A World-Class University-Industry Consortium for Wind Energy Research, Education, and Workforce Development: Final Technical Report

During the two-year project period, the consortium members have developed control algorithms for enhancing the reliability of wind turbine components. The consortium members have developed advanced operation and planning tools for accommodating the high penetration of variable wind energy. The consortium members have developed extensive education and research programs for educating the stakeholders on critical issues related to the wind energy research and development. In summary, The Consortium procured one utility-grade wind unit and two small wind units. Specifically, the Consortium procured a 1.5MW GE wind unit by working with the world leading wind energy developer, Invenergy, which is headquartered in Chicago, in September 2010. The Consortium also installed advanced instrumentation on the turbine and performed relevant turbine reliability studies. The site for the wind unit is InvenergyÃÂÃÂÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Grand Ridge wind farmin Illinois. The Consortium, by working with Viryd Technologies, installed an 8kW Viryd wind unit (the Lab Unit) at an engineering lab at IIT in September 2010 and an 8kW Viryd wind unit (the Field Unit) at the Stuart Field on IITÃÂÃÂÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs main campus in July 2011, and performed relevant turbine reliability studies. The operation of the Field Unit is also monitored by the Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) in the nearby Stuart Building. The Consortium commemorated the installations at the July 20, 2011 ribbon-cutting ceremony. The ConsortiumÃÂÃÂÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs researches on turbine reliability included (1) Predictive Analytics to Improve Wind Turbine Reliability; (2) Improve Wind Turbine Power Output and Reduce Dynamic Stress Loading Through Advanced Wind Sensing Technology; (3) Use High Magnetic Density Turbine Generator as Non-rare Earth Power Dense Alternative; (4) Survivable Operation of Three Phase AC Drives in Wind Generator Systems; (5) Localization of Wind Turbine Noise Sources Using a Compact Microphone Array; (6) Wind Turbine Acoustics - Numerical Studies; and (7) Performance of Wind Turbines in Rainy Conditions. The ConsortiumÃÂÃÂÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs researches on wind integration included (1) Analysis of 2030 Large-Scale Wind Energy Integration in the Eastern Interconnection; (2) Large-scale Analysis of 2018 Wind Energy Integration in the Eastern U.S. Interconnection; (3) Integration of Non-dispatchable Resources in Electricity Markets; (4) Integration of Wind Unit with Microgrid. The ConsortiumÃÂÃÂÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs education and outreach activities on wind energy included (1) Wind Energy Training Facility Development; (2) Wind Energy Course Development; (3) Wind Energy Outreach

Power quality improvement utilizing photovoltaic generation connected to a weak grid

Microgrid research and development in the past decades have been one of the most popular topics. Similarly, the photovoltaic generation has been surging among renewable generation in the past few years, thanks to the availability, affordability, technology maturity of the PV panels and the PV inverter in the general market. Unfortunately, quite often, the PV installations are connected to weak grids and may have been considered as the culprit of poor power quality affecting other loads in particular sensitive loads connected to the same point of common coupling (PCC). This paper is intended to demystify the renewable generation, and turns the negative perception into positive revelation of the superiority of PV generation to the power quality improvement in a microgrid system. The main objective of this work is to develop a control method for the PV inverter so that the power quality at the PCC will be improved under various disturbances. The method is to control the reactive current based on utilizing the grid current to counteract the negative impact of the disturbances. The proposed control method is verified in PSIM platform. Promising results have been obtaine

Energy storage systems and power conversion electronics for e-transportation and smart grid

The special issue “Energy Storage Systems and Power Conversion Electronics for E-Transportation and Smart Grid” on MDPI Energies presents 20 accepted papers, with authors from North and South America, Asia, Europe and Africa, related to the emerging trends in energy storage and power conversion electronic circuits and systems, with a specific focus on transportation electrification and on the evolution of the electric grid to a smart grid. An extensive exploitation of renewable energy sources is foreseen for smart grid as well as a close integration with the energy storage and recharging systems of the electrified transportation era. Innovations at both algorithmic and hardware (i.e., power converters, electric drives, electronic control units (ECU), energy storage modules and charging stations) levels are proposed

Improved vector control methods for brushless double fed induction generator during inductive load and fault conditions

