high-power range (660 kW to 2 MW) are mainly wound-rotor synchronous generators and doubly fed induction generators

Paper 2008-EMC-055.R1, presented at the 2007 Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, September 2327, and approved for publication in the IEEE T RANSACTIONS O N I NDUSTRY A PPLICATIONS by the Electric Machines Committee of the IEEE Industry Applications Society. Manuscript submitted for review September 22, 2008 and released for publication March 25, 2009. First published July 17, 2009; current version published September 18, 2009. This work was supported in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, in part by the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and in part by the University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada. D. Shah is with Xantrex Technology Inc., Burnaby, BC V5A 4B5, Canada (e-mail: dhaval.shah@ieee.org). S. Nandi is with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 3P6, Canada (e-mail: snandi@ece. uvic.ca). P. Neti is with the Electric Machines and Drives Laboratory, General Electric Global Research Center, Niskayuna, NY 12309-3523 USA (e-mail: netipr@ge.com). Digital Object Identier 10.1109/TIA.2009.2027406

(DFIGs) [5]. Normally, 690-V DFIGs are used in this power range and relate to major market share [5]. The need for an accurate condition-monitoring and fault-detection method is high to reduce the operating and maintenance costs of wind energy systems. In particular, with plan of offshore installations, which makes it more inaccessible, it is vital to simultaneously increase reliability and service interval [1]. Like every electrical machine, wind generators are prone to electromechanical faults and require attention at the incipient stage to avoid escalation of the fault to cause a breakdown or major damage. Faults may occur in stator, rotor, bearings, air gap (eccentricity), etc. However, a literature survey shows that bearing faults and stator insulation breakdown cause the majority of machine failures [6], [7]. Induction-machine statorwinding insulation degradation is one of the major (about 40%) causes of machine failure [6]. Stator faults begin with degradation of the insulation between turns, and consequently, an interturn short circuit occurs. Fault-diagnostic methods for squirrel-cage induction motors have been researched extensively, and commercial systems for diagnosis of mechanical problems such as broken rotor bars using motor-current signature analysis (MCSA) and bearing faults using vibration analysis are available these days [4], [8]. However, fault diagnosis for DFIGs has remained little explored. Power ow in a typical DFIG operating at subsynchronous speed is shown in Fig. 1 [9]. Es is the three-phase load/grid that receives power from the generator at a frequency f . PL is the mechanical power delivered by the turbine to the gear

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Fig. 2. DFIG with static Kramer drive [11].

analysis in order to discover an unambiguous fault-detection technique in the presence of imbalanced load in DFIGs. The objective of this paper is to therefore develop a fault-diagnostic method that could be applied to any DFIG, irrespective of its control scheme, and provide unambiguous fault detection in spite of imbalanced loading. This paper is written in the following way. In Section II, induction of various harmonic components in rotor current due to stator fault is analyzed. Section III describes modeling of the DFIG with stator interturn fault and the simulation results. The experimental results are described in Section IV, where the spectra obtained from the rotor line current have been conrmed by similar results obtained from the rotor search-coil voltage. In Section V, the details of the prototype designed to detect fault and its speed-sensitivity issues are discussed. II. A NALYSIS OF H ARMONICS IN ROTOR C URRENT OF DFIG S UITABLE FOR D ETECTING S TATOR I NTERTURN FAULTS A. Existing Theory Describing the Induction of Various Harmonic Components in Rotor Current Under Stator Fault When an asymmetry of any type exists on the stator side, the negative-sequence component at frequency f1 in the stator causes a counter-rotating magnetic eld. This produces a harmonic component in the rotor at frequency (2 s) f1 and gives rise to electromagnetic and mechanical interactions between the stator and the rotor [12]. As a consequence, the following rotor-current components appear:

Fig. 3. DFIG with back-to-back converter [11].

