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Application Note

Pole Impedance Measurement on Rotating Machines


using the CPC100

Authors
Fabian Öttl Fabian.Oettl@omicronenergy.com

Date
23.03.2016

Related OMICRON Product


CPC 100, CP TD1, CP CR500

Application Area
Rotating Machines

Version
v1.1

Document ID
ANP_16002_ENU

Abstract
This application note shows how to perform a pole impedance measurement also known as pole drop test on
salient poles of rotating machines using the CPC 100.

© OMICRON Page 1 of 12
Content
1 Safety instructions .......................................................................................................................... 3
2 Using this document ....................................................................................................................... 3
2.1 Operator qualifications and safety standards ............................................................................. 4
2.2 Safety measures ....................................................................................................................... 4
2.3 Related documents ................................................................................................................... 4
3 Impedance measurement on salient poles .................................................................................... 5
3.1 Purpose .................................................................................................................................... 5
3.2 Measurement method ............................................................................................................... 5
4 Preparing the pole impedance test................................................................................................. 6
4.1 CPC Editor and Test Card preparation ...................................................................................... 6
4.2 Choosing the right parameter in the Quick Card ........................................................................ 7
5 Measurement Setup ........................................................................................................................ 8
6 Assessment of the measurement ..................................................................................................10
6.1 Practical example ....................................................................................................................11
6.2 Limitation of the measurement .................................................................................................11

Please use this note only in combination with the related product manual which contains several important safety
instructions. The user is responsible for every application that makes use of an OMICRON product.

OMICRON electronics GmbH including all international branch offices is henceforth referred to as OMICRON.

© OMICRON 2016. All rights reserved. This application note is a publication of OMICRON.
All rights including translation reserved. Reproduction of any kind, for example, photocopying, microfilming, optical character
recognition and/or storage in electronic data processing systems, requires the explicit consent of OMICRON. Reprinting,
wholly or in part, is not permitted.
The product information, specifications, and technical data embodied in this application note represent the technical status
at the time of writing and are subject to change without prior notice.
We have done our best to ensure that the information given in this application note is useful, accurate and entirely reliable.
However, OMICRON does not assume responsibility for any inaccuracies which may be present.
OMICRON translates this application note from the source language English into a number of other languages. Any
translation of this document is done for local requirements, and in the event of a dispute between the English and a non-
English version, the English version of this note shall govern.

© OMICRON 2016 Page 2 of 12


1 Safety instructions
This application note may only be used in combination with the relevant product manuals which
contain all safety instructions. The user is fully responsible for any application that makes use of
OMICRON products.

DANGER
Death or severe injury caused by high voltage or current if the respective
protective measures are not complied.

 Carefully read the content of this instruction as well as the manuals of the
involved devices before taking them in operation.
 Contact OMICRON Support if you have any questions or doubts regarding
the safety or operating instructions.
 Follow the instructions listed in the manuals, especially the safety
instructions, since this is the only way to avoid danger that can occur when
working on high voltage or high current systems.
 Only use the involved equipment according to its intended purpose to
guarantee a safe operation.
 Existing national safety standards for accident prevention and
environmental protection may supplement the equipment’s manual.

Only experienced and competent professionals that are trained for working in high voltage or high
current environments may perform this application note. Additional the following qualifications are
required:
• Authorized to work in environments of energy generation, transmission or distribution and
familiar with the approved operating practices in such environments.
• Familiar with the five safety rules.
• Good knowledge of the CPC 100, CP TD1 and CP CR500.

2 Using this document


This application note provides detailed information on how to measure and assess a pole impedance
measurement on salient poles of a rotating machine using the OMICRON CPC 100.
Please refer to national and international safety regulations relevant to working with high voltage (HV). The
regulation EN 50191 ("The Erection and Operation of Electrical Test Equipment"), as well as all the applicable
regulations for accident prevention in the country and at the site of operation, have to be fulfilled.

