A Coordinated Control Approach for DC link and Rotor Crowbars to Improve Fault Ride-Through of DFIG-Based Wind Turbine

Nowadays, most double fed induction generators (DFIGs)-based wind turbines are equipped with a rotor crowbar connected in parallel with the rotor side converter (RSC). The parallel rotor side crowbar (PRSC) is used to protect the RSC and dc-link capacitor by dissipating the rotor energy during grid fault condition. In this paper, two types of crowbar protections are used, one in the rotor winding and the second in the dc link. During the fault condition, the rotor winding crowbar connects in series with the rotor winding and RSC to decrease the RSC current and dissipate the rotor energy. The general PRSC does not have the ability to significantly decrease the over-current. To protect the semiconductor switches of RSC, DFIG should not be kept connected with the utility grids under severe faults. The dc-link capacitor crowbar (DCCC) operates only if the dc capacitor voltage exceeds a threshold level. Both the series rotor side crowbar (SRSC) and the DCCC operate in coordination with each other to protect RSC and dc link during fault condition, and improve the fault ride through of the DFIG. Using the proposed SRSC, RSC continues its operation to control the DFIG during fault condition. Thereby, the reactive power can be injected to support the voltage at the point of common coupling. The behavior of the DFIG is investigated when the combined crowbars are operating with the proposed coordinated control approach and results are presented

Low Voltage Ride-through in DFIG Wind Generators by Controlling the Rotor Current without Crowbars

Among all the different types of electric wind generators, those that are based on doubly fed induction generators, or DFIG technology, are the most vulnerable to grid faults such as voltage sags. This paper proposes a new control strategy for this type of wind generator, that allows these devices to withstand the effects of a voltage sag while following the new requirements imposed by grid operators. This new control strategy makes the use of complementary devices such as crowbars unnecessary, as it greatly reduces the value of currents originated by the fault. This ensures less costly designs for the rotor systems as well as a more economic sizing of the necessary power electronics. The strategy described here uses an electric generator model based on space-phasor theory that provides a direct control over the position of the rotor magnetic flux. Controlling the rotor magnetic flux has a direct influence on the rest of the electrical variables enabling the machine to evolve to a desired work point during the transient imposed by the grid disturbance. Simulation studies have been carried out, as well as test bench trials, in order to prove the viability and functionality of the proposed control strategy

Grid Connected Doubly Fed Induction Generator Based Wind Turbine under LVRT

This project concentrates on the Low Voltage Ride Through (LVRT) capability of Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) wind turbine. The main attention in the project is, therefore, drawn to the control of the DFIG wind turbine and of its power converter and to the ability to protect itself without disconnection during grid faults. It provides also an overview on the interaction between variable speed DFIG wind turbines and the power system subjected to disturbances, such as short circuit faults. The dynamic model of DFIG wind turbine includes models for both mechanical components as well as for all electrical components, controllers and for the protection device of DFIG necessary during grid faults. The viewpoint of this project is to carry out different simulations to provide insight and understanding of the grid fault impact on both DFIG wind turbines and on the power system itself. The dynamic behavior of DFIG wind turbines during grid faults is simulated and assessed by using a transmission power system generic model developed and delivered by Transmission System Operator in the power system simulation toolbox Digsilent, Matlab/Simulink and PLECS

A Real-Time Sliding Mode Control for a Wind Energy System Based on a Doubly Fed Induction Generator

In this paper, a real time sliding mode control scheme for a variable speed wind turbine that incorporates a doubly feed induction generator is described. In this design, the so-called vector control theory is applied, in order to simplify the system electrical equations. The proposed control scheme involves a low computational cost and therefore can be implemented in real-time applications using a low cost Digital Signal Processor (DSP). The stability analysis of the proposed sliding mode controller under disturbances and parameter uncertainties is provided using the Lyapunov stability theory. A new experimental platform has been designed and constructed in order to analyze the real-time performance of the proposed controller in a real system. Finally, the experimental validation carried out in the experimental platform shows; on the one hand that the proposed controller provides high-performance dynamic characteristics, and on the other hand that this scheme is robust with respect to the uncertainties that usually appear in the real systems.The authors are very grateful to the Basque Government by the support of this work through the project S-PE12UN015 and S-PE13UN039 and to the UPV/EHU by its support through the projects GIU13/41 and UFI11/07

Enhanced control of DFIG-based wind power plants to comply with the international grid codes