A Brushless Double-Fed Induction Generator (BDFIG) has shown tremendous success in wind turbines due to its robust brushless design, less maintenance, smooth operation, and variable speed characteristics. These generators are composed of two back-to-back voltage source converters, a Grid Side Converter (GSC) and a Rotor Side Converter (RSC). Existing control techniques use a “trial and error” method that results in a poor dynamic response in machine parameters during the absence of load. The RSC control is used for reactive current control during the inductive load insertion. However, it is more suitable for stabilizing steady-state behaviour, but it suffers from slow response and introduces a double fundamental frequency component to the Point of Common Coupling (PCC) voltage. In addition, generally, a Low Voltage Ride Through (LVRT) fault is detected using a hysteresis comparison of the power winding voltage. The LVRT capability is provided by using fixed reference values to control the winding current. This approach results in an erroneous response, sub-optimal control of voltage drops at PCC, and false alarms during transient conditions. This thesis aims to solve the mentioned issues by using an improved vector control method. Internal Model Control (IMC) based Proportional-Integral (PI) gains calculation is used for GSC and RSC. These are controlled to enhance the transient response and power quality during no-load, inductive load, and fault conditions. Firstly, a GSC-based vector control method is proposed to suppress the PCC voltage fluctuations when a large inductive load is suddenly connected. The proposed technique is based on an analytical model of the transient behaviour of the voltage drop at the PCC. To block a double fundamental frequency component as a result of reactive current compensation, a notch filter is designed. Secondly, an RSC-based vector control method is proposed using an analytical model of the voltage drop caused by a short circuit. Moreover, using a fuzzy logic controller, the proposed technique employs the voltage frequency in addition to the power winding voltage magnitude to detect LVRT conditions. The analytical model helps in reducing the power winding voltage drop while the fuzzy logic controller leads to better response and faster detection of faults. However, the reference value for reactive current compensation is analysed using an analytical model of the voltage drop at the PCC in the event of a short-circuit fault. The results obtained from MATLAB/Simulink show that the GSC-based vector control method technique can effectively reduce about 10% voltage drop at PCCs. Total Harmonics Distortion (THD) is improved to 22.3% by notch filter in comparison with an existing technique such as instantaneous reactive power theory. The RSC-based vector control method can achieve up to 11% voltage drop reduction and improve the THD by 12% compared to recent synchronous control and flux tracking methods

Three-Port Bi-Directional DC–DC Converter with Solar PV System Fed BLDC Motor Drive Using FPGA

The increased need for renewable energy systems to generate power, store energy, and connect energy storage devices with applications has become a major challenge. Energy storage using batteries is most appropriate for energy sources like solar, wind, etc. A non-isolated three-port DC–DC-converter energy conversion unit is implemented feeding the brushless DCmotor drive. In this paper, a non-isolated three-port converter is designed and simulated for battery energy storage, interfaced with an output drive. Based on the requirements, the power extracted from the solar panel during the daytime is used to charge the batteries through the three-port converter. The proposed three-port converter is analyzed in terms of operating principles and power flow. An FPGA-based NI LabView PXI with SbRio interface is used to develop the suggested approach’s control hardware, and prototype model results are obtained to test the proposed three-port converter control system’s effectiveness and practicality. The overall efficiency of the converter’s output improves as a result. The success rate is 96.5 percent while charging an ESS, 98.1 percent when discharging an ESS, and 95.7 percent overall

A comprehensive study of key Electric Vehicle (EV) components, technologies, challenges, impacts, and future direction of development

Abstract: Electric vehicles (EV), including Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV), Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV), Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV), are becoming more commonplace in the transportation sector in recent times. As the present trend suggests, this mode of transport is likely to replace internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in the near future. Each of the main EV components has a number of technologies that are currently in use or can become prominent in the future. EVs can cause significant impacts on the environment, power system, and other related sectors. The present power system could face huge instabilities with enough EV penetration, but with proper management and coordination, EVs can be turned into a major contributor to the successful implementation of the smart grid concept. There are possibilities of immense environmental benefits as well, as the EVs can extensively reduce the greenhouse gas emissions produced by the transportation sector. However, there are some major obstacles for EVs to overcome before totally replacing ICE vehicles. This paper is focused on reviewing all the useful data available on EV configurations, battery energy sources, electrical machines, charging techniques, optimization techniques, impacts, trends, and possible directions of future developments. Its objective is to provide an overall picture of the current EV technology and ways of future development to assist in future researches in this sector