An Efficient Experimental Method for High Power Direct Drive Wind Energy Conversion Systems

Weihao Hu*, Yue Wang*, Weizheng Yao**, Jinlong Wu*, Hailong Zhang*, Zhaoan Wang*
**

Xian Jiaotong University, Xian, P.R.China University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, P.R.China Email: huweihao@mail.xjtu.edu.cn The method can save a lot of energy when the converter is tested and the experiment can be done in the micro grid. The method can test the main stage, drive circuit, protect circuit and some parts of control circuit. The method has some advantages, such as low power losses and easy to control. Modeling and control scheme of the efficient experimental method are introduced in this paper, as well as the control scheme of the grid side converter. Some differences caused by sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) and space vector modulation (SVM) in the method have been analyzed. The configurations of the direct drive wind energy conversion systems will be presented in section II. Then the control scheme will be introduced in section III. The comparison between SPWM and SVM using in the method will be introduced in section IV. Simulation and experimental results will be given in section V. The conclusion will be given in section VI. II. SYSTEM CONFIGURATIONS The structure of direct drive wind energy conversion system is shown in Fig. 1. The system comprises wind turbine, 6 phases PMSG, generator side converter, grid side converter and LC filter. In this system, the wind turbine captures the wind energy and the generator converts it to the electrical power. Then the power electronics equipment converts it to the high quality power and controls the rotor speed of the generator. FZ2400R17KE3_B2 (1700 V, 2400 A) form EUPEC corporation is chosen as experimental switch in this system. Two multiple converters which are connected in parallel in the both sides are used in this high power situation. Multiple techniques can reduce the current of each converter. So it can increase the reliability of the converter. At the same time, it can reduce the ripple of the output current. So the output filter inductor L and capacitor C can be reduced observably. III. CONTROL SCHEMES When the converter is tested, both generator side converter and grid side converter are connected to the same grid, which is shown in Fig. 2. A large circulating current is controlled to flow through each full bridge, but only a small part of the current caused by the losses of the converter flows into the grid. The circulating current between each bridge is shown in Fig. 3.

AbstractBecause of energy shortage and environment pollution, the renewable energy, especially wind energy has become more and more considerable all over the world. Direct drive wind energy conversion systems based on multipole permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) have some advantages such as no gearbox, high power density, high precision and easy to control. In our research project, a 2MW direct drive wind energy conversion system is developed. In this paper, an efficient experimental method for high power converter is presented. A large circulating current flows in the converter, but only a small part of the current caused by the losses of the converter flows into the grid. The method can save a lot of energy when the converter is tested and the experiment can be done in the micro grid. The method can test the main stage, drive circuit, protect circuit and some parts of control circuit. Modeling and control scheme of the efficient experimental method are introduced in this paper, as well as the control scheme of the grid side converter. Some differences caused by sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) and space vector modulation (SVM) in the method have been analyzed. Simulation and experimental results verify the analysis and the conclusion. KeywordsWind energy conversion, Circulating current, SPWM, SVM

I. INTRODUCTION Because of energy shortage and environment pollution, the renewable energy, especially wind energy has become more and more considerable all over the world [1]. Direct drive wind energy conversion systems based on multipole permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) have some advantages such as no gearbox, high power density, high precision and easy to control [2], [3]. In [4], three different schemes for generator are given in order to obtain an optimum rating of a PMSG and its power converter. A detailed comparison of voltage-controlled VSI and current-controlled VSI for distributed generation systems (DGS) applications is presented in [5]. In our research project, a 2MW direct drive wind energy conversion system is developed. The traditional way to test the converter is using resistance loads. An efficient experimental method can collect the energy which is wasting on the loads. A large circulating current flows in the converter, but only a small part of the current caused by the losses of the converter flows into the grid.

