An integrated control method for a wind farm to reduce frequency deviations in a small power system

Output power of wind turbine generator (WTG) is not constant and fluctuates due to wind speed changes. To reduce the adverse effects of the power system introducing WTGs, there are several published reports on output power control of WTGs detailing various researches based on pitch angle control, variable speed wind turbines, energy storage systems, and so on. In this context, this paper presents an integrated control method for a WF to reduce frequency deviations in a small power system. In this study, the WF achieves the frequency control with two control schemes: load estimation and short-term ahead wind speed prediction. For load estimation in the small power system, a minimal-order observer is used as disturbance observer. The estimated load is utilized to determine the output power command of the WF. To regulate the output power command of the WF according to wind speed changing, short-term ahead wind speed is predicted by using least-squares method. The predicted wind speed adjusts the output power command of the WF as a multiplying factor with fuzzy reasoning. By means of the proposed method, the WF can operate according to the wind and load conditions. In the WF system, each output power of the WTGs is controlled by regulating each pitch angle. For increasing acquisition power of the WF, a dispatch control method also is proposed. In the pitch angle control system of each WTG, generalized predictive control (GPC) is applied to enhance the control performance. Effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by the numerical simulations.     

基于无源性的直流微电网并联变换器控制策略

针对可再生能源聚合而形成带混合负载的直流微电网稳定性与协调性问题,提出一种将无源控制与改进非线性干扰观测器前馈补偿相结合的新型控制算法,在消除恒功率负载对直流微电网的影响的同时提高了系统鲁棒性,再利用线路阻抗补偿来改善分流精度与实现电压无偏差。该文利用Matlab/Simulink搭建并联DC-DC变换器仿真模型进行验证,通过对比传统无源控制与比例积分调节的无源控制表明,提出的控制策略抑制了恒功率负载与线路阻抗对直流微电网的影响。最后,在Opal-RT半实物实验平台验证了该策略的有效性。     

An Autonomous System Supplied Only by a Pitch-Controlled Variable-Speed Wind Turbine

This paper presents a control strategy for a variable-speed pitch-controlled wind turbine (WT) generation scheme for the supply of an autonomous system with no energy storage units. The synchronous generator includes two three-phase stator windings displaced by 30deg that are connected to the transformer load through two dc links with voltage source inverters (VSI). Following priority rules, the load is divided into steps. Each load step can be supplied by the WT when the wind speed varies between two predefined speed levels. The first goal of the WT control system is to supply the load with constant real power under constant voltage as the wind speed varies between two levels and the second is to operate smoothly interchanging the load steps when the wind speed breaks through a speed level. There are two controllers: the inverter controller that keeps the load voltage constant and the pitch controller acting on the blade's angle. Using simulation techniques, the operation of the WT system and the efficiency of the proposed control strategy are demonstrated for a wide range of wind speeds.     

A new control methodology of wind turbine generators for frequency control of power system in isolated island

A wind turbine generator (WTG) system's output is not constant and fluctuates depending on wind conditions. Fluctuating power causes frequency deviations and adverse effects to an isolated power system when large output power from WTG systems is penetrated in the power system. This paper presents an output power control methodology of a WTG for frequency control using a load power estimator. The load power is estimated by a disturbance observer, and the output power command of the WTG is determined according to the estimated load. Besides, the WTG can also be controlled during wind turbulence since the output power command is determined by considering wind conditions. The reduction of the power system frequency deviation by using the WTG can be achieved by the proposed method. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated by numerical simulations. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On dynamic operation modes of fuel cell: A comparison between the single-loop and multi-loop controls

Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) is a promising alternative in power generation due to its reliable, efficient, and pollution free characteristics. However, the existing operation modes proposed for the SOFC dynamic control remain inconsistent and even conflicting. To this end, this paper compares the existing control schemes, detailing the merits and deficiencies, respectively. The dynamic model of a tubular SOFC is developed by formulating the disturbance input as load resistance instead of the load current, because the load current is coupled with the voltage during the transient. Different operation modes, i.e., constant fuel flow, constant fuel utilization, and constant voltage operation, are respectively investigated under load fluctuation. Simulation results show that constant fuel flow is advantageous in terms of simplicity; constant fuel utilization is superior in terms of efficiency; constant voltage operation will ease the necessity of using a converter. Finally, based on the nonlinearity, pairing, and coupling analyses, a multivariable operation strategy is explored to maintain fuel utilization and terminal voltage, simultaneously. The results show that this proposed operation strategy is able to achieve the merits of both the constant fuel utilization and constant voltage operation.     

电熔炉用于冶金渣制备岩棉热工计算及可行性分析

冶金渣用于制备岩棉等建筑保温材料是冶金渣有效利用的新途径,电熔炉熔炼冶金渣及其保温过程是该工艺的技术关键。研究了基于某钢厂电熔炉设计方案,对其进行了热平衡计算,并提出改进方法。计算结果表明,对冶金渣容量为10 t的电熔炉,冶金渣入炉温度为1 550℃,出炉温度为1 450℃时,功率500 k W电极在加盖工况下理论上可达到热量平衡,开盖工况下还需增加大于413k W功率的电极;对空气的热辐射是炉内冶金渣热损失的关键因素,因此减小电熔炉开口面积是设备节能的方法之一;优化保温层(耐火层)厚度可降低热传导损耗。     

Study on the operation control strategies of microgrid islanding of photovoltaic and energy storage

主要讨论了光储微网在孤岛运行模式下的控制策略,分别对光伏逆变器进行PQ控制,对储能变流器进行恒压恒频控制实现微网在孤岛模式下对负载的稳定供电.在Simulink中搭建仿真平台对所提出理论进行仿真,对仿真结果进行分析,验证了所提控制策略的正确性和有效性.     

Improvement of induction motor drive systems supplied byphotovoltaic arrays with frequency control

The overall efficiency of an induction motor drive system, powered by a PV array, drops significantly when the insolation condition varies away from its nominal level. This problem can be overcame using a control method in which the frequency of the inverter's PWM control signal is adjusted according to the insolation and temperature conditions. The motor speed, and therefore, the power delivered to the load, are adjusted by controlling the inverter's frequency. This eliminates the mismatch between the maximum power that is available from the source and the power that is required by the load. Simulation results presented in this paper show that using the proposed control system allows the induction motor drive system to maintain its optimum efficiency and deliver consistently more power to the load when insolation and temperature vary from the nominal level. This method also offers an improvement in the system stability     

A robust control method for a PV-supplied DC motor using universal learning networks

In this paper, a new robust control method and its application to a photovoltaic (PV) supplied, separately excited DC motor loaded with a constant torque is discussed. The robust controller is designed against the load torque changes by using the first and second ordered derivatives of the universal learning networks (ULNs). These derivatives are calculated using the forward propagation algorithm, which is considered as an extended version of real time recurrent learning (RTRL). In this application, two ULNs are used: The first is the ULN identifier trained offline to emulate the dynamic performance of the DC motor system. The second is the ULN controller, which is trained online not only to make the motor speed follow a selected reference signal, but also to make the overall system operate at the maximum power point of the PV source. To investigate the effectiveness of the proposed robust control method, the simulation is carried out at four different values of the robustness coefficient γ in two different stages: The training stage, in which the simulation is done for a constant load torque. And the control stage, in which the controller performance is obtained when the load torque is changed. The simulation results showed that the robustness of the control system is improved although the motor load torque at the control stage is different from that at the training stage.     

An analysis of the control and operation of a solid oxide fuel-cell power plant in an isolated system

The concept of a feasible operating area for a solid oxide fuel-cell power plant is introduced by establishing the relationship between the stack terminal voltage, fuel utilization, and stack current. The analysis shows that both the terminal voltage and the utilization factor cannot be kept constant simultaneously when the stack current changes. This leads to the two possible control strategies as constant utilization control and constant voltage control. By controlling the input hydrogen fuel in proportion to the stack current, constant utilization control can be accomplished. By incorporating an additional external voltage-control loop, stack terminal voltage can be maintained constant. The detailed design of the control schemes is described. The effectiveness of the proposed schemes is illustrated through simulation. Using the numerical results, the maximum value of load power change that the plant can handle safely is predicted.     

载荷优化的海上漂浮式风电机组二阶滑模变桨控制

针对强非线性、强耦合的海上漂浮式风电机组动力学系统,提出一种基于二阶滑模的统一变桨控制策略,解决受海浪风速等随机干扰引起浮式支撑平台运动而产生的疲劳结构载荷及功率波动问题。构建漂浮式风电机组的不确定仿射非线性模型,基于风电机组“额定转速”设计积分滑模面,此“额定转速”不再是恒定值,而是取决于平台纵摇速度的变量,基于超螺旋算法实现二阶滑模变桨控制律。采用FAST和Matlab/Simulink联合仿真,所提出的方案与传统PI控制相比,对稳定高风速时风力发电机功率,抑制浮式支撑平台运动及减少叶根载荷具有更好的控制作用,对塔基也有较好的减载作用。     

