Synchronous Machines Life Assessment and Maintenance Committee
Synchronous generators and motors are such important electrical machines that might have great impacts on our daily life and industrial activity. Recently those machines are under the trial of the extension of maintenance interval, life assessment and rehabilitation, and application of the newest technologies to their monitoring. However, the majority of such trials are thought to be not comprehensive, from which point of view Synchronous Machine Life Assessment and Maintenance Committee has been established. The committee carried out field investigations relating to (1) interval, contents, and future of the maintenance, (2) technologies of life assessment and extension of the materials and parts, (3) protection scheme and the latest monitoring techniques including on-line basis, etc., which are summarized in this report.
This report discusses the following items such as the outline of the investigation, definitions of related technical terms, typical structures of synchronous machines. Also summarized are statistics of manufacturing and commercial operation, failure examples, on-going maintenance, policies and future of the maintenance, current and future trend of their monitoring/protection, and today's life assessment and its future. Some remarks are also added on the rehabilitation technology. Special attentions are paid in preparing this report particularly to give convenience to the maintenance staff in synchronous machine users, and to make useful information in the first step education of young engineers.©2006. The Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan