Development and application of a standstill parameter identification technique for the synchronous generator

•A new identification method is proposed for the nonlinear synchronous machine model.•The method is suited for machines with model 2.1 in IEEE Std. 1110-2002.•The test identifies all the electrical parameters of the machine.•The test requires a very short period of transient data at low signal ratings.•The machine can be tested in standstill at any arbitrary, but known, angle.

This work presents the development of an offline standstill estimation technique, where the synchronous machine is locked at an arbitrary (but known) angle and is excited over a short period of time. The proposed time domain method requires few seconds of captured data in contrast to the well-known standard Standstill Frequency Response (SSFR) technique that could take more than 6 h to conduct. This is based on nonlinear least squares estimation and algebraic elimination theory. The resulting algorithm is non-iterative where the data is used to construct polynomials that are solved for a finite number of roots which determine the electrical parameter values. Experimental results are presented showing the efficacy of the technique in furnishing the parameters of a salient pole synchronous machine.