fksa = (2k s) f1

(1)

with a rotational speed n and a torque Tm . After subtracting the gearbox power loss PV , the effective mechanical-power input to the rotor is Pm . When the DFIG is operating under subsynchronous mode, the rotor draws power from the source ER , which is proportional to the variable slip frequency f2 , depending on n in order to keep the stator frequency constant. In the case of supersynchronous mode, the power through the rotor circuit reverses, meaning that electric power can be transferred to the grid via the rotor also. Some research has already been conducted on statorinterturn-fault diagnosis of DFIGs in the last ve years, and a literature survey was made to explore existing methods. It suggests that existing techniques are based on vibration analysis [2] or MCSA of stator current [1], [4], [10]. However, these methods have shortcomings due to the need of sophisticated vibration-sensing equipment that is partly invasive, requiring physical installation of sensors on the generator [4] or based on experimental results alone, [10] without complete theoretical basis and fail to prove reliable detections when the DFIG operates under imbalanced-load conditions [1], [4]. The control schemes used in DFIGs are typically of ve types [11], but the most popular schemes are based on a DFIG with static Kramer drive (Fig. 2) and a DFIG with back-toback converter (Fig. 3) [6]. DFIGs used as wind generators are grid connected and are frequently subjected to imbalanced load in three phases. Hence, it is essential to justify the existence of frequency used for fault detection with suitable theory and

where k = 1, 2, 3, . . . , s denotes the slip and f1 is the fundamental frequency of the stator. However, the aforementioned theory does not differentiate between the effect of asymmetry caused by imbalanced loading and interturn fault. Also, it fails to account for all stator space harmonics and time harmonics and asymmetries of the rotor winding. Hence, a more detailed explanation is required to understand the reason of harmonics observed in the rotor circuit. B. Time Harmonics in Rotor Current Due to Stator Space Harmonics and Time Harmonics in Stator Current Due to Rotor Space Harmonics Under Ideal Condition In [13], equations have been derived to compute the harmonics induced in rotor and stator currents due to space and time harmonics for a wound-rotor machine under ideal condition, i.e., when there is no asymmetry in the stator and rotor arising due to a fault or imbalanced loading in the stator. They are given by the expression in curly brackets of (2) and (3) for the rotor and stator, respectively Brs = Bm1 cos (np + {npt 1 t} + 1 ) Bsr = Bm2 cos (np + {npt r t} + 2 ) (2) (3)

where n = 1, 6m 1 (m = 1, 2, 3, . . .) and 1 = 2f1 . The + sign comes before 1 and r when magnetic eld is reversely rotating, whereas the sign is when magnetic eld

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is forwardly rotating. = (1 s) 1 /p is the rotor speed in radians per second. 1 and 2 are the arbitrary phase angles referred to the rotor and stator, respectively. p is the number of pole pairs, and s is the slip. r = 2fr , where fr is the fundamental frequency of the rotor voltage. is the angle in stator coordinates, whereas is the angle in rotor coordinates. Also, = + t. Considering ideal operating conditions, with no imbalanced load on the stator or interturn fault and no rotor asymmetry, f1 = 60 Hz, and s = 0.25, the harmonics induced in rotor current can be calculated using (2) for n = 5, for n = 7, {5 (1 0.25) 60 + (60)} = 285 Hz {7 (1 0.25) 60 (60)} = 255 Hz.

An asymmetry in the rotor also causes a reverse-rotating magnetic eld at a frequency of 15 Hz, which induces 30-Hz harmonics in stator current, as given by (3) for n = 1, {1 (1 0.25) 60 + (15)} = 30 Hz.

This 30-Hz harmonics subsequently induces the following harmonics in the rotor, as given by (2): for n = 3, {3 (1 0.25) 60 (30)} = 105 Hz.

E. Time Harmonics in Rotor Current Due to Interturn Fault in Stator Winding During an interturn fault, the stator has a shorted loop (can thus be treated as a single-phase winding) carrying current at supply frequency that generates two counter-rotating MMF waves [14]. The MMF produced by the asymmetric stator carrying three-phase balanced voltage can be given as Fsa = Asa cos(k 1 t + 1 ) (4)

Similarly, the harmonics induced in stator current due to time harmonics in rotor current and rotor space harmonics can be calculated using (3) for n = 5, for n = 7, {5 (1 0.25) 60 (15)} = 210 Hz {7 (1 0.25) 60 + (15)} = 330 Hz.

