Journal of Electrical Engineering & Technology Vol. 5, No. 1, pp.

103~115, 2010 103

Premium Power Quality Using Combination of Microturbine

Unit and DC Distribution System
Reza Noroozian, Mehrdad Abedi* and Gevorg Gharehpetian*
Abstract This paper discusses a DC distribution system which has been supplied by external AC systems as well as local microturbine distributed generation system in order to demonstrate an overall solution to power quality issue. Based on the dynamic model of the converter, a design procedure has
been presented. In this paper, the power flow control in DC distribution system has been achieved by
network converters. A suitable control strategy for these converters has been proposed, too. They have
DC voltage droop regulator and novel instantaneous power regulation scheme. Also, a novel control
system has been proposed for MT converter. Several case studies have been studied and the simulation
results show that DC distribution system including microturbine unit can provide the premium power
quality using proposed methods.
Keywords: DC Distribution System, Distributed Generation, Microturbine Droop Control, Power
Electronic Converters

1. Introduction
Sensitive loads in modern distribution network require a
high quality power supply. Also the installation of the DG
close to these loads, would improve the supply quality and
reliability. Unfortunately, the use of DG could result in an
undesirable system voltage profile, an increase in the fault
level and protection problems. In this regard, the custom
power devices can improve the power quality and the reliability of sensitive loads [1]-[2]. They can convert the AC
power into DC power and store the energy in capacitors
and battery banks. Therefore, these devices are capable to
inject AC power to customer during disturbances in order
to enhance power quality. However, one may face the
complex operation and high maintenance and initial costs
[3]-[8]. If the custom power devices have been used simultaneously, the coordination of these devices for power
quality and reliability enhancement would be a hard task.
In order to meet the above requirements, several concepts
have been proposed and studied such as FRIENDS [9],
Premium Power Park [10]-[11], and Custom power
Park [12]. The one possible design of the power quality
park has been suggested in [9], which could be supplied the
commercial and industrial loads in close proximity require
varied quality in a power supply. Indeed, [10]-[11] describe
the results of some preliminary works concerning a socalled premium power quality park. In [12], all customers
of the park benefit from high quality AC power supply. In
this power park, the DG unit is kept a standby to supply
power when a catastrophic failure causes both the incoming feeders to trip. It must be noted that there are a number

Corresponding Author: Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of

Engineering, Zanjan University, Iran.([email protected])
*
Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Iran.([email protected] and [email protected])
Received : June 23, 2009; Accepted : October 22, 2009

of technical issues in combined operation of AC and DC

distribution system by DG units. For instance, as the DG
would play a central role in the DC distribution system
operation, the unavoidable interactions between the DG
and the external AC upstream system should be carefully
examined. Moreover, in previous researches [9]-[12] the
impacts of the upstream or downstream fault on the premium power park have not considered. In general, a power
quality park attempts to overcome some of the technical
challenges caused by DGs while, providing premium
power quality services. The DC distribution systems offer
high power density, high efficiency and tightly regulated
output voltage as needed by recent electronic loads [13].
DC distribution systems at lower voltage levels are mainly
used only in specific applications, such as telecommunication equipment [14], shipboard systems [15] and traction
systems [16]. The integration of DG units in AC and DC
distribution systems provide additional performance which
is superior to the combination of the custom power devices
in the distribution system. In this paper, The DG considered is in the form of a microturbine unit. the proposed
system to control power electronic converters have been
used to increase the flexibility in controlling power flows
to/from the external AC upstream system while DGs obtain
the efficient generation and act as the backup energy source.
In this paper, combined AC and DC distribution system
accompanied by microturbine unit has been presented to
replace the custom power park for more simpler and effective operation of commercial and industrial loads. The proposed system is able to compensate the voltage and current
disturbances and can protect the sensitive load against disturbances. It is shown that the nonlinear load does not inject harmonic currents to the AC grid and unbalancing
would not be occurred in the AC grid by the nonlinear load.

Premium Power Quality Using Combination of Microturbine Unit and DC Distribution System

104

2. DC Distribution System Configuration

Fig. 1 shows the DC distribution system including microturbine unit used for extensive investigation and case
studies in this paper. Unlike a conventional UPS system,
the proposed configuration has been equipped with generating sources in the form of DGs instead of batteries. The
DC bus has been assumed to be lossless and has been connected to AC distribution system by two AC/DC network
converters in order to enhance system reliability. These
converters should have equal rated powers [1]. Considering
the merits of Voltage Source Converters (VSC) [1], [17],
they have been employed as interface between AC grid and
DC bus. The power fed to the DC bus is supplied by two
external AC feeders via AC/DC network converters, each
connected to independent substations. In the sample system,
it is assumed that a microturbine unit has been connected
to the DC bus through its AC/DC diode rectifier and
DC/DC converter. These DC/DC converters are called MT
converter.
The loads fed by DC bus, in Fig. 1, are divided into three
categories:
a) L1 is a sensitive or critical load, which requires uninterrupted sinusoidal voltage.
b) L2 is a nonlinear load, which draws harmonic current.
c) L3 is an unbalanced load, which draws unbalance current.
Power balancing in DC bus could be achieved by
AC/DC network converters equipped with DC voltage
regulator, which adjust the DC voltage at acceptable limit
during steady state and dynamic conditions. Therefore the
active power of microturbine unit can be injected to the DC
bus and loads all connected to the DC bus could be supplied with the constant DC voltage. The power regulation
of microturbine unit can be specified by various criteria
such as maximum efficiency conditions or thermal load
requirements [18].
F1
AC

