High power synchronous machine drives

In this chapter, high power synchronous motor drives will be addressed. First of all, an overview will be provided of the main technologies and design features which characterize large synchronous machines (section 4.1) and the relevant supplying converters (section 4.2), also taking into due account their field of application. Subsequently, the attention will be placed on the major strategies intended to improve high-power synchronous machine drive fault tolerance (section 4.3), acting on the system-level drive architecture as well as on the design and operation of the individual components (electric motor, converter, control system). Finally, the main diagnostics and condition monitoring techniques for high-power synchronous motor drives will be covered, describing the main methods to detect possible malfunctioning, anomalies and faults in drive operation before they result in serious damages or hazards.