Precision Evaluation of the DC Decay Method for Accurate Characterization of Wound-Field Synchronous Machines and Comparison with the Sudden Short-Circuit

The sudden short-circuit is considered the gold-standard parameter measurement method for wound-field synchronous machines (WFSMs) as it enables the recording of the characteristic quantities in near-to-real conditions. However, the test needs huge pieces of equipment, but even worse, it reduces the lifetime of the electrical components by up to 10 years due to the high winding overhang mechanical forces. The DC-Decay tests are low-power alternatives to obtain the characteristic quantities without damaging the machinery. To allow wider use of this method, there are a couple of challenges left that are tackled by this paper. The two main open challenges are, firstly, the number of measurements needed to reach a particular precision, and secondly, a comparison of the DC-Decay with the sudden short-circuit test to allow the validation against the gold standard. More detailed, this paper explores the main challenges associated with the practical use of the DC decay method, which is a non-conventional and detailed-level approach to characterize WFSMs. We provide replies and recommendations regarding the number of measurements, suggesting the minimum number of recorded tests needed to obtain the equivalent diagram with a given accuracy, which has been further validated with an experimental case study. Moreover, the potential enhancement and precision of the parameter identification algorithm are studied in detail. Finally, the equivalent parameters of the DC decay method are compared to the gold standard, which concludes on what the characterization means in terms of predicting accurate transient short-circuit currents for WFSMs.