Current Control Methods for an Asymmetrical Six-Phase Induction Motor Drive

Using the vector space decomposition approach, the currents in a multiphase machine with distributed winding can be decoupled into the flux and torque producing α-β components, and the loss-producing x-y and zero-sequence components. While the control of α-β currents is crucial for flux and torque regulation, control of x-y currents is important for machine/converter asymmetry and dead-time effect compensation. In this paper, an attempt is made to provide a physically meaningful insight into current control of a six-phase machine, by showing that the fictitious x-y currents can be physically interpreted as the circulating currents between the two three-phase windings. Using this interpretation, the characteristics of x-y currents due to the machine/converter asymmetry can be analyzed. The use of different types of x-y current controllers for asymmetry compensation and suppression of dead-time-induced harmonics is then discussed. Experimental results are provided throughout the paper, to underpin the theoretical considerations, using tests on a prototype asymmetrical six-phase induction machine. © 1986-2012 IEEE

Grid Voltage Unbalance and The Integration of DFIG’s

Double-fed induction generators (DFIG’s) became the predominant generator installed for wind generation applications in the mid 1990’s. Issues pertaining to the operation and control of DFIG’s subsequently became apparent, particularly in weak areas of the grid network. Ironically weak areas of the grid tend to be where the average wind speed is high and the usual location of wind farms. One of the issues that emerged was the quality of the voltage in the network at the point of common coupling (PCC) with the DFIG’s. An important issue is the question of voltage unbalance at the PCC. As part of this work, research was undertaken into the issue of voltage unbalance in a distribution network. Investigative studies were undertaken on a small wind farm connected to the Irish distribution network. The results obtained were then analysed and conclusions drawn, with recording of daily, weekly and seasonal variation of voltage unbalance. The behaviour of DFIG’s to varying levels of network voltage unbalance at the wind farm was analysed, and it was observed that the DFIG’s had difficulty remaining connected to the distribution network when voltage unbalance exceeded certain threshold levels. The behaviour of DFIG’s to the effects of grid network voltage unbalance is further investigated in this work. A literature review was undertaken of the effects that utility network voltage unbalance has on DFIG’s. Emerging from this research, the suitability of appropriate control schemes to alleviate the problems caused by grid voltage unbalance were investigated. Control techniques to improve performance of a DFIG during conditions of asymmetrical grid voltage including measures to control the rotorside and grid-side converters in a DFIG, were designed and then implemented in Matlab/Simulink and results showed improved behaviour. A synchronous generator system was similarly investigated and improvements shown. This research also includes development of a laboratory based DFIG test system. A DSP based digital microcontroller and interfacing hardware has been developed for a 5kVA DFIG laboratory based system. The system comprises of a machine set; a dc machine with common shaft coupling to a three-phase wound rotor induction machine. The dc machine emulates a wind turbine, and drives the induction machine in response to required speed. A converter has been constructed to control the rotor power of the induction machine. Interfacing schemes for the required feedback signals including voltage and current transducers and speed measurement were designed to enable control of both the rotor-side and grid-side converters of the DFIG. Grid/stator voltage oriented control is implemented to control both the rotor side and grid side converters respectively. An additional feature is the implementation of a single DSP controller, configured to control both the rotor side and grid side converters simultaneously. Initially the DFIG test rig was tested as a standalone system, with a load bank connected to the stator terminals of the induction machine. Testing of the DFIG was also conducted with the test rig connected directly to the grid, and the system operated in subsynchronous and super-synchronous modes of operation. Hardware and software solutions were implemented to reasonable success. The laboratory based test rig has been designed for operation as a rotor converter for a DFIG; however the converter can also be configured to operate as a system for a synchronous generator, or for operation as a machine drive. Further research may allow the rig to be used as a DFIG/UPQC (unified power quality controller) test bed

Industrial and Technological Applications of Power Electronics Systems

The Special Issue "Industrial and Technological Applications of Power Electronics Systems" focuses on: - new strategies of control for electric machines, including sensorless control and fault diagnosis; - existing and emerging industrial applications of GaN and SiC-based converters; - modern methods for electromagnetic compatibility. The book covers topics such as control systems, fault diagnosis, converters, inverters, and electromagnetic interference in power electronics systems. The Special Issue includes 19 scientific papers by industry experts and worldwide professors in the area of electrical engineering

Digital Control of Power Converters and Drives for Hybrid Traction and Wireless Charging

In the last years environmental issues and constant increase of fuel and energy cost have been incentivizing the development of low emission and high efficiency systems, either in traction field or in distributed generation systems from renewable energy sources. In the automotive industry, alternative solutions to the standard internal combustion engine (ICE) adopted in the conventional vehicles have been developed, i.e. fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) or pure electric vehicles (EVs), also referred as battery powered electric vehicles (BEV). Both academic and industry researchers all over the world are still facing several technical development areas concerning HEV components, system topologies, power converters and control strategies. Efficiency, lifetime, stability and volume issues have moved the attention on a number of bidirectional conversion solutions, both for the energy transfer to/from the storage element and to/from the electric machine side. Moreover, along with the fast growing interest in EVs and PHEVs, wireless charging, as a new way of charging batteries, has drawn the attention of researchers, car manufacturers, and customers recently. Compared to conductive power transfer (usually plug-in), wireless power transfer (WPT) is more convenient, weather proof, and electric shock protected. However, there is still more research work needs to be done to optimize efficiency, cost, increase misalignment tolerance, and reduce size of the WPT chargers. The proposed dissertation describes the work from 2012 to 2014, during the PhD course at the Electric Drives Laboratory of the University of Udine and during my six months visiting scholarship at the University of Michigan in Dearborn. The topics studied are related to power conversion and digital control of converters and drives suitable for hybrid/electric traction, generation from renewable energy sources and wireless charging applications. From the theoretical point of view, multilevel and multiphase DC/AC and DC/DC converters are discussed here, focusing on design issues, optimization (especially from the efficiency point-of-view) and advantages. Some novel modulation algorithms for the neutral-point clamped three-level inverter are presented here as well as a new multiphase proposal for a three-level buck converter. In addition, a new active torque damping technique in order to reduce torque oscillations in internal combustion engines is proposed here. Mainly, two practical implementations are considered in this dissertation, i.e. an original two-stage bi-directional converter for mild hybrid traction and a wireless charger for electric vehicles fast charge

Suppression of line voltage related distortion in current controlled grid connected inverters

The influence of selected control strategies on the level of low-order current harmonic distortion generated by an inverter connected to a distorted grid is investigated through a combination of theoretical and experimental studies. A detailed theoretical analysis, based on the concept of harmonic impedance, establishes the suitability of inductor current feedback versus output current feedback with respect to inverter power quality. Experimental results, obtained from a purpose-built 500-W, three-level, half-bridge inverter with an L-C-L output filter, verify the efficacy of inductor current as the feedback variable, yielding an output current total harmonic distortion (THD) some 29% lower than that achieved using output current feedback. A feed-forward grid voltage disturbance rejection scheme is proposed as a means to further reduce the level of low-order current harmonic distortion. Results obtained from an inverter with inductor current feedback and optimized feed-forward disturbance rejection show a THD of just 3% at full-load, representing an improvement of some 53% on the same inverter with output current feedback and no feed-forward compensation. Significant improvements in THD were also achieved across the entire load range. It is concluded that the use of inductor current feedback and feed-forward voltage disturbance rejection represent cost–effect mechanisms for achieving improved output current quality

Advanced control architectures for grid connected and standalone converter systems

This dissertation proposes new control algorithms dedicated towards improving the reliability, computational burden and stability in grid-connected and stand-alone based power electronic converter systems applicable for ac microgrids. Two voltage sensorless control architectures, one for stand-alone applications and the other for grid-connected application are established in this thesis. The output voltage of a standalone single-phase inverter is controlled directly by controlling the output filter capacitor current without using a dedicated output voltage sensor. A method to estimate the output filter capacitance is also presented. For the grid connected converter, a novel closed loop estimation is presented to estimate the grid voltage. In addition to the estimation of the grid voltage, the proposed method also generates the unit vectors and frequency information similar to a conventional phase-locked loop structure. The voltage sensorless algorithm is then extended to LCL filter based grid connected converters thereby proposing a new indirect method of controlling the grid current. Furthermore, addressing the stability issues in current-controlled grid tied converters, this dissertation also analyzes the power angle synchronization control of grid-tied bidirectional converters for low voltage grids. The power flow equations for the low voltage grid are analyzed and compensators are designed to ensure the decoupled control of active and reactive power. It is demonstrated that the proposed compensators are immune to grid fluctuations and ensure stable operation controlling the desired power flow to and from the grid. Detailed plant modeling, controller design, simulation and experimental results are presented for all of the proposed schemes --Abstract, page iv

Control of Asymmetric Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator Systems