DC

v g1

z g1

DC

AC

Load
Network
Converter No.1 Converter No. 1

External AC
System

F2
DC

vg 2

Sensitive
AC load (L1)

zg2

External AC
System

AC

AC
DC
Network
Load
Converter No.2 Converter No. 2

DC

AC

Microturbine
DC
MT
Unidirectional
Converter
rectifier

DC

Nonlinear
AC load (L2)

Unbalanced
AC load (L3)

Load
Converter No. 3

DC Bus
0.75 kV

Fig. 1. DC distribution system with microturbine generation system.

It is also advisable to use all available power of microturbine unit from economical point of view. Thus, considering both technical and economical constraints, the control system of MT converter should not be designed to support the power balancing for DC bus. In the system, shown
in Fig. 1, the energy storage system is not required to support the DC voltage. The main objective of the this system
selection is the demonstration of the overall solution to
power quality, reliability, energy-delivery efficiency problems in the lack of the energy storage system and the possibility of the DC bus utilization in parallel with external
AC network or in islanding mode during AC grid outages.
The proposed sample system has large potential to provide
premium power quality.

3. Power Management Strategy

The objective of the power management strategy is to
achieve optimal operational performance providing premium power quality, reliability and efficient energy dispatch. Power management strategy related to network converters should provide the reference active and reactive
power signals for the power regulation. The reference active power signal of a network converter is determined by
the DC voltage regulator system, which will be discussed
in the next section. The reference reactive power of a network converter in AC side is specified by its reactive
power management strategy which is usually Unity Power
Factor (UPF) operation [19]-[20]. The reference active
power of a DG unit is specified by its power management
system which should consider various technical and economical constraints. In generators supplied by nonrenewable sources, e.g., microturbines and fuel cells, the
active power management strategies consider various criteria, such as maximum efficiency conditions or thermal load
requirements [18]. In synchronous generators connected to
microturbine, power factor control, e.g. UPF, is usually
adopted to maximize the active power generation [19]-[21].
The main objective that should be met for power management strategy in the sample system, are as follows:
1) The proposed control strategy is based on locally measured signals since no communication exists among microturbine unit and network converters.
2) The control scheme of network converter is based on the
control loop feedback of the DC voltage because this is
the only common signal for power balancing in DC bus.
Moreover, each network converter is equipped with DC
voltage regulator with relatively slow responses for real
power control.
3) Each network converter injects the power from the external AC network to the DC bus while the available DC
power generation is not sufficient for supplying system
loads. It is obvious that under inverter operation each
network converter injects the excessive DC power to the
external AC network.
4) Simple, fast and flexible power control strategies are
required to damp the proposed system oscillations, e.g.,
due to islanding.

Reza Noroozian, Mehrdad Abedi and Gevorg Gharehpetian

The dynamic model for the DC side of the system is

shown in Fig. 2a. Two network converters, connected in
parallel, can be modeled by current sources controlled by
DC bus voltage signal. These converters distribute the current changes between themselves. In addition, the power
reference for two bidirectional network converters is provided by DC voltage regulator. The DG unit converters and
load converters are operating in the current control mode.
The control philosophy for two network converters is
based on feedback from the DC bus voltage, Vdc and the
reference value for the DC bus voltage. If the DC bus voltage is low, the power should be injected to the DC bus by
DG units or the external AC systems. If the DC bus voltage
is high, the surplus power in DC bus must be returned to
external AC systems. As it can be seen in Fig 2a, we have:

I n1( s ) + I n 2 ( s ) ( C s + C r )sVdc ( s ) = I L1( s ) +

I L 2 ( s ) + I L3 ( s ) I MT ( s ) = I net ( s )
Vdc ,refni ( s )
I ni ( s ) =

lp
Vdc ( s )
s + lp

Rni

(1)

105

1
( s + lp )
Rn1Cdc
Vdc ( s ) =
V
(s)
( Rn1 + Rn 2 )lp dc ,ref 1
2
s + lp s +
Rn1 Rn 2Cdc
1
( s + lp )
Rn 2Cdc
V
(s)
+
( Rn1 + Rn 2 )lp dc ,ref 2
s 2 + lp s +
Rn1 Rn 2Cdc
1
( s + lp )
Cdc
I (s)