978-1-4244-1668-4/08/$25.00 2008 IEEE

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Fig. 1. The structure of direct drive wind energy conversion system

Fig. 2. The test circuit of direct drive wind energy conversion system

3 P Vd id 2 3 Q Vd iq 2
(2)

Fig. 3. The circulating current between each bridge

The dynamic model of the grid connection when selecting a reference frame rotating synchronously with the grid voltage space vector is [6], [7]

Vd Vid L
Vq Viq L

did Liq dt
diq dt Lid
(1)

Form equation (2), we can see that the active and reactive power can be controlled directly by the direct and quadrature current components, respectively [8]. The control scheme of circulating current is shown in Fig. 4. An outer dc voltage control loop is used to set the d-axis current reference for active power control. This assures that all the power coming from bridge 2 is instantaneously transferred to the grid by bridge 1. Bridge 2 only has a current control loop. It is used to set the value of circulating current. The second channel controls the reactive power by setting a q-axis current reference to a current control loop. The two PWM generators work in discrepant 180 phase. So the two converters can work in the multiple states. Under the control, there would be a large circulating current flowing through each full bridge, but only a small part of the current caused by the losses of the converter flowing into the grid. The equivalent circuit of the converters is shown in Fig. 5. The zero-sequence current io exist in the converter. The zero-sequence current io is defined as

where L is the filter inductor and Vid, Viq are the converter voltage components. The active and reactive power is

io ia1 ib1 ic1 (ia 2 ib 2 ic 2 )

(3)

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id 1 iq1 io1 id1 ia1 ib1 ic1

iq1

* id 1

* U dc

U dcf

* iq 1

* id

Udcf

U a Ub U c

* ref

i
KQ

* q

* id 2
* iq 2

id2

Vabcf

iq2

ia 2 ib 2 ic 2

id2 iq2 io2

Fig. 4. The control scheme of circulating current

In order to control the zero-sequence current, the zerosequence current controller should be used which is shown in Fig. 6. When rotating coordinates are transferred to stationary coordinates, the zero-sequence current PI controller is added into the control of the converter.
Liq1
d d1Vdc
L

fundamental part of is is controlled to zero to reduce the power provided by the grid.

is1 is 2 vs1 e Ris1 j Lis1

(4)

id 1 Vd

id 2

Liq 2
d d 2Vdc

vs 2 e Ris 2 j Lis 2

(5)

Lid 1
d q1Vdc

iq1 Vq

iq 2

Lid 2
d q 2Vdc

L
do1Vdc

io1

io 2

Vo 3VN

io

do 2Vdc

If SPWM is used to generate the PWM signals, it is easy to know that both vs1 and vs2 are sinusoidal. Because all the voltage sources in the circuit are sinusoidal, the current is1 and is2 are also sinusoidal. However, there will be 3rd harmonics in the phase voltage, if SVM is used to generate the PWM signals. In the balanceable 3-phase 3-line systems, 3rd harmonics can not flow into the grid. The equations of 3rd harmonics are shown below.

Fig. 5. The equivalent circuit of the converter

* id 1

id1

is1(3rd ) is 2(3rd )

vs1(3rd ) Ris1(3rd ) 3 j Lis1(3 rd ) vs 2(3 rd ) Ris 2(3 rd ) 3 j Lis 2(3rd )

(6)

* iq 1

(7)

i 0

* o1

iq1

The phase current of each bridge can be expressed as

io1

is1(3rd ) is 2(3rd )

vs1(3rd ) vs 2(3rd ) 2 R 6 j L

(8)

Fig. 6. control scheme of the zero-sequence current

IV. COMPARISON BETWEEN SPWM AND SVM The equivalent circuit of phase A is shown in Fig. 7, where vs1 and vs2 are the phase voltage of the two bridges, e is the grid voltage. The voltage and current vectors of phase A is shown in Fig. 8. From these two figures, the

Generally speaking, vs1(3rd) and vs2(3rd) are not equal. So there will be 3rd harmonics flowing in each bridge, if SVM is used. There are still some differences between this method and the practical control scheme, such as control scheme of generator side converter, protect strategy and the current of dc-link capacitor. But this method is very useful for testing the main stage, drive circuit and protect circuit.

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is1

is
e

is 2 vs 2

vs1

is1(3rd )

is 2(3rd )
vs 2(3rd )
Fig. 7. The equivalent circuit of phase A.
q

vs1(3rd )

(a) Phase current.