To maintain congruency in the explanation of the theory, the operating condition of the DFIG running at a subsynchronous speed of slip = 0.25 and a generating stator voltage at frequency f1 = 60 Hz is used for further discussion. C. Time Harmonics in Rotor Current When Stator Is Connected to Imbalanced Load Load imbalance in stator phases causes negative-sequence currents, which causes reverse-rotating magnetic eld. The frequency of this reverse-rotating magnetic eld is the same as the fundamental frequency but with magnetic eld rotating in the opposite direction. Hence, this reverse-rotating magnetic eld at 60 Hz will induce harmonic frequencies in the rotor, which can be calculated using (2) for n = 1, for n = 5, for n = 7, {1 (1 0.25) (60) (60)} = 105 Hz {5 (1 0.25) (60) + (60)} = 165 Hz {7 (1 0.25) (60) (60)} = 375 Hz.

where k = 1, 2, 3, . . . corresponds to space-harmonic poles. Considering the specic permeance function (P0 ), the ux density produced by this MMF, with respect to the stator, can be given as Bsa = Asa P0 cos(k 1 t + 1 ). With respect to the rotor, this ux density can be given as Bra = Asa P0 cos(k + kt 1 t + 2 ). Now, substituting = (1 s) 1 /p in (6), we can have Bra = Asa P0 cos k + k (1 s) 1 1 t + 2 . (7) p (6) (5)

Because of load imbalance, the magnetomotive force (MMF) due to triplen space harmonics does not add up to zero; time harmonics related to triplen space harmonics can also be seen, such as for n = 3. This will be discussed next. D. Time Harmonics in Rotor Current Due to Stator and Rotor Asymmetry There always exists an asymmetry to a certain extent in the stator and rotor windings of an actual induction machine, which gives rise to time harmonics related to triplen space harmonics, i.e., for n = 3, 6, 9, . . ., as can be associated with load imbalance and stator-winding loss. Equation (2) suggests the following frequencies that can be induced in rotor current, even under balanced load or no interturn fault due to stator asymmetry: for n = 3, {3 (1 0.25) 60 (60)} = 75 Hz.

The frequencies that will be induced in the rotor circuit due to a fault in stator winding when the DFIG is running at s = 0.25, f1 = 60 Hz, p = 2, and different values of k are expressed in Table I using the expression in the curly brackets of (7). As seen from Table I, several frequencies can be induced as a result of the fault. It has already been shown that the time harmonics in stator current and load imbalance also induce harmonics in the rotor. The objective is to therefore nd the frequency, which is affected maximally by fault and minimally by imbalanced load and other time harmonics. Hence, all these cases will be veried next using simulation results to identify such a frequency component. III. M ODELING AND S IMULATION OF DFIG W ITH S TATOR I NTERTURN FAULT In order to carry out a detailed simulation study, different models of DFIGs have been considered. The winding function approach [15] was used to model the DFIG. The machine is modeled in steady state with constant speed, assuming a motor torque Tm = TL , with TL being the load torque. A resistive load was connected to the stator, and a three-phase 15-Hz

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TABLE I S TATOR -FAULT F REQUENCIES I NDUCED IN ROTOR (s = 0.25)

Fig. 4. PSD of rotor current for case A.

Fig. 6.

PSD of rotor current for case C.

Fig. 7. Fig. 5. PSD of rotor current for case B.

PSD of rotor current for case D.

source was used for energizing the rotor. The following six different cases are considered in this paper: 1) case A: DFIG with symmetrical rotor winding, connected to a balanced load; 2) case B: DFIG with symmetrical rotor winding, connected to a 10% imbalanced load in one phase; 3) case C: DFIG with asymmetric rotor winding (one reduced turn in one phase), connected to a balanced load; 4) case D: DFIG with asymmetric rotor winding, connected to a 10% imbalanced load in one phase; 5) case E: DFIG with symmetrical rotor winding, subjected to four-turn fault; 6) case F: DFIG with asymmetric rotor winding, subjected to four-turn fault. The harmonics that can arise in the rotor in these cases have already been discussed in the previous section. Figs. 49 represent the power spectral density (PSD) of rotor current for the six cases that are modeled. From these modeling results, the theory proposed in Section II is veried. It is also clear from these g-

Fig. 8.

PSD of rotor current for case E.

ures, particularly Fig. 9, that machine inherent asymmetry has to be considered to explain the components that can be used for detection. Some of the very prominent components are 82.5 Hz for k = 1 and 127.5 Hz for k = 3. It will be found later that the components related to k = 3 show better promise as triplenspace-related harmonics are more affected by asymmetry.

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Fig. 9.