( Rn1 + Rn 2 )lp net

2
s + lp s +
Rn1 Rn 2Cdc

The closed loop transfer function is given by the following equation:

p( s ) = s 2 + lp s +

i = 1, 2

( Rn1 + Rn 2 )lp

(2)

where, I n1 and I n 2 are the output currents of network

converters No. 1 and No. 2 respectively. I MT is the output currents of microturbine unit. I L1 , I L 2 and I L 3 are
the output currents of load converters No. 1, No. 2 and No.
3 respectively. I net is the current difference between the
output current of all loads and DG units connected to the
DC bus. C s is the equivalent capacitance of the network,
storage and DG converters. Also Cr is the equivalent
capacitance of the load converters. Vdc ,refi and I ni are
DC reference voltage and the output current of the i -th
network converter respectively. Pni and Rni are the output DC power and the equivalent resistance of the i -th
network converter respectively. The measured DC bus
voltage is low pass filtered to attenuate the interaction between the negative sequence voltage of the AC side and
DC bus voltage control and to enhance controller pole
placement. lp is the break-over frequency of the low
pass filter (shown with LPF in Fig. 2a). Considering equations (1), (2) and (3), the measured voltage, the reference
voltages in DC bus ( Vdcref 1 and Vdcref 2 ) and the current
difference between the output current of all loads and DG
units ( I net ) can be presented in one block diagram as
shown in Fig. 2b. This figure shows the main structure of
the DC bus voltage droop controller for the network converters. Cdc which is equal to C s + Cr , is the total
equivalent capacitance of converters connected to the DC
bus. From Fig. 2b, we have:

(3)

Rn1Rn 2Cdc

(4)

The desired characteristic equation can be expressed as:

p( s ) = s 2 + 2 nn s + n2

(5)

where, n and n are the desired closed loop damping

and bandwidth, respectively. The value of DC bus equivalent capacitors determines the performance of the DC voltage control system.
Vdc1,lp ( s ) LPF
lp
s+lp

1
+

Rn1

Vdc ,refn1( s )

I n1( s )

Vdc ( s )
I L1( s )

I Cs ( s ) I C r ( s )
Cs s

I MT ( s )

Vdc ,refn 2 ( s )
+

1
Rn 2

Vdc2 ,lp ( s )

I n2 ( s )
lp
s+lp

Cr s

I L2 ( s )

I L3 ( s )

Vdc ( s )

LPF

Fig. 2a. DC side dynamic model.

Premium Power Quality Using Combination of Microturbine Unit and DC Distribution System

106

Vdc1,lp ( s )

lp
s +lp

culating current, I c , is equal to zero. In addition, if

Rn1 = Rn 2 = Rn , then the injected currents to the DC bus
via network converters, I n1 and I n 2 , are equal. However,
the proper load sharing can be obtained by the appropriate
selection of Rni . The voltage droop, , can be defined as
follows:

Vdc ( s )

sCdc

I n2 ( s )

1
Rn 2

LPF
lp

Vdc2 ,lp ( s ) s +lp

Vdc ,ref 1 Vdc

Vdc ,ref 1

Fig. 2b. Structure of the DC bus voltage droop controller.

The total required DC bus capacitor, Cdc , can be determined by using equations (4) and (5):
Cdc

( R + Rn 2 )4 n2
= C s + Cr = n1
Rn1 Rn 2lp

n =

I n1 + I n 2 = I net

Vdc ,refi Vdc

Rni

(9)

Vdc(Vdc,refi Vdc )
Rni

i = 1, 2

(10)

Rn 2Vdc ,ref 1 + Rn1Vdc ,ref 2 Rn1 Rn 2 I net

Rn1 + Rn 2

V
V
Rn 2 I net
+ dc ,ref 1 dc ,ref 2
Rn1 + Rn 2
Rn1 + Rn 2
V
V
R I
I n 2 = n1 net dc ,ref 1 dc ,ref 2
Rn1 + Rn 2
Rn1 + Rn 2
and,

(15)

( 1 )Vdc2 ,refi
Rni

i = 1, 2

(16)

Rni =

n ( 1 n )Vdc2 ,refi

i = 1, 2

Rni

n ( 1 n )Vdc2 ,refi
Pni ,rated

i = 1, 2

(17)
(18)

Using equations (6) and (18), we have:

2 n2 ( Pn1,rated Vdc2 ,ref 1 + Pn 2 ,rated Vdc2 ,ref 2 )

lp n ( 1 n )Vdc2 ,ref 1 Vdc2 ,ref 2

It is clear that if

Vdc ,ref 1 = Vdc ,ref 2 = Vdc ,ref

(19)

and

Pn1,rated = Pn 2 ,rated = Pn ,rated , then the total required DC

(11)

Using equations (9) and (11), we obtain:

I n1 =

Vdc ,ref

bus capacitor can be determined by the following equation:

Substituting equation (9) in the equation (8) we get:

Vdc =

Pni ,rated =

C dc =

For Pni , we have:

Pni = Vdc I ni =

Vdc ,ref 2

Vdc ,ref Vdc

At rated power conditions, equation (16) can be rewritten

as follows:

(8)

i = 1, 2

Vdc ,ref 2 Vdc

(6)
(7)

2 nlp

The equation (10) can be rewritten in the following form:

Pni =

The steady state model for the DC side of the system is

shown in Fig. 3a. The above mentioned equations can be
written for the steady state condition as follows:

I ni ( s ) =

(14)

Rn1 + Rn 2

It is clear that if Vdc ,ref 1 = Vdc ,ref 2 = Vdc ,ref , then the cir-

I n1( s )

Vdc ,ref 1( s )

Vdc ,ref 2 ( s )

Vdc ,ref 1 Vdc ,ref 2

LPF

1
Rn1

I net ( s )

Ic =

(12)
(13)

Cdc =

4 n2 Pn ,rated

lp n ( 1 n )Vdc2 ,ref

(20)

Fig. 3b shows the steady state droop characteristics of

network converters. The output current of these converters
can be controlled by the slope of the voltage droop characteristics. For suitable operation of network converters, DC
bus voltage can be changed within two threshold values,
Vrefu and Vrefl . By the proposed control strategy for network converters, the DC bus voltage must be kept stable
within an acceptable limit. Moreover, if the DC bus voltage
exceeds the threshold value VrefMT , the power produced
by DG units is cancelled out.

Reza Noroozian, Mehrdad Abedi and Gevorg Gharehpetian

Vdc ,ref 1

I n1

R n1

107

of the DC bus voltage within acceptable limit.

Vdc

4.1 Circuit Configuration and Control Scheme for

Network Converters

Ic

I loads

I n2

Vdc ,ref 2 Rn 2

The equivalent circuit of a network converter is shown

in Fig. 4. This converter is represented with three ideal
ref
current sources i ref
and i ref
fa , i fb
fc . The converter man-

Vdc

ages the amount of the current injected to the DC bus and

vice versa. As it can be seen in Fig. 4, the input signals of
the network converter controller are source phase voltages,
va , vb and vc , source line currents, ia , ib and ic ,
three phase output currents for this converter i fa , i fb and

I MT
Vdc

i fc , DC bus voltage vdc and the reference DC voltage,

Fig. 3a. DC side steady state model.

vdc

Vdcref . L f is the inductance of the converter filter. Rg

and Lg are the resistance and inductance of the AC grid.

VrefMT
Vrefnu

Rni

This controller uses the Hysteresis Current Control (HCC)

switching technique. As it can be seen in Fig. 4, we have:

750 V
Vrefnl

i fa
ia
i = i
fb
b
i fc
ic

I ni , min Output DC current, I

dc

I ni , max

(22)

i = 1,2

Fig. 3b. Droop characteristics of network converters.

In the system, the power difference between the load

demands and power generation of DG units is calculated as
follows:
Pn1 + Pn 2 + PMT = Ploads

(21)

PMT is the output power of a microturbine unit. Ploads

is total power consumed by all loads connected to the DC
bus. It is obvious that the injected power by network converters to the DC bus, Pn1 and Pn 2 , can be classified into
two main categories respect to power flow direction,
namely:
1) Forward-flow mode of operation: in which the AC
power is injected to the network converter by the AC
grid, in order to supply the DC bus.
2) Reverse-flow mode of operation: when the additional
power available in the DC bus could be injected to the
AC grid via network converter.

The circuit configuration and control scheme for each

network converter has been depicted in Fig. 5a. The main
part of this scheme is DC voltage regulator. In this paper,
the droop control strategy has been used for each network
converter, since it does not require any communication
system [22]. More details of the DC voltage regulator are
shown in Fig. 5b. It is obvious when the DC bus voltage,
vdc , remains constant at the level of Vdc ,ref , the power
balancing occurs in the DC bus. As shown in Fig. 5b, the
DC voltage of each network converter (i.e., voltage at DC
bus) is measured and after passing through a low pass filter,
vdc , lp could be compared with the reference voltage (i.e.,

Rg Lg

va

Lf

vb

ia

v fa
i fa v

vc

ib

i fb v

ic

i fc

Network Converter Model

In

fb
fc

i ref
fa

i ref
fb

i ref
fc

Vdc

In

nc

4. Control Strategies of Converters

The main objective of the control strategy for each converter, connected to the DC bus, is the enhancement of the
power quality, reliability and energy efficiency. In this paper, suitable control strategies for each converter have been
presented. These strategies are mainly based on the control

va
vb
vc

Network Converter
Controller
ia ib

i fa
i fb

i fc

ic vdc Vdc ,ref

Fig. 4. Equivalent circuit of network converter.

