Unified Power Quality Conditioner for Grid Integration of Wind Generators

A Unified Power Quality Conditioner (UPQC) is relatively a new member of the custom power device family. It is a comprehensive custom power device, with integrated shunt and series active filters. The cost of the device, which is higher than other custom power/FACTS devices, because of twin inverter structure and control complexity, will have to be justified by exploring new areas of application where the cost of saving power quality events outweighs the initial cost of installation. Distributed generation (such as wind generation) is one field where the UPQC can find its potential application. There has been a considerable increase in the power generation from wind farms. This has created the necessity for wind farms connectivity with the grid during power system faults, voltage sags and frequency variations. The application of active filters/custom power devices in the field of wind generation to provide reactive power compensation, additional fault ride through capability and to maintain Power Quality (PQ) at the point of common coupling is gaining popularity. Wind generation like other forms of distributed generation often relies on power electronics technology for flexible interconnection to the power grid. The application of power electronics in wind generation has resulted in improved power quality and increased energy capture. The rapid development in power electronics, which has resulted in high kVA rating of the devices and low price per kVA, encourages the application of such devices at distribution level. This work focuses on development of a laboratory prototype of a UPQC, and investigation of its application for the flexible grid integration of fixed and variable speed wind generators through dynamic simulation studies. A DSP based fully digital controller and interfacing hardware has been developed for a 24 kVA (12 kVA-shunt compensator and 12 kVA-series compensator) laboratory prototype of UPQC. The modular control approach facilitates the operation of the device either as individual series or shunt compensator or as a UPQC. Different laboratory tests have been carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of developed control schemes.A simulation-based analysis is carried out to investigate the suitability of application of a UPQC to achieve Irish grid code compliance of a 2 MW Fixed Speed Induction Generator (FSIG). The rating requirement of the UPQC for the wind generation application has been investigated. A general principle is proposed to choose the practical and economical rating of the UPQC for this type of application. A concept of UPQC integrated Wind Generator (UPQC-WG) has been proposed. The UPQC-WG is a doubly fed induction machine with converters integrated in the stator and rotor circuits and is capable of adjustable speed operation. The operation of UPQC-WG under sub and super-synchronous speed range has been demonstrated. The Irish grid code compliance of the same has been demonstrated with a detailed dynamic simulation

Improving power transfer capability of SCIG based fixed speed WECS

Wind power generation is regarded as the most promising source of all renewable energy system. In this thesis, a concept to advance the knowledge in the possibility to improve the power transfer of the fixed speed Wind Energy Conversion System based on a Squirrel Cage Induction Generator is presented. The proposed system endeavour to increase power extracted from the wind energy system through the utilization of variable capacitors and tap changing transformer in tandem

Comparative Analysis of Multilevel Converters for Medium-Voltage Applications

The electric energy demand has been steadily growing during the last century, and all forecasts indicate that it will keep growing in the following years. Within this frame, and due to all the problems that this demand increase generate in the environment, it is necessary improving the current techniques of electric energy conversion and transmission in order to increase the whole system efficiency. On the other hand, it is also necessary increasing the renewable energy resources exploitation through more efficient generation systems. According to these lines, the power electronics systems that have been installed in the last decades allowed to obtain better efficiency from the renewable natural resources like the wind or the solar power. These systems have also notably improved the quality of the power supplied, reducing the losses through what are known as power quality applications. Power converters are currently essential in any power electronics system. Within them, the multilevel converters specially suppose a breakthrough compared with the classical two level converters, as they allow obtaining voltage and current signals with lower harmonic content, what means fewer losses in high power medium voltage applications. In this Thesis a comparative study of some multilevel converter topologies normally used in high power medium voltage applications is done. The objective is analyzing in detail each topology and comparing it with the rest following different criteria, with the aim to know the advantages and drawbacks of each one and to realize which one is more suitable for each application

A review on power electronics technologies for electric mobility

Concerns about greenhouse gas emissions are a key topic addressed by modern societies worldwide. As a contribution to mitigate such effects caused by the transportation sector, the full adoption of electric mobility is increasingly being seen as the main alternative to conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, which is supported by positive industry indicators, despite some identified hurdles. For such objective, power electronics technologies play an essential role and can be contextualized in different purposes to support the full adoption of electric mobility, including on-board and off-board battery charging systems, inductive wireless charging systems, unified traction and charging systems, new topologies with innovative operation modes for supporting the electrical power grid, and innovative solutions for electrified railways. Embracing all of these aspects, this paper presents a review on power electronics technologies for electric mobility where some of the main technologies and power electronics topologies are presented and explained. In order to address a broad scope of technologies, this paper covers road vehicles, lightweight vehicles and railway vehicles, among other electric vehicles.This work has been supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia with-in the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2020. This work has been supported by the FCT Project DAIPESEV PTDC/EEI-EEE/30382/2017, and by the FCT Project new ERA4GRIDs PTDC/EEI-EEE/30283/2017. Tiago Sousa is supported by the doctoral scholarship SFRH/BD/134353/2017 granted by FCT

An Overview of Applications of the Modular Multilevel Matrix Converter

The modular multilevel matrix converter is a relatively new power converter topology suitable for high-power alternating current (AC)-to-AC applications. Several publications in the literature have highlighted the converter capabilities, such as full modularity, fault-redundancy, control flexibility and input/output power quality. However, the topology and control of this converter are relatively complex to realise, considering that the converter has a large number of power-cells and floating capacitors. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are no review papers where the applications of the modular multilevel matrix converter are discussed. Hence, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art of the modular multilevel matrix converter, focusing on implementation issues and applications. Guidelines to dimensioning the key components of this converter are described and compared to other modular multilevel topologies, highlighting the versatility and controllability of the converter in high-power applications. Additionally, the most popular applications for the modular multilevel matrix converter, such as wind turbines, grid connection and motor drives, are discussed based on analyses of simulation and experimental results. Finally, future trends and new opportunities for the use of the modular multilevel matrix converter in high-power AC-to-AC applications are identified.Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo/[Fondecyt 11191163]/ANID/ChileAgencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo/[Fondecyt 1180879]/ANID/ChileAgencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo/[Fondecyt 11190852]/ANID/ChileAgencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo/[ANID Basal FB0008]/ANID/ChileAgencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo/[Fondef ID19I10370]/ANID/ChileUniversidad de Santiago/[Dicyt 091813DD]//ChileUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ingeniería::Facultad de Ingeniería::Escuela de Ingeniería Eléctric