PSD of rotor current for case F.

erator connected to a three-phase load. The stator voltage and frequency of the DFIG are controlled by feeding the rotor with slip frequency voltage using VFD-1. Taps are brought out of the DFIG to create stator fault. The stator phase has 144 turns. VFD-1 is a three-phase voltage source inverter (VSI) with a front-end diode bridge rectier. A digital signal processor (DSP-1) TMS320F2812 generates the gating signals for the VSI. Using a timer relay and a contactor, the windings can be shorted for a period of 210 s for testing. During the shorted period, the data acquisition system samples the signals and feeds it to a computer for data logging and further analysis. Special care was taken in shielding the cables, and excellent noise rejection could be obtained (see Fig. 31 in the Appendix). The complete DFIG details have been presented in Table II. A. Comparison of Rotor-Phase-u Current PSD Under Different Operating Conditions Figs. 1315 show the spectrum of rotor current in phase-u under different fault conditions when the DFIG is operating at full-load and s = 0.25 (speed = 1350 r/min). The PSD plots are obtained by analyzing 10 s of rotor-current time signal in MATLAB1 using the PSD function. Note that the 82.5-Hz component did not show signicant increase. The increase of the 127.5-Hz component is quite noticeable. The rise in fault frequency that is monitored for various operating slip, load, and fault conditions is graphically shown in Figs. 1618. From the plots, it is evident that the magnitude level of fault frequency rises with severity of faults. However, as the load is increased, the magnitude of fault frequency for one-turn faults does not increase signicantly to indicate a fault. This can be attributed to the fact that, while shorting the turn, the impedance of the lead wires adds up with the impedance of the shorted turn. It was determined experimentally that the shorting lead impedance is roughly equal to the impedance of a one-turn coil. This severely affects the sensitivity of one-turn fault detection. Also, as the generator load increases, the induced voltage per turn decreases, which may worsen sensitivity when the output voltage is not compensated for load variation. However, in the case of the actual dead-bolt fault, there will be no contact impedance, and hence, sensitivity will be much better. Improvement can also be achieved by applying least-squares-based methods to compensate loading and time-harmonic effects. At present, this investigation has been proposed as a subject for future work. Successful results have already been obtained for squirrel-cage induction motors [16]. B. Comparison of PSD of Rotor-Phase-u Current With Space Vector of Rotor-Phase-u, Rotor-Phase-v, and Rotor-Phase-w Currents Further analysis was conducted to verify if the PSD of the space vector of rotor-phase currents Iu , Iv , and Iw , given by Iu + Iv + 2 Iw , = ej(2/3) , can show better resolution in the increase of the fault-frequency magnitude level when compared to the results obtained by the PSD of phase current Iu .
1 MATLAB,

Fig. 10. Simulation result on the variation of the fault spectra of rotor-current frequency of 127.5 Hz (k = 3) for a slip of 0.25 under no-load, half-load, and full-load conditions with varying fault severity.

The model with rotor asymmetry is used for further simulation. The simulations are conducted to obtain the PSD of rotor current under the following different fault levels: 1) healthy balanced load (HB); 2) healthy but imbalanced load of 10% on stator phase-a (UB); 3) one turn of phase-a shorted, balanced load on three phases (1T); 4) two turns of phase-a shorted, balanced load on three phases (2T); 5) three turns of phase-a shorted, balanced load on three phases (3T); 6) four turns of phase-a shorted, balanced load on three phases (4T). The change in magnitude of 127.5-Hz frequency (k = 3) for slip = 0.25 and varying load conditions when subjected to different fault levels is compared in Fig. 10. From the plot, it can be observed that load imbalance does not signicantly increase the magnitude (in decibels) of the 127.5-Hz (k = 3) component compared to the rise caused by interturn faults. IV. E XPERIMENTAL R ESULTS A test arrangement, as shown in Fig. 11 (schematic) and Fig. 12 (test-bench snapshot), is used to test the rotor currents and search-coil voltage of the DFIG under varying load, speed, and fault conditions. The DFIG is a three-phase 1.5-kV A 208-V 60-Hz slip-ring induction generator, which is mechanically coupled to a 2-kW synchronous motor run at different speed set points using an inverter. Both stator and rotor are connected in star. The DFIG is run as a 60-Hz stand-alone gen-

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Fig. 11. Schematic of the experimental setup used to determine the DFIG behavior under varying load, speed, fault severity, fault detection, and tripping.

Fig. 12. Photograph of the experimental setup for data acquisition. TABLE II DFIG D ETAILS

Fig. 13. PSD of rotor-current phase-u under balanced and full loads and s = 0.25.

The positive-frequency components shown in Fig. 19(a) do not show any indication of rise in the magnitude of fault frequency of 127.5 Hz, but it is visible as a negative-frequency component in Fig. 19(b).