Premium Power Quality Using Combination of Microturbine Unit and DC Distribution System

108

0
Transform & iabc
Power
Calculation
pn qn i0

Current
Reference

Vdc ,ref

DC Voltage
Regulator

vabc

AC Grid

Pn = K nVdc ( Vdc ,ref Vdc )

Voltage &
Current
Meter

Considering the equations (10) and (28), the steady state

droop is:
Rn =

LC Filter

iref iref i0ref

0
Current
Inverse
i fabc Meter
Transform
iaref ibref icref

Voltage
Meter
DC Bus

Fig. 5a. Block diagram of network converter controller.

vdc

lp

s+lp
LPF

vdc ,lp

0 or 1

0 or 1

Vdc ,ref

Range
ComparatorVrefnl
0 or 1

Kn

in

vdc ,lp

pn

vdc

Vrefnu

Fig. 5b. DC voltage regulator.

Vdc ,ref ). Then the DC voltage error can be fed to the droop

controller whose droop is K n , in order to obtain the injected current (i.e., in ) to the DC bus. The multiplication
of vdc and in determines the injected power to the DC
bus of each network converter (i.e., pn ). For the regulator
shown in Fig. 5b, we have:
in = K n ( Vdc ,ref vdc ,lp )
pn = vdc in ,ref

(23)
(24)

Using equations (23) and (24), we obtain:

pn = K n vdc ( Vdc ,ref vdc ,lp )

(29)

The 0 transformation and the power calculation box in Fig. 5a perform the following equations:

PWM
Current
Control
Vdc

1
Kn

(28)

(25)

The above mentioned equations in steady state condition

can be rewritten as follows:
I n = K n ( Vdc ,ref Vdc )

(26)

Pn = I nVdc

(27)

v
va i
ia
v = T v , i = T i
0 b 0 b
v0
vc i0
ic
1
1
1

2
2
2

2
1
1
1
T 0 =

3
2
2

3
3

2
2

qn = v .i + v .i

(30)

(31)

The reference active power, pn , can be produced by the

DC voltage regulator (equation (24)). In addition the reference reactive power, qn , can be produced by the power
calculation box (equation (30)). In the present work, stationary transformation (Clarke transformation) has been
used in order to provide simple and fast control strategy.
Thus, the component related to the reference current of each network converter can be expressed by the
equation (32).
iref
1
ref = 2
2
i
v + v

v
v

v pn
v qn

(32)

The zero-sequence current in the zero coordinate frame

of reference is i0 , and it is clear that:
i0ref = i0

(33)

Finally, the 0 inverse transformation box shown

in Fig. 5a calculates the three-phase current references to
be fed into the Hysteresis Current Control (HCC) scheme.
Thus:
i0ref
iaref
ref
ref
ib = Tabc i
i ref
i ref

c

(34)

Reza Noroozian, Mehrdad Abedi and Gevorg Gharehpetian

Tabc =

2
3

1
2
1
2
1
2

1
1
2
1

3
2

i ref

iaref
fa
ref

ref
i fb = ib
ref
i ref
i
c
fc

109

vMT

L f v fMT
i fMT

iMT

I MT

i ref
fMT

PMT ,ref pm

I MT

Vdc

MT Converter
Model

(35)

MT Converter
Controller

vMT

PMT ,ref pm

iMT

Fig. 6 shows the block diagram of microturbine (MT)

generation unit. MT generation unit has a common rotating
shaft, associated with the Permanent Magnet Synchronous
Generator (PMSG), combustor, compressor, and turbine.
PMSG is connected to the DC bus via three phase unidirectional rectifier as well as DC/DC converter [23]. In this
plant the turbine is high speed type (50,000-90,000 rpm)
including airfoil bearing. PMSG provides a high frequency
AC power in the range of 1-2 kHz. The output of PSMG is
rectified by three phase unidirectional diode rectifier. In
order to implement the control strategy on injected DC
power to the DC bus, a DC/DC converter is required.
The equivalent circuit of the MT converter is shown in
Fig. 7. This converter is represented with an ideal current
source, i ref
fMT . The converter manages the amount of the
current injected to the DC bus. The input signals of MT
converter controller are MT units output voltage vMT , MT
unit output current i MT , reference active power of a MT
unit, PMT ,ref pm .
The control strategy for a MT converter has been shown
in Fig. 8. In this control scheme, the reference active power,
PMT ,ref is specified by the related active power management

im determines the injected power to the DC bus of MT

converter (i.e., pm ). If the voltage exceeds the higher reference value, Vrefnu , the signal pm is negative and the
MT converter reduces the injected power to DC bus and if
it is lower than the lower reference value, Vrefnl , the signal
pm is positive and the MT converter increases the in-

jected power to DC bus. The reference current, i ref

fMT , can
be determined as follows:

The comparison of the calculated reference current

, and the actual currents generated by the MT con-

verter

i fMT will result in the error signal, which is fed to

the HCC system which determines the switching pattern of

MT converters. If the DC bus voltage exceeds the threshold
value VrefMT , the power produced by MT unit is cancelled
out.

