IEEE Access (Jan 2021)

Design and Optimization of a Hybrid Excitation System for Magnetically Driven Rotating DC Arc Plasma Generators

  • Xiaowen Xu,
  • Zhuoxiang Ren,
  • Shiyou Yang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3128583
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9
pp. 157012 – 157020

Abstract

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To eliminate the disadvantages of both the uncontrollability in the magnetic field of a permanent magnet excitation system and the high energy consumption of an electric excitation system in a traditional magnetically rotating arc plasma generator, a novel topology of a hybrid permanent magnet and electrically excited coil system is proposed. The proposed system will generate a large enough magnetic field to drive the arc rotation with a minimum consumption of materials and electric energy in the normal operation duty, and will guarantee a nearly zero magnetic field in the arc triggering stage. To optimize the hybrid excitation system, a comprehensive analysis and an optimization methodology; by combining finite element analysis, the moving the least squares approximation and an adaptive weighted particle swarm optimization, are proposed. Finally, a prototype hybrid excitation system is optimized with promising results in views of both saving a huge amount of electric power consumptions and ensuring a nearly zero magnetic field in the arc triggering.

Keywords