Fig. 20 shows the relative increase in the fault-frequency magnitude, which is obtained from the PSD of the vector sum of three phase currents. By comparing this plot with Fig. 18, it is clear that spectral analysis of current space vector provides

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Fig. 14. PSD of rotor-current phase-u under 10% imbalance in phase-a, full load, and s = 0.25.

Fig. 18. PSD variation of fault frequency in rotor-phase-u current under full load.

Fig. 15. PSD of rotor-current phase-u under four-turn fault, full load, and s = 0.25.

Fig. 16. no load.

PSD variation of fault frequency in rotor-phase-u current under

Fig. 19. (a) PSD of rotor-current-vector positive frequencies under fourturn fault, full load, and s = 0.25. (b) PSD of rotor-current-vector negative frequencies under four-turn fault, full load, and s = 0.25.

Fig. 20. PSD variation of fault frequency (127.5 Hz) in rotor-current space vector under full load. Fig. 17. PSD variation of fault frequency in rotor-phase-u current under half load.

better indication of fault-frequency increase compared to spectral analysis of phase current. This is because the base-line-data (HB) case for the phase current and that for the space vector of the current are different. A careful inspection of the two gures reveal that even a 3T fault signature is at the same level as the HB in the case of the phase current. However, in the case of the space vector, one can clearly distinguish even one-turn fault from the HB or UB.

C. Comparison of Search-Coil-Voltage PSD Under Different Operating Conditions To further validate the theory and simulation results, experiments were also conducted by analyzing the voltage induced in the rotor-mounted search coil. The effect of any abnormality in the search-coil voltage as a result of disturbance of ux linkage due to interturn fault is distinctly visible in its frequency spectrum. This is shown in Figs. 2123. The rise in fault frequency being monitored for various operating slip, load, and

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Fig. 21. PSD of search-coil voltage under healthy balanced condition, full load, and s = 0.25.

Fig. 25. PSD variation of fault frequency in search-coil voltage under half load.

Fig. 22. PSD of search-coil voltage under healthy imbalance condition, full load, and s = 0.25.

Fig. 26. PSD variation of fault frequency in search-coil voltage under full load.

Fig. 23. PSD of search-coil voltage under four-turn fault, full load, and s = 0.25.

winding to be wound on the rotor. Moreover, slip rings with brushes will be required to acquire the voltage signal. However, the detection scheme becomes very simple. On the other hand, the rotor-current space-vector technique involves extra computation time and is affected by sensor-gain mismatch. However, this method is noninvasive and can hence provide a promising solution to stator-interturn-fault detection of existing DFIGs. Both search-coil- and rotor-current space-vector-based schemes can possibly be improved by applying least-squaresbased techniques [16] to remove residues and improve sensitivity. Further research is required to verify the assumption. Table IV in the Appendix shows the rise of the fault-frequency component of 127.5 Hz in numerical format for three different load conditions and increasing fault severity. D. SNR Comparison for Various Signals to Detect Fault From the experimental results, it can be observed that spectral analysis of all three signals, namely, rotor-phase current, rotor-current vector, and search-coil voltage, show a rise in the power level of the fault-frequency component. However, the signal that will provide the best fault detection depends on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The higher the SNR, the better the resolution of the fault signature. Table III describes the SNR for the three signal types under different slip conditions for various fault-severity and full-load conditions. The SNR values are obtained by calculating the difference in power levels (in decibel scale) between the different faults and HB conditions from the experimental results. This is equivalent to the ratio of signal to noise power in linear scale. From Table III, it can be observed that the SNR ratio for the search-coil voltage is comparable to that for the fault-frequency component obtained from the rotor-current vector. Both of these signals have a much higher SNR compared to the rotor-phase-current signal.

Fig. 24.

PSD variation of fault frequency in search-coil voltage under no load.

fault conditions is graphically shown in Figs. 2426. From the plots, it is very clear that two-turn faults can be detected under all the test operating conditions. Even one-turn fault with reduced sensitivity is distinctly detectable under most of the conditions. By comparing Figs. 18, 20, and 26, it can be seen that both search-coil-voltage and rotor-current space-vector methods seem to give comparable results and that both are much better compared to the rotor-phase-current PSD result. The use of search-coil voltage is invasive since it will require an extra

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TABLE III C OMPARISON OF SNR FOR THE FAULT-F REQUENCY-C OMPONENT P OWER L EVEL O BSERVED IN S EARCH -C OIL -VOLTAGE , ROTOR -P HASE -C URRENT, AND ROTOR -C URRENT-V ECTOR S IGNALS FOR D IFFERENT S EVERITY OF FAULT U NDER F ULL -L OAD C ONDITION AT SLIP = 0.25 AND 0.44

Fig. 27. DSP-2 fault-detection logic.