Combustor

Vrefnl

Fuel

0 or 1

DC

v MT

im vdc PMT ,ref

PI

Compresse
Air

Unidirectional
rectifier

VrefMT

Vrefnu
0 or 1

DC Bus
DC

Controller

Fig. 6. Block diagram of microturbine system.

MT Unit

pm

Comp

Turbine

(36)

vMT

i ref
fMT

Exhaust

Compressor

PMT ,ref pm

i ref
fMT =

PMSG

(i.e., im ) to the DC bus. The multiplication of vdc and

Ambient
Air

strategy. The active power variation, pm is specified

by the MT voltage droop controller. The DC voltage error
can be fed to the proportional-integral (PI) controller
whose gain is K m , in order to obtain the injected current

4.2 Circuit Configuration and Control Scheme for

Microturbine Unit

Fig. 7. Equivalent circuit of MT converter.

The comparison of the calculated reference currents and

the actual currents generated by the network converter will
result in the error signal, which controls the switches of the
converter.

vdc ,lp

vMT

Voltage
Meter

iMT ,ref

L Filter
i fMT Current
Meter

PWM
Current
Control

Voltage
Low Pass
Filter vdc Meter
DC Bus

Fig. 8. Block diagram of microturbine controller.

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110

4.3 Circuit Configuration and Control Scheme for

Load Converters
The load converter is voltage source converter (VSC)
with neutral clamped DC capacitors. This topology is characterized by the connection of the neutral point of the load
to the midpoint of the clamped DC capacitors. The equivalent circuit of the load converter is shown in Fig. 9. This
converter is represented with three voltage sources, v ref
fa ,
ref
v ref
fb and v fc . The equations describing load converter

voltages and currents are expressed by the following equation:

v fa vla L
f
v fb = vlb + 0

v fc vlc 0

0 i fa
d
0 i fb
dt
L f i
fc

0
Lf
0

(37)

where, v fa , v fb and v fc are line to neutral three phase

output voltages of the load converter. i fa , i fb and i fc
are three phase output currents. vla , vlb and vlc are line
to neutral three phase voltages of AC loads.
Lf

v fa
v fb i fa

I dc
Vdc

v fc i fb

I dc

i fc
ref
v ref
v ref
fc
fa v fb

vlb
vlc

Load Converter
Controller

nl

i fa
i fb

Fig. 9. Equivalent circuit of a load converter.

The voltage equations in the d q 0 reference frame

are as follows:

0
+ L f
0

L f
0
0

0 i fd
d
0 i fq
dt
L f i
f 0

(39)

(40)

cos( t ) sin( t ) 0
Tdq 0 = Tdq10 = sin( t ) cos( t ) 0
0
0
1

(41)

The reference load current loops in the d q 0 coordinate are:

i fc

0
Lf

vl
vla


vl = T 0 vlb


vl 0
vlc
vld
vl


vlq = Tdq 0 vl


vl 0
vl 0

vldexp 0

2
vlqexp = 0 .4

3
exp
vl 0 0

v fd vld L
f
v fq = vlq + 0

v f 0 vl 0 0

frequency of AC loads. In the V f controller, it is clear

that:
1) Frequency ( ) can be obtained by Phase Lock Loop
(PLL) using desirable frequency (e.g., 50 Hz).
2) The load phase voltages ( vla , vlb and vlc ) can be
detected and transformed to the stationary reference
frame with Clarke transformations and then into a
d q 0 synchronously rotating reference frame using following equations:

The load phase voltage should be kept balanced and sinusoidal with constant amplitude and frequency. Therefore
the expected load voltage in the d q 0 reference frame
should have only the following value:

Load Converter
Model

nc
vla

vla
Load
ila v
lb
Load
ilb vlc
Load
ilc

V f control strategy, which regulates the voltage and the

ildref PI( vld vldexp )

ilqref = PI( vlq vlqexp )

ref

il 0 PI( vl 0 vlexp
0 )

(42)

The output signals from PI controller can be expressed

by the equation (43).
(38)

0 i fd

0 i fq

0 i
f 0

The circuit configuration and control scheme for each

converter has been depicted in Fig. 10. The load converter
between the DC bus and AC loads can be controlled by

v ref
vld PI( ildref i fd ) L f i fd
fd

v ref
= vlq + PI( ilqref i fq ) + L f i fq
fq
ref

0
v f 0 vl 0 PI( ilref

0 i f 0 )

(43)

The reference output voltages for the load converter are

transformed to the a b c by using inverse synchronously rotating and stationary reference frames.

