System and method for on line monitoring of insulation condition for DC machines

1. An insulation condition monitoring method, comprising:

measuring a first set of values for an instantaneous differential current and an instantaneous voltage during operation of a rotating DC electric machine;

calculating a value for a phasor current and phasor voltage based upon the first set of values of said instantaneous differential current and said instantaneous voltage, respectively;

digitalizing said instantaneous differential current and said instantaneous voltage at a selected frequency for evaluating a desired parameter of insulation condition;

calculating an angular relationship between said phasor current and said phasor voltage; and

determining said desired parameter of said insulation condition based on said angular relationship.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining said desired parameter from said angular relationship between said phasor current and said phasor voltage.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the desired parameter includes at least one of: a phase angle between said phasor current and said phasor voltage; an AC insulation resistance value; and a dissipation factor.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said measuring corresponds to a selected winding of the electric machine.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein said selected winding corresponds to at least one of an armature and a field winding.

6. The method of claim 1 further including calculating a value for another phasor current and another phasor voltage based upon said first set of values of said instantaneous differential current and said instantaneous voltage, respectively.

7. A method of operating an insulation condition monitoring system, the method comprising:

measuring a first set of values for an instantaneous differential current and an instantaneous voltage during operation of a rotating DC electric machine;

calculating a value for a phasor current and a phasor voltage based upon said first set of values of said instantaneous differential current and said instantaneous phase voltage, respectively;

digitalizing said instantaneous differential current and said instantaneous voltage at a selected frequency for evaluating a desired parameter;

calculating an angular relationship between said phasor current and said phasor voltage; and

calculating said desired parameter based on said angular relationship between said phasor current and said phasor voltage for determining insulation condition.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein said values for said instantaneous differential current and said instantaneous voltage are measured via a differential current sensor and a voltage sensor respectively.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising filtering an output from said current sensor and an output from said voltage sensor.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein said desired parameter includes at least one of: a phase angle between said phasor current and said phasor voltage; an AC insulation resistance value; and a dissipation factor.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein said measuring corresponds to a selected winding of the electric machine.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein said selected winding corresponds to at least one of an armature and a field winding.

13. The method of claim 7 further including calculating a value for another phasor current and another phasor voltage based upon said first set of values of said instantaneous differential current and said instantaneous voltage, respectively.

14. An insulation condition monitoring system, comprising:

a differential current sensor coupled to a rotating DC electric machine for measuring values of current;

a voltage sensor coupled to said rotating DC electric machine for measuring values of AC voltage;

a processing module coupled to said current sensor and said voltage sensor, said processing module configured to convert values for instantaneous differential current and instantaneous voltage to respective values for phasor current and phasor voltage, and wherein said processing module is further configured to calculate an angular relationship between said phasor current and said phasor voltage and generating an output based on said angular relationship as an indication of insulation condition; and a data acquisition system for digitalizing said instantaneous differential current and said instantaneous voltage at a selected frequency for evaluating a desired parameter of said insulation condition.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein said data acquisition system further filters an output from said differential current sensor and an output from said voltage sensor.

16. The system of claim 14 , further comprising a memory module for storing an output generated from said processing module.

17. The system of claim 14 , further comprising an indicator module coupled to said processing module, said indicator module configured to indicate said insulation condition based on an output from said processing module.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein said indicator module compares an output of said processing module to a selected threshold value and generates an alert when said output exceed said threshold value.

19. A rotating electric machine, comprising:

an armature and a field winding configured to conduct electric current and generate magnetic field by virtue of flow of said current;

a plurality of conductors to conduct electric current to said windings;

an insulation system for insulating said windings;

an insulation condition monitoring system including:

a differential current sensor coupled to the rotating electric machine for measuring values of instantaneous differential current of at least one of said armature and said field winding;

a voltage sensor coupled to the rotating electric machine for measuring values of instantaneous voltage of said at least one of said armature and said field winding;

a processing module coupled to said current sensor and said voltage sensor, said processing module configured to convert values for instantaneous differential current and instantaneous voltage to respective values for phasor current and phasor voltage, and wherein said processing module is further configured to calculate an angular relationship between said phasor current and said phasor voltage and generating an output based on said angular relationship as an indication of insulation condition; and

a data acquisition system for digitalizing said instantaneous differential current and said instantaneous voltage at a selected frequency for evaluating a desired parameter of said insulation condition.

20. The machine of claim 19 , wherein said data acquisition system further filters an output from said differential current sensor and said voltage sensor.

21. The machine of claim 19 , further comprising a memory module for storing an output generated from said processing module.

22. The machine of claim 21 , further comprising an indicator module coupled to said processing module, said indicator module configured for indicating said insulation condition based on an output from said processing module.

23. The machine of claim 22 , wherein said indicator module compares an output of said processing module to a selected threshold value and generates an alert when said output axceeds said threshold value.

24. The machine of claim 19 , wherein the electric machine comprises a DC rotating electric machine.

25. An insulation condition monitoring system, comprising:

a means for measuring a first set of values for an instantaneous differential current and an instantaneous differential voltage during operation of a rotating DC electric machine;

a means for calculating a value for a phasor current and a value for a phasor voltage based upon said first set of values of said instantaneous differential current and said instantaneous phase voltage, respectively;

a means for digitalizing said instantaneous differential current and said instantaneous voltage at a selected frequency for evaluating a desired parameter of insulation condition;

a means for calculating an angular relationship between said phasor current and said phasor voltage; and

a means for determining said desired parameter of said insulation condition based on said angular relationship.

26. A storage medium encoded with a machine-readable computer program code for a method of monitoring an insulation condition including instructions for causing a computer to implement the method comprising:

measuring a first set of values for an instantaneous differential current and an instantaneous voltage during operation of a rotating DC electric machine;

calculating a value for a phasor current and phasor voltage based upon said first set of values of said instantaneous differential current and said instantaneous voltage, respectively;

digitalizing said instantaneous differential current and said instantaneous voltage at a selected frequency for evaluating a desired parameter of insulation condition;

calculating an angular relationship between said phasor current and said phasor voltage; and

determining said desired parameter of said insulation condition based on said angular relationship.

27. A computer data signal embodied in a computer readable format for monitoring an insulation condition, said computer data signal including instructions for causing a computer to implement a method comprising:

measuring a first set of values for an instantaneous differential current and an instantaneous voltage during operation of a rotating DC electric machine;

calculating a value for a phasor current and phasor voltage based upon said first set of values of said instantaneous differential current and said instantaneous voltage, respectively;

digitalizing said instantaneous differential current and said instantaneous voltage at a selected frequency for evaluating a desired parameter of insulation condition;

calculating an angular relationship between said phasor current and said phasor voltage; and

determining said desired parameter of said insulation condition based on said angular relationship.