However, it is computationally much simpler to work with the search-coil-voltage signal compared to the rotor-current vector. Hence, in the subsequent prototype development, the searchcoil-voltage signal is used as a proof of principle for fault detection. V. P ROTOTYPE OF O NLINE FAULT-D ETECTION S YSTEM As a proof of principle, detection using the search-coil voltage is implemented initially because this is simpler from the computation and sensing viewpoint. Fig. 11 shows the block diagram of the fault-detection scheme. The extra components involved for fault detection and isolation include signalconditioning box, contactor-relay block, and DSP-2. Also, the control of rotor frequency is done by sensing speed. VFD-2 generates a voltage signal that is proportional to the speed of the synchronous motor, which is used by DSP-1 to adjust

the slip frequency and amplitude of the rotor voltage fed by VFD-1 to the rotor of the DFIG. Two separate DSPs have been used in the presented scheme to simplify the experiments. However, the same computations can be performed by a single DSP. The signal-conditioning block contains three circuits, namely, a signal-conditioning circuit for the search-coil voltage, a zero-crossing detector circuit to sense the frequency of rotor current, and an electronic relay-driving circuit that powers the relay to energize the coil of the normally closed contactor. Signals from the search-coil voltage are connected to the input of the onboard analog-to-digital converter of DSP-2, while the event manager module on DSP-2 generates the trip signal to trip the contactor in the contactor-relay block. A detailed explanation of how DSP-2 uses these signals to detect fault is explained in the owchart shown in Fig. 27. For analysis, the system does not check the whole spectrum but zooms onto

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Fig. 28. Typical time of operation of the DSP-based fault-detection device when using search-coil-voltage signature analysis. DFIG operating at slip = 0.25 at different loads.

Fig. 30. Various signals of the fault-detection scheme. DFIG operating at half load during a speed change. Fault severity is two-turn. Fault-detection time is 1300 ms.

Fig. 29. Various signals of the fault-detection scheme. DFIG operating at half load and slip = 0.25. Fault severity is two-turn. Fault-detection time is 1400 ms.

the 127.5-Hz fault-frequency component based on Table I for k = 3. A. Performance of the DSP-Based Fault-Detection Scheme The DSP-based fault-detection scheme could detect the stator interturn faults and disconnect the machine from the service in less than 2 s on average. The typical time of operation of the DSP-based fault-detection scheme under different numbers of shorted turns (1T4T) has been shown for three different load levels in Fig. 28. A 1-s window was used for computation of discrete Fourier transform (DFT). The variation in fault clearance time is due to the relative difference in rise of (in decibels) the level of fault frequency for varying fault severity and the instant at which a fault is initiated in a particular DFT cycle. The diagnostic tool has been repeatedly tested under noload, half-load, and full-load conditions. The maximum time taken to generate a trip signal under any fault severity is 2.01 s,

Fig. 31. Experimental result on the waveform of the DFIG rotor current in phase-u when the DFIG is operating at slip = 0.25 under full load for (top) healthy balanced load, (middle) healthy imbalanced load of 10% in phase-a, and (bottom) four-turn-fault balanced load condition.

which was for a single-turn fault at full load and s = 0.25. Also, the performance of the fault-detection system was tested for detecting two-turn faults for inductive and capacitive loads with a power factor of 0.8 and was found satisfactory. The plot of Fig. 29 shows various signals (from top to bottom, current in the shorted loop, trip signal, rotor line current,