Reza Noroozian, Mehrdad Abedi and Gevorg Gharehpetian

ence DC voltage is Vdc ,ref = 750 V and the nominal droop

v ref

v ref

f
fd
v ref
= Tdq10 v ref

fq
f
ref
ref
v f 0
v f 0

v ref
fa
v ref
fb
ref
v fc

(44)

5.1 Voltage Interruption in AC Distribution System

(45)

Then the available voltages in the a b c coordinate

are compared with the triangular wave provided by PWM
voltage control block. Therefore the output provides suitable switching pattern of each load converter.
vlabc

vlqd 0 d q 0

Transform
v v v
lq ld l 0
vlqexp

+
vldexp
+

vlexp
0
+
PI PI PI
ref ref ref
+ ilq ild il 0 i fq

+
i fd

+
i
f0

PI PI PI
vlq + +
+
L f
vld
+ +
L f
vl 0
+ + f

a bc
Inverse
Transform

In this section a three phase fault at point F2 of Fig. 1

has been simulated. The result is a voltage interruption
during the time period of t=10.3s till t=10. 5s. Fig. 11a illustrates the phase voltages ( Va 2 , Vb 2 and Vc 2 ) at point
F2. Fig. 11b depicts the variations of the active power in
external AC grids ( Pn1 and Pn 2 ), as well as power associated with AC and DC loads connected to the DC bus (i.e.,
PLs = PL1 + PL 2 + PL3 ), and the output power of MT unit
injected to the DC bus (i.e., PMT ).
Fig. 11c shows the DC bus voltage which remains constant during voltage interruption using the proposed power
regulation scheme for network converters. As it can be seen
the actual DC bus voltage ( Vdc ) follows the DC voltage
( V dc ,dy ) and matches the results determined by equation (3).

AC Load

i fq i fd i f 0

dq0
Transform
i f i f i

PI PI PI PLL
ref ref
v ref
fq v fd v f 0

dq0
Inverse
Transform
ref v ref
v ref
f0
f v f

is 5 percent, Vrefnl = 712.5 V and Vrefnu = 787.5 V . The

rated power for a microturbine unit is assumed to be 20 kW.

v ref

f
ref
= Tabc v f

ref

v f 0

0
Transform
vl vl vl 0

111

LC Filter

v ref
fb
v ref
fc

Fig. 11a. Phase voltages in AC side of network converter

No. 2.

f0

Transform i fabc
v ref
fa

Voltage
Meter

Current
Meter

PWM
Voltage
Control
DC Bus

Fig. 11b. (a) Active power variations.

Fig. 10. Control scheme for load converter.

5. Simulation Results
The system shown in Fig. 1 has been simulated by
PSCAD/EMTDC software in order to study the combined
AC and DC distribution system from power quality problems point of view. It is assumed that 100 kW network
converters are in service. It is also assumed that the refer-

Fig. 11c. DC bus voltage.

112

Premium Power Quality Using Combination of Microturbine Unit and DC Distribution System

Fig. 12 illustrate the phase voltages at the terminal of the

sensitive load ( VaL1 , VbL1 and VcL1 ), the nonlinear load
( VaL 2 , VbL 2 and VcL 2 ) and the unbalanced load ( VaL 2 ,
VbL 2 and VcL 2 ), respectively. It can be seen that the high
quality voltages have been provided for AC loads. To quantify the level of the voltage unbalance, the percentage of
unbalance is expressed in accordance with the definition of
the degree of unbalance in three phase system [24]. In
this case, the negative sequence unbalance is lower then
1% which is acceptable. It must be noticed that international standards admit unbalances lower than 2% [24].

the actual DC bus voltage ( Vdc ) follows the DC voltage

( Vdc ,dy ) and matches the results determined by equation (3).
The other simulation results, which are not presented in
this paper, can be verified by equations (16), (21) and (28).

Fig. 13a. Active power variations.

Fig. 13b. DC bus voltage.

Fig. 12. Grid-side phase voltages of the load converters No.

1 (L1), No. 2 (L2) and No. 3 (L3).

5.2 Reference Power for Microturbine Unit

In this section, it is assumed that the reference active
power of microturbine unit has been reduced by 25 % of
rated power, and subsequently increased to its rated power.
Fig. 13a shows the instantaneous active power of external
AC grids and MT unit as well as AC and DC loads. It can
be said that the suggested control strategy for MT converter provides reasonable response. As shown in Fig. 13a,
the instantaneous active power of network converters ( Pn1
and Pn 2 ) are equal showing the proper load sharing.
Fig. 13b also depicts the DC bus voltage, which experiences a swell while the reference of the active power has
been decreased and returns to the nominal DC voltage,
( Vdc ,ref ). It is also clear that when the reference of the active power has been increased to the rated power, the DC
bus voltage experiences sag phenomena. As it can be seen

Fig. 14. Nonlinear load phase current.

5.3 Temporary Loss of Load Converter

Fig. 14 to 16 shows the simulation results due to the loss

of the load converters No 2 and No. 3. Fig. 14 shows the
phase currents of AC loads due to the loss of the associated
converters for 0.2 second (from t=10.3s till t=10. 5s).