© OMICRON 2016 Page 3 of 12


2.1 Operator qualifications and safety standards
Working on HV devices is extremely dangerous. Measurements must be carried out only by qualified, skilled
and authorized personnel. Before starting to work, clearly establish the responsibilities. Personnel receiving
training, instructions, directions, or education on the measurement setup must be under constant supervision
of an experienced operator while working with the equipment. The measurement must comply with the relevant
national and international safety standards listed below:

 EN 50191 (VDE 0104) "Erection and Operation of Electrical Equipment"

 EN 50110-1 (VDE 0105 Part 100) "Operation of Electrical Installations"

 IEEE 510 "Recommended Practices for Safety in High-Voltage and High-Power Testing"

 LAPG 1710.6 NASA "Electrical Safety"

Moreover, additional relevant laws and internal safety standards have to be followed.

2.2 Safety measures


Before starting a measurement, read the safety rules in the CPC 100, CP TD1 and CP CR500 Reference
Manual and observe the application specific safety instructions in this application note when performing
measurements to protect yourself from high-voltage hazards.

2.3 Related documents

Title Description
Contains information on how to use the CPC 100 test system and
CPC 100 Reference Manual
relevant safety instructions.

© OMICRON 2016 Page 4 of 12


3 Impedance measurement on salient poles
The following document applies to all kind of salient pole rotors.

Impedance measurement on salient poles is a common offline investigation to check possible inter
turn short circuits of the pole windings. The terms impedance measurement and pole drop test are
redundant as long as the source of the impedance measurement is delivering a stable current.
As this is not always the case (grid disturbances, external noises, slight variation of the source...),
the impedance is measured to eliminate the mentioned noise sources.

Nevertheless, the CPC 100 is able to perform both the pole drop test as well as the pole impedance
measurement.

For reasons of simplicity, only the pole impedance measurement is described in this document. The
connection and measurement method are the same for both approaches.

3.1 Purpose
The winding insulation of a salient pole winding is exposed to high thermal and mechanical stresses.
When using static excitation equipment, additional electrical stresses can appear due to voltage pulses
with higher frequencies.

An inter turn short circuit can lead to a magnetic imbalance, resulting in higher shaft vibrations, higher
stress and damage to the bearings.
It is recommended to check the rotor windings on a regular base with the below described method as
it is easy and quick to perform.

3.2 Measurement method


An alternate voltage is applied to the entire pole winding of the rotor and the voltage drop on each
single pole is measured. With the known current I in Figure 1, the impedance of each pole can be
calculated. Differences in the impedance values between poles are indicating possible inter turn short
circuits.

Figure 1: Measurement principle when performing the pole impedance test.

© OMICRON 2016 Page 5 of 12


4 Preparing the pole impedance test
The preparation of the test can be easily done in the office with the CPC start page. The right choice
for the measurement is the Quick Test Card. The following chapter explains how to find and define
the Quick Test Card parameters.

4.1 CPC Editor and Test Card preparation


The location of the CPC Editor in the CPC start page is shown in
Figure 2 .

Figure 2: CPC start page with a path to the generator template

By opening the CPC editor, a blank test list appears where several Quick Test Cards can be added.
In Figure 3 a ten-pole rotor is tested by adding ten Quick Test Cards to the test card list. Every test
card is representing an impedance measurement at one pole.

Figure 3: View of the generator template in the CPC Editor

© OMICRON 2016 Page 6 of 12


4.2 Choosing the right parameter in the Quick Test Card
Three possible outputs on the CPC 100 enable the AC test. As the rotor usually has a certain
impedance, the 800A output is not the right choice for this test. This document describes the
measurement with the 6A/130V AC-output at the front panel of the CPC 100 and the optional
2 kV output.

The number of poles determines the output source. Assuming that a certain voltage is to be injected
into the entire winding, the voltage drop on each pole winding should be equal or close to equal.
To guarantee a proper test resolution, the voltage drop should be in the range of 2 V to 10 V or
higher. In the example in Figure 3, a suitable output voltage for a rotor with 10 poles would be in the
range from 20 V to 50 V. This can be performed with both options – the 6A/130V output on the front
panel (Figure 4, left picture) or the 2 kV output (Figure 4, right picture).

