Exploring the Causes of Power-Converter Failure in Wind Turbines based on Comprehensive Field-Data and Damage Analysis
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. State of Research on Power-Converter Reliability in Wind Turbines
1.2. Previous Work of the Authors
1.3. Contribution and Outline of the Present Paper
2. Investigated Systems and Analysis Methods
2.1. Studied Wind-Turbine Systems
2.2. Field-Data Analysis
- phase module (including IGBT modules and corresponding driver boards, DC-link capacitors and busbars)
- power-converter control board
- cooling system
- main circuit breaker
- grid-coupling contactor
- other power-converter components (e.g., electrical filter components, fuses, relays, …)
2.3. Post-Mortem Analysis of Returned Power-Converter Components
- visual inspection
- optical microscopy
- X-ray transmission
- scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM)
- scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
- diagnostic measurements for defect localization
- manual pull-testing of bond contacts
3. Results
3.1. Results of the Field-Data Analysis
3.1.1. Converter Failure Rates vs. Wind-Turbine Capacity Factors
3.1.2. Seasonal Variation of Phase-module Failure Rates
3.2. Results of the Post-Mortem Analysis of Defect Components
3.2.1. Analysis of IGBT Modules from a DFIG-based Turbine Type
3.2.2. Analysis of an IGBT Module from a Second DFIG-based Turbine Type
3.2.3. Analysis of a Generator-side Converter from a Turbine with PMSG
3.3. Results from Damage Analyses of Power-Converter and Power-Module Manufacturers
4. Discussion
- the research carried out within the Innovation Cluster,
- input from and discussion with various companies, including power-module and converter manufacturers, wind-turbine operators and maintenance service providers, as well as
- information from conferences and literature.
4.1. Factors with a Relevant Influence on Converter Failure
4.1.1. Humidity and Condensation
- insulation degradation in the DC-link busbars/laminates, but above all of the DC terminals and busbars of power modules, which leads to short-circuit failure and with that often to a damage of modules connected to the same DC link
- a reduction of the blocking capability of the power semiconductors due to electrochemical migration and aluminum corrosion, which was demonstrated by [43] under the combined influence of 85% relative humidity, a temperature of 85 °C and voltages above 65% of the nominal blocking voltage, and for which the occurrence even at lower humidity, temperature and voltage-stress levels is subject of further investigations
- the impairment of moisture-susceptible driver components by corrosion or electrochemical migration, which can, besides a full loss of function of the driver board, through an insufficient gate voltage lead to thermal damage of IGBTs (see Section 3.3).
4.1.2. Overheating
4.1.3. Weak Components
4.1.4. Asymmetric Current Sharing and Uncontrolled Switching of IGBTs
4.1.5. Contamination
- with coal dust (from generator brushes, especially in the absence of an extraction system),
- with dust from the environment (e.g., from agriculture, ore dust from mining),
- with salt (at offshore and nearshore locations),
- with and through insects.
4.1.6. Human Error and Maintenance Practice
- the leakage of coolant onto converter components leading to immediate short-circuit failure or time-delayed corrosion of the tracks and components of circuit boards in the converter [50],
- incorrectly wired converter heaters in systems without temperature feedback, which prevented converter preheating and in this way led to condensation failure during cold start-up,
- wrong valve positions in the converter cooling circuit, resulting in a permanent “overcooling” with subsequent failure due to condensation [44],
- short-circuit failure due to tools or screws remained in the converter after maintenance as well as due to insufficiently fastened cables, that subsequently loosened owing to vibration,
- too high or too low tightening torque for screw connections, e.g., at the power terminals of IGBT modules; the former case is a afflicted with enhanced mechanical stress inside the module, the latter case with the risk of hot spots and asymmetric load distribution due to the resulting high contact resistance.
4.2. Unlikely Causes of Converter Failure
4.2.1. Thermocycling-Induced Fatigue at Chip/Packaging Level
4.2.2. Transients during Connection to the Grid
4.2.3. Vibration
4.2.4. Cosmic Radiation
5. Conclusions
5.1. Summary and Main Conclusions of the Present Work
5.2. Future Work—Recommendations and Outlook
5.3. Recommendations for Documentation of Failure Events
- wind-turbine ID, type and location
- component position within the converter (e.g., grid side or generator side, phase)
- timestamp of the failure event
- wind speed and turbine power fed to the grid at the time of failure, possibly related conditions such as grid faults or thunderstorms preceding the failure event
- operating time until failure (for re-used components: including previous operating times in other turbines)
- further components damaged during the same failure event
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Number of WTs with a main converter | 2734 |
Converter failure data from years | 2003–2017 |
Total number of evaluated WT operating years | 7399 |
Evaluated dataset covers WTs of the manufacturers | DeWind, Enercon, Fuhrländer, Gamesa, General Electric, Kenersys, Nordex, Senvion, Suzlon, Siemens, Vestas |
Rated power of WTs | 500–3600 kW |
Year of commissioning of the WTs | 1997–2015 (unknown for 114 WT) |
WTs located on continents | Europe, Asia, North America, South America |
Generator-converter concepts of WTs |
|
Investigated Factor | Converter Component | Relevance | |
---|---|---|---|
High | Low | ||
Contamination | All | X | |
Cosmic radiation | Power modules | X | |
Current asymmetries, uncontrolled IGBT switching | Power modules | X | |
Human errors | All | X | |
Moisture and condensation | All | X | |
Overheating | All | X | |
Thermal-cycling induced fatigue on chip/packaging level | Power modules | X | |
Transients during grid coupling | Power modules | X | |
Vibration | All | X | |
Weak single components | Driver boards, power modules | X |
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Fischer, K.; Pelka, K.; Puls, S.; Poech, M.-H.; Mertens, A.; Bartschat, A.; Tegtmeier, B.; Broer, C.; Wenske, J. Exploring the Causes of Power-Converter Failure in Wind Turbines based on Comprehensive Field-Data and Damage Analysis. Energies 2019, 12, 593. https://doi.org/10.3390/en12040593
Fischer K, Pelka K, Puls S, Poech M-H, Mertens A, Bartschat A, Tegtmeier B, Broer C, Wenske J. Exploring the Causes of Power-Converter Failure in Wind Turbines based on Comprehensive Field-Data and Damage Analysis. Energies. 2019; 12(4):593. https://doi.org/10.3390/en12040593
Chicago/Turabian StyleFischer, Katharina, Karoline Pelka, Sebastian Puls, Max-Hermann Poech, Axel Mertens, Arne Bartschat, Bernd Tegtmeier, Christian Broer, and Jan Wenske. 2019. "Exploring the Causes of Power-Converter Failure in Wind Turbines based on Comprehensive Field-Data and Damage Analysis" Energies 12, no. 4: 593. https://doi.org/10.3390/en12040593