42 research outputs found

    Increasing the capacity of distributed generation in electricity networks by intelligent generator control

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    The rise of environmental awareness as well as the unstable global fossil fuel market has brought about government initiatives to increase electricity generation from renewable energy sources. These resources tend to be geographically and electrically remote from load centres. Consequently many Distributed Generators (DGs) are expected to be connected to the existing Distribution Networks (DNs), which have high impedance and low X/R ratios. Intermittence and unpredictability of the various types of renewable energy sources can be of time scales of days (hydro) down to seconds (wind, wave). As the time scale becomes smaller, the output of the DG becomes more difficult to accommodate in the DN. With the DGs operating in constant power factor mode, intermittence of the output of the generator combined with the high impedance and low X/R ratios of the DN will cause voltage variations above the statutory limits for quality of supply. This is traditionally mitigated by accepting increased operation of automated network control or network reinforcement. However, due to the distributed nature of RES, automating or reinforcing the DN can be expensive and difficult solutions to implement. The Thesis proposed was that new methods of controlling DG voltage could enable the connection of increased capacities of plant to existing DNs without the need for network management or reinforcement. The work reported here discusses the implications of the increasing capacity of DG in rural distribution networks on steady-state voltage profiles. Two methods of voltage compensation are proposed. The first is a deterministic system that uses a set of rules to intelligently switch between voltage and power factor control modes. This new control algorithm is shown to be able to respond well to slow voltage variations due to load or generation changes. The second method is a fuzzy inference system that adjusts the setpoint of the power factor controller in response to the local voltage. This system can be set to respond to any steady-state voltage variations that will be experienced. Further, control of real power is developed as a supplementary means for voltage regulation in weak rural networks. The algorithms developed in the study are shown to operate with any synchronous or asynchronous generation wherein real and reactive power can be separately controlled. Extensive simulations of typical and real rural systems using synchronous generators (small hydro) and doubly-fed induction generators (wind turbines) have verified that the proposed approaches improve the voltage profile of the distribution network. This demonstrated that the original Thesis was true and that the techniques proposed allow wider operation of greater capacities of DG within the statutory voltage limits

    Optimizing the Load Frequency of a Two-Area Interlinked Power System using Artificial Intelligence Techniques

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    Power costs are increasing on a daily basis, generating changes in system frequency and causing serious concerns with system stability. It has become a major problem to offer customers with uninterrupted and high-quality power. To mitigate these issues, a linked power system's load distribution and network frequency should be constantly reviewed. Load frequency control adjusts the generator's energy output and tie line power between prescribed limits. As well as regulating generator output power, load frequency control also adjusts tie line power. The disturbance in the frequency due to different load changes is regulated using the proposed scheme. In this article, a two-area load frequency control system is constructed and evaluated using various control approaches, including a proportional integral derivative (PID) controller, a proportional integral (PI) controller, a fuzzy logic-based controller, and an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The goal is to assess the power system's resilience under different loading conditions with these control schemes. The performance of the controllers is compared based on peak-undershoot, peak-overshoot, and settling time, focusing on tie line power and frequency response. To achieve this, the design is implemented using MATLAB/SIMULINK software

    Methodology for generation capacity and network reinforcement planning

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    Mitigation of Power System Oscillation in a DFIG-Wind Integrated Grid: A Review

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    The continuous rise in demand for power supply has made researchers and power system engineers seek alternatives through renewable energy sources to complement the power supply in the power system grid. Wind energy conversion system (WECS) which is the means of harnessing power generation through wind is reportedly one of the most widely installed renewable alternative sources globally. Integrating WECS into the conventional power system grid results in a complex power system grid. Thus, during a disturbance or a fault period on the grid, if proper control measures are not put in place, power system instability due to power system oscillations arises. One such control measure is the damping controller which is coupled to the generating plant through its excitation system. Damping controllers help to dampen power system oscillations, but due to the dynamic nature of the power system and uncertainties inherent in a wind-integrated power grid system, fixed damping controller parameters cannot effectively dampen power system oscillations. Hence, damping controller design becomes an optimization problem. This research reviews damping controller design in a wind-integrated system using optimization techniques

    Investigation into the effect of wind power based embedded generators on distribution networks.

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    Wind turbine-generators are usually integrated into utilities' electrical networks at distribution voltage levels, and they are commonly known as "Embedded Generators" (EGs). Recently, it has been reported that the integration of wind power-based embedded generators (WPBEGs) into distribution networks could cause maloperation of automatic voltage control (AVC) relays. Further investigation is therefore required to improve the performance of AVC relays in the presence of EGs. On the other hand, the dynamic effects of WPBEGs on distribution networks (DNs) have been investigated for many years, but no attempt has been made to evaluate the effects of WPBEGs on the "Critical Clearing Time" (CCT) of faults on load feeders emanating from the substation where EGs are connected to the network. Based on these findings, the work conducted and reported in this thesis covers two main aspects. The first aspect is related to the effect of EGs on the operation of AVC relays, including the compensation of voltage drop along distribution feeders. This is preceded by an introduction to the operating principles of conventional AVC relays. A new model of an AVC relay based on the application of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) is then presented. The model is designed and trained to calculate the AVC voltage that is used to initiate the operation of the tap-changer of an appropriate transformer as conditions necessitate. In the process of the development of an ANN-based relay, a power flow program has been specially designed to generate training files using FORTRAN. The second aspect reported in this thesis deals with the investigation of the effect of WPBEGs on the CCT of faults on load feeders. It has been concluded that CCT of faults, which is required to maintain the stability of WPBEGs, can be several times less than that of the operating time of conventional protection schemes usually used on distribution feeders. The results obtained from the investigation related to both aspects are presented and discussed. In summary, this thesis reports on the outcome of the investigation related to the design of an ANN based AVC relay capable of accommodating EGs and the effect of the dynamic behaviour of EGs on the CCT of faults on load feeders

    Intelligent voltage dip mitigation in power networks with distributed generation

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    Includes bibliographical references.The need for ensuring good power quality (PQ) cannot be over-emphasized in electrical power system operation and management. PQ problem is associated with any electrical distribution and utilization system that experiences any voltage, current or frequency deviation from normal operation. In the current power and energy scenario, voltage-related PQ disturbances like voltage dips are a fact which cannot be eliminated from electrical power systems since electrical faults, and disturbances are stochastic in nature. Voltage dip tends to lead to malfunction or shut down of costly and mandatory equipment and appliances in consumers’ systems causing significant financial losses for domestic, commercial and industrial consumers. It accounts for the disruption of both the performance and operation of sensitive electrical and electronic equipment, which reduces the efficiency and the productivity of power utilities and consumers across the globe. Voltage dips are usually experienced as a result of short duration reduction in the r.m.s. (r.m.s.- root mean square) value of the declared or nominal voltage at the power frequency and is usually followed by recovery of the voltage dip after few seconds. The IEEE recommended practice for monitoring electric power quality (IEEE Std. 1159-2009, revised version of June 2009), provides definitions to label an r.m.s. voltage disturbance based upon its duration and voltage magnitude. These disturbances can be classified into transient events such as voltage dips, swells and spikes. Other long duration r.m.s. voltage variations are mains failures, interruption, harmonic voltage distortion and steady-state overvoltages and undervoltages. This PhD research work deals with voltage dip phenomena only. Initially, the present power network was not designed to accommodate renewable distributed generation (RDG) units. The advent and deployment of RDG over recent years and high penetration of RDG has made the power network more complex and vulnerable to PQ disturbances. It is a well-known fact that the degree of newly introduced RDG has increased rapidly and growing further because of several reasons, which include the need to reduce environmental pollution and global warming caused by emission of carbon particles and greenhouse gases, alleviating transmission congestion and loss reduction. RDG ancillary services support especially voltage and reactive power support in electricity networks are currently being recognized, researched and found to be quite useful in voltage dip mitigation

    Robust control techniques for DFIG driven WECS with improved efficiency

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    Wind energy has emerged as one of the fastest growing renewable energy sources since mid-80‘s due to its low cost and environmentally friendly nature compared to conventional fossil fuel based power generation. Current technologies for the design and implementation of wind energy conversion systems (WECSs) include induction generator and synchronous generator based units. The doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) is chosen in this thesis because of its economic operation, ability to regulate in sub-synchronous or super-synchronous speed and decoupled control of active and reactive powers. Among the major challenges of wind energy conversion system, extraction of maximum power from intermittent generation and supervision on nonlinear system dynamics of DFIG-WECS are of critical importance. Maximization of the power produced by wind turbine is possible by optimizing tip-speed ratio (TSR), turbine rotor speed or torque and blade angle. The literature reports that a vast number of investigations have been conducted on the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) of wind turbines. Among the reported MPPT control algorithms, the hill climb search (HCS) method is typically preferred because of its simple implementation and turbine parameter-independent scheme. Since the conventional HCS algorithm has few drawbacks such as power fluctuation and speed-efficiency trade-off, a new adaptive step size based HCS controller is developed in this thesis to mitigate its deficiencies by incorporating wind speed measurement in the controller. In addition, a common practice of using linear state-feedback controllers is prevalent in speed and current control of DFIG-based WECS. Traditional feedback linearization controllers are sensitive to system parameter variations and disturbances on grid-connected WECS, which demands advanced control techniques for stable and efficient performance considering the nonlinear system dynamics. An adaptive backstepping based nonlinear control (ABNC) scheme with iron-loss minimization algorithm for RSC control of DFIG is developed in this research work to obtain improved dynamic performance and reduced power loss. The performance of the proposed controller is tested and compared with the benchmark tuned proportional-integral (PI) controller under different operating conditions including variable wind speed, grid voltage disturbance and parameter uncertainties. Test results demonstrate that the proposed method exhibits excellent performance on the rotor side and grid side converter control. In addition, the compliance with the modern grid-code requirements is achieved by featuring a novel controller with disturbance rejection mechanism. In order to reduce the dependency on system‘s mathematical model, a low computational adaptive network fuzzy interference system (ANFIS) based neuro-fuzzy logic controller (NFC) scheme is developed for DFIG based WECS. The performance of the proposed NFC based DFIG-WECS is tested in simulation to regulate both grid and rotor side converters under normal and voltage dip conditions. Furthermore, a new optimization technique known as grey wolf optimization (GWO) is also designed to regulate the battery power for DFIG driven wind energy system operating in standalone mode. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control schemes, simulation models are designed using Matlab/Simulink. The proposed model for MPPT and nonlinear control of grid-connected mode and GWO based power control of standalone DFIG-WECS has been successfully implemented in the real-time environment using DSP controller board DS1104 for a laboratory 480 VA DFIG. The comparison among different controllers suggests that each control technique has its own specialty in wind power control application with specific merits and shortcomings. However, the PI controller provides fast convergence, the ANFIS based NFC controller has better adaptability under grid disturbances and ABNC has moderate performance. Overall, the thesis provides a detailed overview of different robust control techniques for DFIG driven WECS in grid-connected and standalone operation mode with practical implementation

    An intelligent controller for synchronous generators.

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