The thesis focuses on the control of asymmetric permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) system, with particular reference to the suppression of its second harmonic (2h) power, DC bus voltage and torque ripples. The asymmetries include the unbalanced resistances, unbalanced inductances, and unbalanced 3-phase back-electromotive forces (EMFs). The mathematical model of the general asymmetries in the PMSG system is firstly presented. The power ripple and torque ripple due to the asymmetries without/with negative-(N-) sequence currents are then analysed in detail. It shows that there are 2h impedances in the synchronous dq-axis frame. Consequently, the N-sequence currents emerge under the conventional current proportional and integral (PI) control, which will result in undesired 2h power, DC bus voltage and torque ripples. To suppress the 2h torque resulted from the N-sequence currents, three typical methods aiming for balanced currents without N-sequence currents are reviewed, evaluated and their relationship is revealed. It shows that all these three methods are capable of suppressing the N-sequence currents as verified by experiments. However, the 2h power and DC bus voltage cannot be suppressed. To suppress the undesired 2h power and DC bus voltage, an improved power control without any sequential component decomposers under general unbalanced conditions is proposed. Its effectiveness is validated by elaborated experiments on a prototype PMSG with inherent asymmetry and deliberately introduced asymmetries. However, the 2h torque is compromised. To solve the 2h torque, power and DC bus voltage simultaneously, the compensation in parallel with the DC bus is investigated in the PMSG system with asymmetric impedances. The undesired 2h power from the PMSG is compensated by the 2h power from the compensation unit. Two topologies of the compensation unit and corresponding control methods are investigated, while the compensation effectiveness is validated by experiments. Furthermore, the compensation unit with external circuits in series with the asymmetric PMSG is investigated. By the compensation in series, the original unbalanced system is modified to a balanced system in theory. Therefore, the N-sequence currents, 2h power, DC bus voltage, and torque ripple can be naturally suppressed. The feasibility of this compensation method is verified by experiments at different speeds and load conditions, although the effectiveness may be slightly affected by the non-linearity of the compensation inductors in practice. Finally, the research of suppressing the 2h DC bus voltage and torque ripple is extended to the dual 3-phase PMSG system with one channel failed. By utilizing the windings, rectifier or inverter in the faulty channel which are still functional, three methods designated as two sets in parallel, two DC buses in parallel and N-sequence currents compensation are investigated, which require minimum extra hardware investment compared with the compensation in parallel and in series

DIRECT AND INDIRECT TORQUE CONTROL OF UNBALANCED PERMANENT MAGNET SYNCHRONOUS MACHINES

Electrical machines may exhibit various types of imbalances and undesirable harmonic distortions. These may increase the torque and flux ripples, acoustic noise, unbalanced three-phase currents, while also reducing efficiency. These types of imbalances and undesirable harmonic distortions cannot be controlled by using the conventional indirect torque control (ITC) and direct torque control (DTC) strategies. For some high-performance motion control, such as precision machine tools, robotics, and servo drives, low torque ripples are, however, obligatory. Nowadays, more studies have been conducted on the ITC strategy to control undesired current harmonics, such as double synchronic reference frames (DSRF), resonant controller, second order generalized integration, and reference current generation. Such strategies, however, can rarely be applied to DTC strategy. In this research, the influence of asymmetric winding impedances, unbalanced back-EMF, and inverter nonlinearity in three-phase surface-mounted PMSMs has been systematically investigated by employing space vector modulations (SVM) based ITC and DTC strategies. This thesis firstly presents a modified ITC strategy by extracting the positive and negative sequence components in the stationary abc frame, and then a coordination transformation is used to control the machine in DSRF. This strategy provides faster dynamic response when compared with the conventional DSRF strategy, since the filters and the decoupling network are not required. Due to the lack of research regarding the DTC strategy under unbalanced conditions, this research investigates and proposes modified cascaded and parallel DTC-SVM strategies. The conventional cascaded DTC strategy is investigated under balanced and unbalanced conditions. Then, a modified control strategy is introduced by adding two compensators (the conventional PI-controller with a resonant controller, and the use of the negative- and positive-sequence voltage vectors) to suppress the 2nd harmonic components in the torque and stator flux linkage. Furthermore, for parallel DTC-SVM, the compensation of the 2nd and 6th harmonic components is investigated by means of either a resonant controller or an adaptive filter. In addition to the simplicity of the proposed strategies, these may also be able to significantly reduce the torque and flux ripples, while maintaining the merit of the fast dynamic response of the conventional DTC strategy even under variable fundamental frequency. Moreover, it has been proven that the compensation from using a resonant controller or an adaptive filter is parameter independent. Thus, regardless of unbalanced conditions, an effective torque ripple minimisation can still be achieved by properly selecting the dominant harmonic compensation