Lis1
vs1

Ris1

Ris 2
is1

Lis 2
vs 2

(b) Grid current. Fig. 10. Simulation waveforms with SVM.

is 2

Fig. 8. The voltage and current vectors of phase A

The prototype of generator and grid side converter was built and tested. A dc motor is used to simulate the wind turbine. The converter specifications are shown in Table I. The type of intelligent power module (IPM) is FUJI 7MBP75RA120 and the type of digital signal processor (DSP) is TI TMS320F2812. The photograph of the prototype used in the experiment is shown in Fig. 11.
TABLE I. THE CONVERTER SPECIFICATIONS Parameters Input voltage Output voltage Rated power Switching frequency Filter inductor DC-link capacitor Value 380 V 220 V 10 kW 5 kHz 0.4 mH

V. SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS MATLAB/SIMULINK is used in the simulation. The dc-link capacitor C is 15mF and the filter inductor L is 0.4mH. The switching frequency is 2.5 k Hz. Simulation results are shown in Figs. 9 and 10. From the waveforms, the currents of each bridge are in the reverse phase. Only high frequency current ripples still exist in the grid current, and they can be easily filtered. When SVM is used, the current of each bridge not only have fundamental part, but also have 3rd harmonics.

2200 F

(a) Phase current.

Fig. 11. The photograph of prototype

(b) Grid current. Fig. 9. Simulation waveforms with SPWM.

The experimental results are shown in Figs. 12 and 13. Fig. 12 shows the currents of each bridge, grid current and grid voltage. A large circulating current flows in the converter, but only a small part of the current caused by the losses of the converter flows into the grid. With SVM control, there will be 3rd harmonics flowing in each bridge. The photograph of the 2MW converter is shown in Fig. 14. The experimental waveforms of this method are

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shown in Fig. 15. A large circulating current flows in the converter, but only a small part of the current caused by the losses of the converter flows into the grid. The method saves a lot of energy when the converter is tested.

Fig. 15. The photo and the basic experimental waveforms of 2MW converter

Fig. 12. Experimental waveforms with SPWM

VI. CONCLUSION This work shows the performance of an efficient experimental method for high power converter which is used in direct drive wind energy conversion systems. A large circulating current flows in the converter, but only a small part of the current caused by the losses of the converter flows into the grid. The method can save a lot of energy when the converter is tested and the experiment can be done in the micro grid. The method can test the main stage, drive circuit, protect circuit and some parts of control circuit. Modeling and control scheme of the efficient experimental method are introduced in this paper, as well as the control scheme of the grid side converter. Some differences caused by SPWM and SVM in the method have been analyzed. Simulation and experimental results verify the analysis and the conclusion. REFERENCES
[1] Ye Hangye. The Control Technology of Wind Energy Conversion Systems. Beijing, China: Mechanical Industries Publishing Company, 2002. M. Chinchilla, S. Arnaltes and J. C. Burgos, Control of permanent-magnet generators applied to variable-speed windenergy systems connected to the grid, IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, Vol. 21, No. 1, March 2006, pp. 130135. H. Polinder, F. F. A. van der Pijl, G. de Vilder, and P. J. Tavner, Comparison of direct-drive and geared generator concepts for wind turbines, IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, Vol. 21, No. 3, September 2006, pp. 725733. A. Grauers, Design of direct driven permanent magnet generators for wind turbines, M.S. thesis, Chalmers Univ. Technol., Goteborg, Sweden, 1996. S. H. Ko, S. R. Lee, H. Dehbonei and C. V. Nayar., Application of voltage and current-controlled voltage source inverters for distributed generation systems, IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, Vol. 21, No. 3, September 2006, pp. 782792. K. Xing, F. C. Lee, D. Borojevic and Z. Ye, Interleaved PWM with discontinuous space-vector modulation, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, Vol. 14, No. 5, September 1999, pp. 906 917. D. Ramirez, C. Veganzones, and F. Blazquez, Adaptation of floating point DSP-based technology for small variable-speed wind turbine, IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, Vol. 22, No. 2, June 2007, pp.376382. Wang Zhaoan. Power electronic technology. Beijing, China: Mechanical Industries Publishing Company, 2000.

[2] Fig. 13. Experimental waveforms with SVM [3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7] Fig. 14. The photograph and the basic experimental waveforms of 2MW converter [8]

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