An Investigation into the Performance of Magnetically Geared Devices for Marine Hydrokinetic and Wind Applications

基于风力和旋转的海洋水动能转换装置通常依靠机械齿轮箱来提高其速度，以匹配电磁发电机的要求。然而，机械齿轮箱正在制造可靠性问题，并且齿轮箱的维护可以显著增加能源的平均成本。由于其固有的低单位体积扭矩能力，使用直接驱动发电机等替代方法在更高功率水平下变得不切实际。本研究将探讨使用磁齿轮发电装置的理论和实际性能。与传统的机械齿轮箱相比，磁性齿轮箱具有许多优点，因为磁性齿轮箱在没有任何物理接触的情况下产生速度变化，它不需要齿轮润滑，并且具有固有的过载扭矩限制能力。通过将磁性齿轮箱耦合到发电机上，可以显著提高发电机系统的可靠性，并且体积尺寸可能与机械齿轮箱相当。通过提高可靠性，磁齿轮发电机可以降低风能和海洋能转换的平准化成本。这可以增加可再生能源的利用，从而有助于减少与化石燃料燃烧有关的空气中污染物的排放。本研究的主要目标是：(1)开发建模工具，以了解轴向磁齿轮和径向磁齿轮拓扑结构的缩放和成本/性能权衡。(2)构造并试验定子驱动无级变速磁齿轮发电机和轴向驱动直驱磁齿轮发电机。(3)在较宽的转速和转矩范围内实验评估所提出的磁性齿轮装置的效率。当使用铁氧体和稀土磁体时，轴向和径向磁聚焦磁齿轮设计的实际性能权衡将在成本的背景下确定。功率流、效率和功率因数特性将根据现有技术进行表征。这项研究将导致更大的理解能量转换过程时，使用磁齿轮，无级变速磁齿轮和磁齿轮直接驱动电机。当使用磁通聚焦磁齿轮拓扑结构时，实现非常高的质量和体积扭矩密度所需的技术将被仔细定义。导出了无级变磁齿轮入网时的功率流和控制方程。本科生和研究生都将协助这项研究。代表性不足的学生将积极参与这项研究。为当地高中生举办拓展活动和每年的暑期研究体验。研究结果将在主要期刊、会议和讲习班上传播，以使科学界和工业界受益。

Wind and rotary based marine hydrokinetic energy conversion devices often rely on a mechanical gearbox to increase their speed so as to match the requirements of the electromagnetic generator. However, mechanical gearboxes are creating reliability concerns and the maintenance of the gearbox can significantly add to the levelized cost of energy. Alternative approaches such as using a direct-drive generator become impractical at higher power levels due to their inherently low torque-per-volume capability. This research will investigate the theoretical and practical performance capabilities of using magnetically geared generation devices. A magnetic gearbox offers a number of advantages over traditional mechanical gearboxes in that a magnetic gearbox creates speed change without any physical contact, it does not require gear lubrication and has an inherent overload torque limiting capability. By coupling a magnetic gearbox to a generator the reliability of the generator system can be significantly improved and the volumetric size could potentially be comparable to its mechanically geared equivalent. By improving reliability a magnetically geared generator could reduce the levelized cost of wind and ocean power conversion. This could increase the utilization of renewable energy resources and consequently help reduce the emission of airborne pollutants associated with the combustion of fossil fuels. The primary goals of this research are to (1) develop modeling tools to understand the scaling and cost/performance trade-offs of axial magnetic gears and radial magnetic gear topologies. (2) Construct and test a stator driven continuously variable magnetic gear and an axially driven direct-drive magnetically geared generator. (3) Experimentally assess the efficiency of the proposed magnetic gear devices over a wide speed and torque range. The practical performance trade-offs between axial and radial flux-focusing magnetic gear designs when using ferrite and rare-earth magnets will be determined in the context of cost. The power flow, efficiency and power factor characteristics will be characterized with respect to existing technology. This research will lead to a greater understanding of the energy conversion process when using magnetic gears, continuously variable magnetic gears and magnetically geared direct-drive electrical machines. The techniques required to achieve very high mass and volumetric torque densities when using flux focusing magnetic gear topologies will be carefully defined. The power flow and control equations for the integration of a continuously variable magnetic gear into the grid will be derived. Both undergraduate and graduate students will assist with this research. Underrepresented students will be actively involved in this research. Outreach activities and yearly summer research experiences for local high-school students will take place. The research results will be disseminated in leading journals, conferences, and workshops in order to benefit the scientific and industrial community.