Effect of Load Models on AC/DC System Stability and Modulation Control Design

This paper investigates important aspects related to the effect of load models on the modulation control design and stability of a modulated ac/dc system. Static load is modeled as a nonlinear function of load bus voltage and dynamic load is modeled by an equivalent induction motor. DC power and reactive power modulations are considered for the modulation controllers. A method for eigenvalue sensitivity calculation is developed to predict the effect of load characteristics on system stability. Eigenvalue sensitivity and simulation results show that static and dynamic load characteristics may have a considerable effect on the system stability. Figure 1 shows an ac/dc power system model used for studying the effect of nonlinear load on system stability. Reactive power modulation gain is obtained via optimal control theory. Figure 2 shows speed response of synchronous generator for a 5% change in reference current (Iref) of the rectifier terminal. Reactive power modulation by static var compensator improves system stability with constant impedance load model. However, reactive power modulation makes the system unstable when the modulation gain is based on constant impedance load model and the actual load is represented by induction motor. Important conclusions resulting from the computations and simulations performed for an integrated ac/dc system are listed below. 1. The dynamic behavior of induction motor load has a significant effect on the system stability. Induction motor in most cases reduces the overall system damping.     

基于机理模型的汽温控制系统优化及应用

针对火电机组过热汽温控制的难点和要求，常规串级控制系统无法达到良好控制效果，尤其在大范围变负荷过程中很难控制汽温动态偏差在要求范围内。分析了基于机理模型的双回路汽温控制原理和控制参数整定方法，并对控制方案进行优化。应用于某300 MW CFB机组过热汽温控制，结果表明其稳态和动态控制品质良好，并能适应机组大范围变负荷需要。由于控制方案能够灵活配置汽温控制中惰性区传递函数时间常数和对控制器参数进行增益调整，因此在工程应用中具有很好的推广作用。     

Integrated battery controller for distributed energy system

In this article, an improved integrated battery energy storage system (BESS) controller for distributed energy system is presented. The BESS is integrated in parallel with the full wave bridge converter into the distributed energy system network. In a normal operating mode, the BESS serves as a power conditioner as well as an active power filter in a distributed power system network. This work presents BESS controller which is designed for regulating the state of charge of the batteries and also to manage the active power in a distributed power system network. The off peak load energy is used to recover the batteries’ state of charge through the BESS controller. In this BESS controller, the constant current-constant voltage (CC-CV) mode is used and it helps to keep the batteries’ state of charge conditions for improving the reliability of the distributed power system system. This control strategy is incorporated into the main converter. The controller helps in managing the phase, amplitude and waveform of the current and voltage on the distributed power system network. The controller ensures the power quality and also assists in improving the power factor with respect to the utility for the intermittent distributed generation as well as the load. In this article, the test results of a prototype system are presented, which validates the proposed controller strategy of BESS in a distributed power system network.     

Load flow analysis for variable speed offshore wind farms

A serial AC?DC integrated load flow algorithm for variable speed offshore wind farms is proposed. It divides the electrical system of a wind farm into several local networks, and different load flow methods are used for these local networks sequentially. This method is fast, more accurate, and many factors such as the different wind farm configurations, the control of wind turbines and the power losses of pulse width modulation converters are considered. The DC/DC converter model is proposed and integrated into load flow algorithm by modifying the Jacobian matrix. Two iterative methods are proposed and integrated into the load flow algorithm: one takes into account the control strategy of converters and the other considers the power losses of converters. In addition, different types of variable speed wind turbine systems with different control methods are investigated. Finally, the method is demonstrated using an 80-MW offshore wind farm.     

Development of solid oxide fuel cell and battery hybrid power generation system

Solid oxide fuel cell hybrid generation system is the best scheme for the load tracking of off-grid monitoring stations. But there are still potential problems that need to be addressed: preventing fuel starvation and ensuring thermal safety while meeting load tracking in hybrid power generation system. In order to solve these problems, a feasible hybrid power generation system structure scheme is proposed which combined SOFC subsystem and Li-ion battery subsystem. Then a model of the hybrid power generation system is built based on the proposed system structure. On this basis, an adaptive controller, include the adaptive energy management algorithm and current feedforward gas supply strategy, is applied to manage the power-sharing in this hybrid system as well as keep the system operating within the safety constraints. The constraints, including maintaining the bus voltage at the desired level, keeping SOFC operating temperature in safety, and mitigating fuel starvation are explicitly considered. The stability of the proposed energy management algorithm is analyzed. Finally, the developed control algorithm is applied to the hybrid power generation system model, the operation result proves the feasibility of the designed controller strategy for hybrid generation system and effectively prevent fuel starvation and ensure thermal safety.     