Figure 4: Example of parameter selection when measuring a 10-pole rotor. Left: Measurement with 6A/130V output;
Right: Measurement with the 2 kV output.

To energize a higher number of poles, the 2 kV output could be the better solution to guarantee a
higher voltage drop at each pole winding.

The test is usually performed at grid frequency. Other frequencies are possible as well.
Additionally, different internal company standards might also define the voltage of the pole drop test.

The measurement parameters are the injected current and the voltage drop at each pole winding.
The calculated parameter Z is the resulting pole impedance.

While the measurement of the output current of the 2 kV output is internal, the current measurement
of the 6A/130V has to be looped through the ampere-meter (see chapter 5 ).

DANGER
Death or severe injury caused by high voltage or current possible.

 When reconnecting the measurement be sure that the power is safely off
and the winding is grounded
 Do not reconnect during output is live and injecting to the rotor winding.

© OMICRON 2016 Page 7 of 12


5 Measurement Setup
DANGER
Before Starting:

 Make sure that the CPC 100 is grounded properly.


 Always touch the leads and pole connectors with a grounding rod first.

DANGER
For your own Safety:

Be sure to ALWAYS follow the following five safety rules:


 Disconnect mains
 Prevent reconnection
 Test for absence of harmful voltages
 Ground and short circuit
 Cover or close off nearby live parts

Depending on the selection of the parameters in chapter 4.2 , two test setups are possible. One with
the 6A/130V output in Figure 5 and the other one with the 2 kV output in Figure 6.

In both test setups, the connection of voltage input moves after every measurement to the next pole
until all the pole impedances are measured. The arrows in both pictures indicate this.

Figure 5: Test setup with the 6A/130V output

© OMICRON 2016 Page 8 of 12


Figure 6: Test setup with the 2 kV output

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6 Assessment of the measurement
After performing the measurement of each pole, the assessment process evaluates the integrity of
the rotor winding. This is a comparative assessment, where the comparison happens between the
impedance values of different poles over time. A pole winding with an inter turn short circuit results in
a lower voltage drop and a lower impedance than a healthy winding.

The results are strongly dependent on the physical position of the rotor. Due to stray flux they are
different if the rotor is in the machine or pulled out, or if i.e. the upper part of a horizontal machine is
not mounted during a commissioning test.

If the rotor is removed, adjacent parts can have also an influence on the measurement results.
Figure 7 shows an example of a test arrangement, where the measurement of the lower poles of the
rotor are influenced by the metallic construction on the floor. The rotor was turned when measuring
these poles to ensure a reproducible measurement.

Figure 7: Example how adjacent parts are influencing the measurement results

As there are no standard limits, OMICRON recommends that you investigate poles, which differ from
the mean value by ± 2.5 %.

© OMICRON 2016 Page 10 of 12


6.1 Practical example
The following example in Figure 8 shows a measurement on a new machine with 44 poles, where the
value of the impedance is within the above-mentioned limit.

Figure 8: Measurement results, where the red line indicates the average value. The grey lines indicate the limits of ± 2.5%.

6.2 Limitation of the measurement


The measurement is not indicating any short circuits, which are visible only during operation when
centrifugal forces are affecting the windings. Depending on the number of turns per pole, single short
turns are challenging to detect and other more sensitive testing methods (i.e. SFRA measurement on
poles) could be a better choice.

© OMICRON 2016 Page 11 of 12


OMICRON is an international company serving the electrical power industry
with innovative testing and diagnostic solutions. The application of
OMICRON products provides users with the highest level of confidence in
the condition assessment of primary and secondary equipment on their
systems. Services offered in the area of consulting, commissioning, testing,
diagnosis, and training make the product range complete.
Customers in more than 140 countries rely on the company's ability to
supply leading edge technology of excellent quality. Broad application
knowledge and extraordinary customer support provided by offices in North
America, Europe, South and East Asia, and the Middle East, together with
a worldwide network of distributors and representatives, make the company
a market leader in its sector.

www.omicronenergy.com

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