The concepts of a hydrogen-cooled generator are very simple.

As current flows in a
conductor, heat is generated. A generator has a lot of conductors and a lot of
current flowing through the conductors, generating a lot of heat. If that heat
isn't "removed" then the windings will be damaged (insulation "blisters";
conductors grow and elongate causing clearance and balance issues; etc.). In
addition, in a synchronous generator (alternator), there are high currents flowing
in the rotor windings, which also generates heat which must be "removed".
Air can be used to cool a generator, by circulating it through the generator to
absorb heat and then exhausting the air to another area outside the generator. A
continuous flow of air from outside the generator, through the generator, to
another area outside the generator will cool the generator and rotor. (The
presumption is that the air entering the generator is cooler than the generator.)
Another way to cool the generator is to use hydrogen gas circulated through the
generator and around the rotor to cool things. Hydrogen is seven to ten times
better at transferring heat than air. That is, hydrogen is much, much better at
absorbing heat and then at giving up that heat to another medium/area than air.
This means that for the same size generator, if it's cooled with hydrogen versus
air that more current can flow in the stator and rotor windings which means that
more power can be produced. Or, thinking about it a little differently, the same
about of power can be produced with a smaller generator cooled with hydrogen than
one cooled with air, which is the typical reason for using hydrogen cooling--to
reduce the physical size (and cost) of the generator.
The "problem" with using hydrogen as a cooling medium is that it's explosive when
mixed with air and exposed to an ignition source. However, if the purity of the
hydrogen is maintained at a very high level, meaning there is very little or no air
in the generator casing to mix with the hydrogen, then even if there was a "spark"
there won't be an explosion.
So, to use hydrogen to cool a generator it's necessary to prevent air from
contaminating the high-purity hydrogen used to fill the generator casing after
displacing the air. And that's important, displacing as much of the air inside the
generator casing before filling it with high-purity hydrogen.
The hydrogen gas inside the generator is usually at a pressure of approximately 2
barg (30 psig), which means that air cannot leak "into" the generator casing where
the hydrogen is. In effect, this is the primary method of preventing air from
getting into the casing and contaminating the hydrogen.
The hydrogen is circulated by fans on the ends of the generator rotor, and as it's
circulated around the generator it passes over coolers which have water circulating
through them. The heat which is absorbed by the hydrogen gas as it passes through
the generator and around the rotor is transferred to the water in the cooler. As
the hydrogen exits the coolers, it's recirculated back to the generator and rotor,
in a continuous cycle.
Another important consideration is to keep the hydrogen from leaking out of the
generator, mixing with air and causing an explosion- or fire hazard where it might
leak out of the generator.
The generator rotor rotates where it passes through the end-shields and that is the
area that must be sealed to keep the hydrogen in and not allow it to leak out. A
hydrogen-cooled generator uses "seals" to keep the hydrogen gas inside the
generator.
The hydrogen seals are on the two shaft "ends" that pass through the generator end-
shields. Oil is typically used as the sealing medium, and is sprayed on the shaft
around the entire circumference of the shaft. The "seal oil" is at a higher
pressure than the hydrogen inside the generator casing. Some of the seal oil flows
out of the seal area along the shaft to the "air" side of the generator and some of
the oil flows out of the seal area along the shaft into the "hydrogen" side of the
generator.
The oil that's used as the seal oil is generally the same lubricating oil that's
used for the bearings. That oil is normally in contact with air when it's in the
lube oil tank and the bearing drains. So, air (in the form of small bubbles) can be
entrained in the lube oil, and when sprayed on the generator shaft that air can be
liberated from the oil that flows into the hydrogen side of the seal area. That
air, if not "removed" somehow, can continue to collect inside the generator casing
and reduce the purity of the hydrogen, and cause a safety concern.
