System and method for synchronous machine health monitoring

1. A method for synchronous machine health monitoring comprising:

receiving a plurality of phase voltage values and a plurality of phase current values;

computing a plurality of voltage phasors based on the plurality of phase voltage values;

computing a negative sequence voltage (Vn) based on the plurality of phase voltage values, wherein the Vn is representative of a negative sequence back electromotive force (EMF) which represents a signature of a winding fault in a corresponding configuration of a synchronous machine;

computing one or more operating parameters based on at least one of the plurality of phase voltage values and the plurality of phase current values;

retrieving from a lookup data store, one or more known Vn based on the one or more operating parameters;

computing a machine health indicator based on the computed Vn and the one or more known Vn wherein the one or more known Vn may be scaled according to a measured speed of the synchronous machine, wherein computing the machine health indicator comprises:

computing a phasor difference between the healthy state Vn and the computed Vn; and

normalizing the phasor difference with respect to the healthy open circuit Vn; and

raising an alarm based on the machine health indicator, wherein the raising an alarm based on the machine health indicator comprises comparing a computed value of the machine health indicator with a healthy state value of the machine health indicator.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

computing a negative sequence current (In) and a negative sequence impedance (Znn) based on the plurality of phase voltage values and the plurality of phase current values;

retrieving from a data store, one or more known In, and one or more known Znn based on the one or more operating parameters; and

taking into account the computed In, the computed Znn, the one or more known In, and the one or more known Znn, for computing the machine health indicator.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

computing a zero sequence current (I 0 ) based on the plurality of phase current values;

retrieving from a data store, one or more known I 0 based on the one or more operating parameters; and

taking into account the computed I 0 and the one or more known I 0 , for computing the machine health indicator.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising converting the plurality of phase voltage values to a plurality of line voltage values.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein computing the one or more operating parameters comprises:

computing a field current value based on the plurality of phase currents; and

computing a positive sequence current based on the plurality of phase currents.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more known Vn comprises at least one of a healthy open circuit Vn and a healthy state Vn.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein raising the alarm comprises:

comparing the machine health indicator to a predefined threshold; and

setting an alarm flag responsive to the comparison.

8. A system for synchronous machine health monitoring comprising:

a data receiver for receiving a plurality of phase voltage values and a plurality of phase current values;

a sequence component module for computing a negative sequence voltage (Vn) based on the plurality of phase voltage values, wherein the Vn is representative of a negative sequence back electromotive force (EMF) which represents a signature of a winding fault in a corresponding configuration of a synchronous machine;

a lookup module for retrieving from a data store, one or more known Vn based on at least one of the plurality of phase voltage values and the plurality of phase current values;

an prognostic module for computing a plurality of voltage phasors based on the plurality of phase voltage values and computing a machine health indicator based on the computed Vn and the one or more known Vn, wherein the one or more known Vn may be scaled according to a measured speed of the synchronous machine and wherein computing the machine health indicator comprises computing a phasor difference between the healthy state Vn and the computed Vn; and normalizing the phasor difference with respect to the healthy open circuit Vn; and

an alarm module for raising an alarm based on the machine health indicator; wherein the alarm module is configured to compare a computed value of the machine health indicator with a healthy state value of the machine health indicator.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein:

the sequence component module further computes at least one of a negative sequence current (In), a negative sequence impedance (Znn), and a zero sequence current (I 0 ) based on the plurality of phase voltage values and the plurality of phase current values;

the lookup module further retrieves at least one of a known In, a known Znn, and a known I 0 ; and

the prognostic module computes the machine health indicator further based on at least one of the computed In, the computed Znn, and the computed I 0 , the known In, the known Znn, and the known I 0 .

10. The system of claim 8 further comprising a data store for storing the one or more known Vn, wherein the one or more known Vn comprises at least one of a healthy open circuit Vn and a healthy state Vn.

11. The system of claim 8 wherein the lookup module further comprises:

a computing unit for computing a field current and a positive sequence current based on the plurality of phase current values; and

a query unit for querying the data store using the field current and the positive sequence current.

12. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with computer-executable instructions for monitoring health of a synchronous machine, wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed, cause one or more processors:

receive a plurality of phase voltage values and a plurality of phase current values;

compute a plurality of voltage phasors based on the plurality of phase voltage values;

compute a negative sequence voltage (Vn) based on the plurality of phase voltage values, wherein the Vn is representative of a negative sequence back electromotive force (EMF) which represents a signature of a winding fault in a corresponding configuration of a synchronous machine;

compute one or more operating parameters based on at least one of the plurality of phase voltage values and the plurality of phase current values;

retrieve from a lookup data store, one or more known Vn based on the one or more operating parameters;

compute a machine health indicator based on the computed Vn and the one or more known Vn, wherein the one or more known Vn may be scaled according to a measured speed of the synchronous machine;

compute a phasor difference between the healthy state Vn and the computed Vn; and

normalize the phasor difference with respect to the open circuit Vn; and

raise an alarm based on the machine health indicator, wherein the alarm is raised further based on a comparison of a computed value of the machine health indicator with a healthy state value of the machine health indicator.

13. The computer program product of claim 12 :

compute at least one of a negative sequence current (In), a negative sequence impedance (Znn), and a zero sequence current (I 0 ) based on the plurality of phase voltage values and the plurality of phase current values;

retrieve at least one of a known In, a known Znn, and a known I 0 ; and

compute the machine health indicator further based on at least one of the computed In, the computed Znn, and the computed I 0 , the known In, the known Znn, and the known I 0 .

14. The computer program product of claim 12 further comprising computer executable instructions to cause the one or more processors to convert the plurality of phase voltage values to a plurality of line voltage values.

15. The computer program product of claim 12 further comprising computer executable instructions to cause the one or more processors to:

compute a field current value based on the plurality of phase currents; and

compute a positive sequence current based on the plurality of phase currents.

16. The computer program product of claim 12 , wherein the one or more known Vn comprises at least one of an open circuit Vn and a healthy state Vn.

17. The computer program product of claim 12 further comprising computer executable instructions to cause the one or more processors to:

compare the machine health indicator to a predefined threshold; and

set an alarm flag responsive to the comparison.