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TABLE IV R ISE IN PSD (IN D ECIBELS ) L EVEL OF ROTOR S EARCH -C OIL -VOLTAGE F REQUENCY OF 127.5 Hz (k = 3) W HEN DFIG O PERATES AT SLIP = 0.25

and stator line voltage) during the fault-detection period. The current in the shorted loop rises from zero at the instant of initiation of the fault. After detecting the fault, the trip signal is held low by DSP-2 that opens the contactor and disconnects the rotor phases of the machine from VFD-1. Fig. 30 shows various signals of fault detection, when the DFIG speed was varied from 1250 to 1550 r/min and a 2-turn fault induced with the speed around 1400 r/min. This shows that shorttime Fourier-transform-based techniques can be used effectively for variable-speed operation and can probably compete with wavelet, extended Parks vector, and statistics-based techniques [8], provided that a proper window size is chosen. The 1-s window proved sufcient in this case. B. Discussions on Results and Feasibility of Industrial Implementation The predicted harmonic component in the rotor search-coil voltage has been shown to work very well for detecting these faults using a DSP. With this instrument, the harmonic components can be tracked, even under changing speed conditions in the case of variable-speed generators. However, in industry, there are several challenges to be overcome before the faultdiagnostic system (FDS) can be implemented. There are always serious concerns relating to the following factors: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) unambiguous fault detection; scalability and generality of the system; repeatability; cost of implementation; response time.

VI. C ONCLUSION A new technique for detecting stator interturn faults in a DFIG has been obtained by analyzing the rotor-phase current and validated by the rotor search-coil voltage. A detailed theoretical proof conrmed by simulation results for the various frequency components induced in the rotor circuit due to stator interturn faults has been furnished. Other simulation and detailed experimental results have been presented showing the inuence of the load and slip of the machine on the faultdiagnostic results. Through monitoring a suitable component in the rotor-circuit phase current, rotor-current vector, and rotor search-coil voltage, a denite indication of interturn fault in the stator winding can be obtained, even for very few numbers of turns. A prototype based on DSP has been constructed to demonstrate the capability of timely detection of stator interturn faults unambiguously in approximately 2 s for two-turn faults in all cases, even during speed transients. The use of searchcoil voltage would always be considered invasive since it will require an extra winding to be wound on the rotor. Moreover, slip rings with brushes will be required to acquire the voltage signal. However, this can be easily incorporated in a new machine. Despite complicated computation and current sensorgain-mismatch issues, the rotor-current space vector also appears to be very promising in detecting these faults. Further research is needed to look into this. Also, application of leastsquares-based technique may produce even better SNRs for single-turn fault detection. A PPENDIX See Fig. 31 and Table IV. R EFERENCES
[1] L. M. Popa, B. B. Jensen, F. Ritche, and I. Boldea, Condition monitoring of wind generators, in Conf. Rec. IEEE IAS Annu. Meeting, Oct. 2003, vol. 3, pp. 18391846. [2] P. Caselitz, J. Giebhardt, T. Kruger, and M. Mevenkamp, Development of a fault detection system for wind energy converters, in Proc. EUWEC, Gteborg, Sweden, 1996, pp. 14. [3] Q. F. Lu, C. T. Cao, and E. Ritche, Model of stator inter-turn short circuit fault in doubly-fed induction generators for wind turbine, in Proc. 35th Annu. IEEE PESC, Jun. 2004, vol. 2, pp. 932937. [4] I. Albizu, A. Tapia, J. R. Saenz, A. J. Mazon, and I. Zamora, Online stator winding fault diagnosis in induction generators for renewable generation, in Proc. 35th Annu. IEEE PESC, Jun. 2004, vol. 2, pp. 932937. [5] L. H. Hansen, L. Helle, F. Blaabjerg, E. Ritche, S. Munk-Nielsen, H. Bindner, P. Sorensen, and B. Bak-Jensen, Conceptual survey of generators and power electronics for wind turbines, Ris Nat. Lab., Rockilde, Denmark, Dec. 2001. [6] S. Nandi and H. A. Toliyat, Fault diagnosis of electrical machines A review, in Conf. Rec. 34th IEEE IAS Annu. Meeting, 1999, vol. 1, pp. 197204. [7] P. Vas, Parameter Estimation, Condition Monitoring, and Diagnosis of Electrical Machines. Oxford, U.K.: Clarendon, 1993.

Since any fault-diagnostic technique is based on continuous monitoring of a signal and detecting deviation from a preset value, nding a preset value is very important. This will essentially determine the SNR. In the present case, the FDS requires the collection of fault-frequency amplitude level at different load conditions and slip. This can be done during the commissioning process of the DFIG. It is very analogous to the process followed in industry these days while commissioning high-power motor drives, like an identication run conducted on all ABB drives using DriveWindow [17]. The cost of FDS would constitute the cost incurred due to the search coils on the rotor (this can be eliminated using the rotor-current space-vector-based scheme), additional DSP (if required) to perform fault computations, and electronics for signal conditioning and tripping in the event of a fault. For installations with power levels of 500 kW2 MW, the cost of such an FDS is expected to be less than 0.5% of the total cost of the wind-power-energy conversion system. The benet of reducing the downtime in the event of a fault and other safety issues can further prove its viability [18].