So, because the hydrogen inside the generator casing is at a higher pressure than
outside the generator casing, air can't leak into the generator. And, because oil,
which will have entrained air in it, is used as the sealing medium, the air
released from the "seal oil" that flows into the hydrogen area can reduce the
hydrogen purity if not removed. So, the primary source of air to reduce hydrogen
purity (contaminate the hydrogen gas inside the generator) is air liberated from
the oil used to keep the hydrogen inside the generator from leaking out along the
shaft.
So, there is a system to remove the air which is liberated from the seal oil that
flows into the hydrogen side of the generator seal. That system is typically called
a "scavenging" system. A small amount of gas is allowed to be vented from the seal
oil enlargement tank, where the entrained air liberated from the seal oil is
hopefully contained. That vent is normally piped to a safe area of the atmosphere
away from any ignition source since it will have hydrogen gas in it as well as air.
Because a small amount of gas (air and hydrogen) is continually being vented to
atmosphere through the scavenging system, the pressure inside the generator would
decrease if nothing else were done. However, there is a pressure regulator from a
source of high-purity hydrogen that maintains the pressure by flowing a small
amount of high-purity hydrogen into the generator casing to maintain the pressure.
There is usually a hydrogen purity monitoring system which can be used to detect
changes in purity during operation. Again, the presumption is that the hydrogen
purity is high to begin with (after the generator casing is purged of air and
filled ("charged") with hydrogen). But because of the air which can be liberated
from the oil used as the sealing medium to keep the hydrogen from leaking out of
the generator, it is necessary to have a means of monitoring the purity, usually at
multiple points in the generator, to be sure that the purity is maintained to
prevent a possible explosion or fire.
The scavenging flow rates must also be set and monitored to prevent excessive
hydrogen consumption (to replace the hydrogen lost with the air that's being vented
to atmosphere).
The seal oil that flows into the hydrogen side of the seal area is usually directed
to an area called and "enlargement tank" and that's where it's hoped the entrained
air is liberated and "contained", and vents from the enlargement tanks are directed
through calibrated flow-meters to atmosphere (the scavenging system). The hydrogen
purity monitors are usually capable of monitoring the purity of the gas in the top
of the enlargement tanks that's vented through the scavenging system.
The hydrogen purity monitor can also be set to monitor the purity inside the casing
(which should be higher than the enlargement tanks, theoretically).
Usually, when the hydrogen purity monitor indicates the purity is decreasing, then
it increases the scavenging flow-rate to try to increase the purity, but venting
more "contaminated" gas to atmosphere and replacing it with high-purity hydrogen.
If the hydrogen purity drops below a certain level (around 80% or so, depending on
manufacturers' recommendations), then usually the generator and prime mover are
stopped and then the generator is purged of hydrogen. (CO2 is usually used as the
medium for purging air from the generator when filling with hydrogen, and also when
purging the hydrogen from the generator.)
Presuming the hydrogen being used to maintain the pressure while scavenging is high
purity, and because the casing pressure is usually two barg, the most likely way
that purity can be decreased is from the air entrained in the seal oil. If the seal
oil flow-rates (usually monitored with a single (unfortunately) flow meter)
increase, then the air liberated from the seal oil will increase and that is the
primary source of contamination and decreased purity. (This presumes that the
purity monitors are working correctly.) So, it's very, very important to monitor
seal oil flow-rates to detect an increase which would usually result in a decrease
in purity. But, with only a single seal oil flow-rate meter for seals at two ends
of the generator, it's difficult to detect which seal is degrading and consuming
more oil which is liberating more air (but the decreased purity in a particular
enlargement tank is the key ).
That should be enough of a description for a newbie or novice. If you have specific
questions, we'll try to help. If you're working at a site with a hydrogen-cooled
generator, you should be able to find the seal oil piping schematic (P&ID) which
should be helpful in understanding the seal oil system. If the generator was
manufactured by GE, it will usually have some drawings in the Instruction Manuals
that are very helpful in understanding the systems in use on the generator at the
site (though most are very similar, there can be subtle, but important,
differences).