A review of the latest international grid codes shows that large wind power plants are stipulated to not only ride-through various fault conditions, but also exhibit adequate active and reactive power responses during the fault period in order to support the network stability. In particular, modern grid codes require wind power plants to: (1) ride-through various voltage sag and swell conditions, (2) inject reactive current into the grid during the fault period, and (3) attain swift active power restoration after the fault clearance. This thesis proposes a transient control scheme for DFIG-based wind power plants to comply with these requirements.In the first part of this thesis, the latest regulations enforced on large wind power plants are studied and compared. This study identifies the most stringent regulations defined by the international grid codes, to be further investigated in the following chapters. In the second part of this thesis, extensive simulation studies are carried out to examine the transient response of DFIG-based wind turbines under various symmetrical and asymmetrical fault conditions. Supplementary theoretical analyses are also presented to justify the observations made in the time-domain simulations results. For the first time, the impacts of phase-angle jump, voltage recovery process and sag parameters on the DFIG response are explored. The results of this study can assist researcher to identify the difficulties that hinder successful fault ride-through response of DFIG-based wind turbines, as requested by the international grid codes.In the third part of the thesis, an enhanced hysteresis-based current regulator (referred to as VBHCR) is proposed to be implemented in the rotor-side and grid-side converters of DFIG-based wind turbines. The main advantages of this current regulator are very fast transient response, simple control structure and insensitivity to the machine parameters variations. Simulation results show that on one hand the VBHCR has very good steady-state performance and on the other hand, it presents very fast/robust tracking response. Therefore, the DFIG equipped the proposed current regulator can fulfill the most stringent low-voltage ride-through requirements imposed by the international grid codes, i.e., those stipulated by the Australian grid code. In the fourth part of the thesis, a new hybrid current control scheme is introduced to enhance both low and high voltage ride-through capabilities of DFIG-based wind turbines. The proposed control scheme uses the standard PI current regulators under steady-state conditions but upon a voltage sag or swell occurrence, the supervisory control unit transfers the switching strategy of the rotor-side and grid-side converters to the hysteresis-based method. The VBHCR remains in action until the oscillation in the rotor current and dc-link voltage of DFIG suppress below the safety limit and then, the PI current regulator are activated through a re-initialization process.Finally, the conventional vector control scheme of DFIG-based wind power plants is modified to fulfill the regulations imposed on the active and reactive power responses of wind farms subject to various faults. New design strategies are suggested and their corresponding P-Q capability curves are thoroughly studied. Simulations results show that the proposed control scheme can meet the Australian regulations as the most demanding grid code. The best design strategy, with enhanced active and reactive power responses, permits the rotor-side and grid-side converters of DFIG to be temporarily overloaded during the fault period and also exploits the free capacity of the GSC to inject further reactive power to the grid. As a result, the active power generation of DFIG-based wind power plant can be retained during the fault period while its reactive power injection capacity of DFIG is also increased to further support the grid

Small-Signal Modelling and Analysis of Doubly-Fed Induction Generators in Wind Power Applications

The worldwide demand for more diverse and greener energy supply has had a significant impact on the development of wind energy in the last decades. From 2 GW in 1990, the global installed capacity has now reached about 100 GW and is estimated to grow to 1000 GW by 2025. As wind power penetration increases, it is important to investigate its effect on the power system. Among the various technologies available for wind energy conversion, the doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) is one of the preferred solutions because it offers the advantages of reduced mechanical stress and optimised power capture thanks to variable speed operation. This work presents the small-signal modelling and analysis of the DFIG for power system stability studies. This thesis starts by reviewing the mathematical models of wind turbines with DFIG convenient for power system studies. Different approaches proposed in the literature for the modelling of the turbine, drive-train, generator, rotor converter and external power system are discussed. It is shown that the flexibility of the drive train should be represented by a two-mass model in the presence of a gearbox. In the analysis part, the steady-state behaviour of the DFIG is examined. Comparison is made with the conventional synchronous generators (SG) and squirrel-cage induction generators to highlight the differences between the machines. The initialisation of the DFIG dynamic variables and other operating quantities is then discussed. Various methods are briefly reviewed and a step-by-step procedure is suggested to avoid the iterative computations in initial condition mentioned in the literature. The dynamical behaviour of the DFIG is studied with eigenvalue analysis. Modal analysis is performed for both open-loop and closed-loop situations. The effect of parameters and operating point variations on small signal stability is observed. For the open-loop DFIG, conditions on machine parameters are obtained to ensure stability of the system. For the closed-loop DFIG, it is shown that the generator electrical transients may be neglected once the converter controls are properly tuned. A tuning procedure is proposed and conditions on proportional gains are obtained for stable electrical dynamics. Finally, small-signal analysis of a multi-machine system with both SG and DFIG is performed. It is shown that there is no common mode to the two types of generators. The result confirms that the DFIG does not introduce negative damping to the system, however it is also shown that the overall effect of the DFIG on the power system stability depends on several structural factors and a general statement as to whether it improves or detriorates the oscillatory stability of a system can not be made

Finite-Control-Set Model Predictive Control for Low-Voltage-Ride-Through Enhancement of PMSG Based Wind Energy Grid Connection Systems

Grid faults are found to be one of the major issues in renewable energy systems, particularly in wind energy conversion systems (WECS) connected to the grid via back-to-back (BTB) converters. Under such faulty grid conditions, the system requires an effective regulation of the active (P) and reactive (Q) power to accomplish low voltage ride through (LVRT) operation in accordance with the grid codes. In this paper, an improved finite-control-set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) scheme is proposed for a PMSG based WECS to achieve LVRT ability under symmetrical and asymmetrical grid faults, including mitigation of DC-link voltage fluctuation. With proposed predictive control, optimized switching states for cost function minimization with weighing factor (WF) selection guidelines are established for robust BTB converter control and reduced cross-coupling amid P and Q during transient conditions. Besides, grid voltage support is provided by grid side inverter control to inject reactive power during voltage dips. The effectiveness of the FCS-MPC method is compared with the conventional proportional-integral (PI) controller in case of symmetrical and asymmetrical grid faults. The simulation and experimental results endorse the superiority of the developed FCS-MPC scheme to diminish the fault effect quickly with lower overshoot and better damping performance than the traditional controller