Reza Noroozian, Mehrdad Abedi and Gevorg Gharehpetian

Fig. 15a shows the instantaneous active power of external AC grids and MT unit as well as AC and DC loads. In
this situation due to the loss of the load converters No. 2
and No. 3, the network converters return the additional
power from the DC bus to the external AC system.
Fig. 15a also shows that the injected active power to the
DC bus by MT unit is reduced. The proposed control strategy for MT converter is able to response during abnormal
operating conditions. Fig. 15b shows the DC bus voltage,

which is within acceptable limit. As it can be seen the actual DC bus voltage ( Vdc ) follows the DC voltage ( Vdc ,dy )
and matches the results determined by equation (3). The
other simulation results, which are not presented in this
paper, can be verified by equations (16), (21) and (28).
Fig. 16 depicts the phase voltages at the terminal of the
sensitive load ( VaL1 , VbL1 and VcL1 ), the nonlinear load
( VaL 2 , VbL 2 and VcL 2 ) and the unbalanced load ( VaL 2 ,
VbL 2 and VcL 2 ), respectively. It is clear that these voltages are not affected by the loss of the converters. To quantify the level of the voltage unbalance, the percentage of
unbalance is expressed in accordance with the definition of
the degree of unbalance in three phase system [24]. In
this case, the negative sequence unbalance is lower then
1% which is acceptable. It must be noticed that international standards admit unbalances lower than 2% [24].

6. Conclusion

Fig. 15a. Active power variations.

Fig. 15b. DC bus voltage.

113

In this paper it is shown that the DC distribution system

accompanied with microturbine unit provide premium
power quality services. Unlike previous works on the premium power park, the role of the microturbine unit and the
power electronic converters in the proposed system are
examined in regards to mitigating the impacts of the fault
disturbances on loads. Analysis of the power system response and the design of the control system of the DC distribution system have been also presented. The proposed
system is able to compensate the voltage sags, swells and
voltage interruption under different operating conditions.
In this paper PSCAD/EMTDC software has been used for
the modeling and the simulation of the system component
and proposed control strategies for power electronic interfaces, in order to investigate the DC bus voltage behaviors,
power quality problems and load sharing. The results show
that the proposed strategies provide the suitable load sharing between network converters, while the DC bus voltage
remains with acceptable level. The results also show that
the proposed system can protect the sensitive load against
disturbances. It is shown that the nonlinear load does not
inject harmonic currents to the AC grid and unbalancing
would not be occurred in the AC grid by the nonlinear load.
The efficacy of the scheme is born out by simulation results.

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Reza Noroozian was born in Bonab,

Iran, in 1975. He received the B.Sc.
degree from the Tabriz University,
Tabriz, Iran, in 2000, and M.Sc. and
Ph.D. degrees from the Amirkabir
University of Technology (AUT), Tehran,
Iran, in 2003 and 2008, respectively, all
Electrical Engineering. Currently, he is
an Assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Zanjan University, Zanjan, Iran. His research interests include Power System, Distributed Generation, Power Electronic and Power Quality.
Mehrdad Abedi received his B.Sc., M.
Sc. and Ph.D. from Tehran University,
London University and Newcastle University in 1970, 1973, and 1977,
respectively. He worked for G.E.C.
(U.K) till 1978. Since then he joined
EE Dept of Amirkabir University
(Tehran, Iran) where he is now the
professor and member of Center of Excellency on Power
System. Prof. Abedi has published more than 25 books and
160 papers in journals and conferences. He is distinguished
professor in Iran and is prize winner for two outstanding
books. He is also member of Iranian Academy of Science
and member of CIGRE. His main interest is electrical machines and power systems modeling, operation and control.

Reza Noroozian, Mehrdad Abedi and Gevorg Gharehpetian

Gevorg B. Gharehpetian was born

in Tehran, in 1962. He received his BS
and MS degrees in electrical engineering in 1987 and 1989 from Tabriz
University, Tabriz, Iran and Amirkabir
University of Technology (AUT), Tehran,
Iran, respectively, graduating with First
Class Honors. In 1989 he joined the
Electrical Engineering Department of AUT as a lecturer.
He received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from
Tehran University, Tehran, Iran, in 1996. As a Ph.D. student he has received scholarship from DAAD (German
Academic Exchange Service) from 1993 to 1996 and he
was with High Voltage Institute of RWTH Aachen, Aachen,
Germany. He held the position of Assistant Professor in
AUT from 1997 to 2003, and has been Associate Professor
since 2004. Dr. Gharehpetian is a Senior Member of Iranian Association of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IAEEE), member of IEEE and member of central board of
IAEEE. Since 2004 he is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal
of IAEEE. The power engineering group of AUT has been
selected as a Center of Excellency on Power Systems in
Iran since 2001. He is a member of this center and since
2004 the Research Deputy of this center. Since November
2005 he is the director of the industrial relation office of
AUT. He is the author of more than 222 journal and conference papers. His teaching and research interest include
power system and transformers transients, FACTS devices
and HVDC transmission.

115