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[8] H. Douglas, P. Pillay, and P. Barendse, The detection of inter-turn stator faults in doubly-fed induction generators, in Conf. Rec. 40th IEEE IAS Annu. Meeting, Oct. 26, 2005, vol. 2, pp. 10971102. [9] T. Wildi, Electrical Machines, Drives, and Power Systems., 6th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2005. [10] W. T. Thomson, On-line MCSA to diagnose shorted turns in low voltage stator windings of 3-phase induction motors prior to failure, in Proc. IEEE-IEMDC, 2001, vol. 1, pp. 891898. [11] J. A. Baroudi, V. R. Dinavahi, and A. M. Knight, A review of power converter topologies for wind generators, in Proc. IEEE Int. Elect. Mach. Drives, May 1518, 2005, vol. 1, pp. 458465. [12] D. Casadei, F. Filippetti, C. Rossi, A. Stefani, A. Yazidi, and G. A. Capolino, Diagnostic technique based on rotor modulating signals signature analysis for doubly fed induction machines in wind generator systems, in Conf. Rec. 41st IEEE IAS Annu. Meeting, Oct. 812, 2006, vol. 3, pp. 15251532. [13] S. Nandi, Space and time harmonics related problems and their mitigation for position and speed sensorless slip-ring induction motor drives applications, Sadhana, vol. 33, pt. 5, pp. 565580, Oct. 2008. [14] J. Penman, H. G. Sedding, B. A. Lloyd, and W. T. Fink, Detection and location of interturn short circuits in the stator windings of operating motors, IEEE Trans. Energy Convers., vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 652658, Dec. 1994. [15] H. A. Toliyat and T. A. Lipo, Transient analysis of cage induction machines under stator, rotor bar and end ring faults, IEEE Trans. Energy Convers., vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 241247, Jun. 1995. [16] Q. Wu, Single-turn sensitive stator inter-turn fault detection of induction machines, M.S. thesis, Univ. Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada, 2008. [17] ABB, DriveWindow Software, Datasheet. [Online]. Available: http:// library.abb.com/global/scot/scot201.nsf/veritydisplay/a5ae37d539433eac c2256eed00217b2e/$File/DriveWindow_2_Leaet.pdf [18] J. Nilsson and L. Bertling, Maintenance management of wind power systems using condition monitoring systemsLife cycle cost analysis for two case studies, IEEE Trans. Energy Convers., vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 223 229, Mar. 2007.

Subhasis Nandi (S97M00SM06) received the B.E. degree in electrical engineering from Jadavpur University, Calcutta, India, in 1985, the M.E. degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, in 1988, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station, in 2000. Between 1988 and 1996, he was with TVS Electronics and the Central Power Research Institute, Bangalore, India, working in the areas of power electronics and drives. He joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada, where he is currently an Associate Professor and has been on sabbatical leave for one year since September 1, 2008. During this period, he is with the School of Electrical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, Korea, as a Contract Professor. His main research interests are power electronics and drives and analysis and design of electrical machines, with special emphasis on fault diagnosis.

Dhaval Shah (S03M09) received the B.Eng. degree in electrical engineering from Nirma Institute of Technology, Gujarat University, Gujarat, India, in 2003 and the M.A.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada, in 2008. From 2003 to 2004, he was a Project Engineer for the Electrical and Automation Group, Essar Steel, Ltd., Surat, India. From 2006 to 2007, he was a Firmware Engineer for the Programmable Division, Xantrex Technology Inc., Burnaby, BC, Canada, where he is currently a Power Electronics Design Engineer. His research interests are mainly in fault diagnosis of electric machines and in design of power electronics for renewable energy and electric vehicles.

Prabhakar Neti (S04M07SM09) received the B.Tech. degree in electrical engineering from Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, India, in 1994, the M.Tech. degree in electrical engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, India, in 1996, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada, in 2007. From 1996 to 2002, he was a Faculty Member at different engineering colleges in India. From May 2007 to April 2008, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada. He is currently with the Electric Machines and Drives Laboratory, General Electric Global Research Center, Niskayuna, NY. His research interests are mainly in the area of modeling and fault diagnosis of electric machines and drives.