A coupled power-voltage equilibrium strategy based on droop control for fuel cell/battery/supercapacitor hybrid tramway

In order to improve the robustness of the energy management system (EMS) and avoid the influence of demand power on the design of EMS, a coupled power-voltage equilibrium strategy based on droop control (CPVE-DC) is proposed in this paper. Making use of the principal that the DC bus can directly reflect the changes of load power, the proposed strategy couples DC bus voltage with output powers through droop control to achieve self-equilibrium. The proposed EMS is applied into a hybrid tramway model configured with multiple proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) systems, batteries and super capacitors (SCs). FC systems and SC systems are responsible for satisfying most of the demand power, therefore the CPVE-DC strategy generates FCs and SCs reference power through power-voltage droop control on the primary control. Then batteries supplement the rest part of load power and generate DC bus voltage reference value of the next sampling time. With the gambling between output power and DC bus voltage, the hybrid system achieves self-equilibrium and steps into steady operation by selecting appropriate droop coefficients. Then the secondary control of the proposed strategy allocates power between every single unit. In addition, a penalty coefficient is introduced to balance SOC of SCs. The proposed strategy is tested under a real drive cycle LF-LRV on RT-LAB platform. The results demonstrate that the proposed strategy can achieve self-equilibrium and is effective to allocate demand power among these power sources,achieve active control for the range of DC bus voltage and SOC consensus of SCs as well. In addition, some faults are simulated to verify the robustness of the proposed strategy and it turns out that the CPVE-DC strategy possesses higher robustness. Finally, the CPVE-DC strategy is compared with equivalent consumption minimization strategy (ECMS) and the results shows that the proposed strategy is able to get higher average efficiency and lower equivalent fuel consumption.     

A comparative study of adaptive load frequency controller designs in a power system with dynamic neural network models

This paper investigates applications of dynamic neural network (DNN) models for adaptive load frequency controller designs in power systems. The proposed dynamic neural network models have lag dynamics and dynamical elements such as delayers or integrators in their processing units. They only differ in activation functions. The first uses sigmoid functions, the second uses standard fuzzy systems and the third uses non-orthogonal mother wavelets as activation functions. Each DNN model is connected between two area power systems. The input signals of the DNN models are the area control errors (ACE). The outputs are the control signals for two area load frequency control. Adaptation is based on adjusting the parameters of each for load frequency control. This is done by minimizing the cost functional of load frequency deviations. In simulations for each DNN model, comparative results are obtained for damping the frequency due to a load disturbance effect applied to a two area power system.     

A novel sensorless current shaping control approach for SVPWM inverter with voltage disturbance rejection in a dc grid–based wind power generation system

A novel sensorless current shaping (CS) control strategy is proposed to avail better power quality (PQ) of a dc grid–based wind power generation system (WPGS) used on a poultry farm by generating an appropriate reference current for space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) inverter. The proposed CS strategy also offers adequate control for parallel operation of multiple generators and inverter applications, without requiring voltage and frequency synchronization. Further, to control the poultry farm–based WPGS, a two‐stage control loop is implemented such as energy flow control loop (EFCL) and harmonic control loop (HCL). The first loop is used to regulate the power flow, and the second loop is used to compensate harmonics. A mathematical current decomposition technique is suggested for an appropriate resistance emulation to realize a better power flow, higher harmonic rejection, and better inverter operation. In this planned approach for attaining constant wind speed, an electric ventilation fan in the poultry farm is used. A combined hybrid dc and ac grid approaches are suggested for facilitating variable load integration in a poultry farm–based microgrid system. Moreover, for achieving better power management during the islanded mode of operation, the battery energy storage (BES) device is integrated with the dc grid through a bidirectional converter. The proposed WPGS design and control approach has been simulated through MATLAB/Simulink software under various test conditions, to demonstrate the operational capability, to achieve better PQ, and to increase the flexibility and reliability in the microgrid operation.     

Experimental characterisation of a thermal energy storage system using temperature and power controlled charging

The experimental set-up and technical aspects for charging a thermal energy storage (TES) of a proposed solar cooker at constant temperature and variable electrical power are presented. The TES is developed using a packed pebble bed. An electrical hot plate simulates the concentrator which heats up oil circulating through a copper coil absorber charging the TES system. A computer program to acquire data for monitoring the storage system and to maintain a nearly constant outlet charging temperature is developed using Visual Basic. The input power to the hot plate is also controlled to simulate the variation of the daily solar radiation by using another Visual Basic program. A combined internal model control (IMC) and proportional, integral and derivative (PID) temperature control structure is tested on the TES system under varying conditions and its performance is reasonable within a few degrees of the set temperature points. Results of the charging experiments are used to characterise the storage system. The different experiments indicate various degrees of stratification in the storage tank.