DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF PMSG BASED WIND POWER GENERATION

1. INTRODUCTION

Power extracted from wind energy contributes a significant proportion of consumers’

electrical power demands. For example, 20% of the entire electricity consumption in
Denmark is provided by wind energy [1]. In recent years, many power converter
techniques have been developed for integrating with the electrical grid. The use of power
electronic converters allows for variable speed operation of the wind turbine, and
enhanced power extraction. In variable speed operation, a control method designed to
extract maximum power from the turbine and provide constant grid voltage and
frequency is required. A wide range of control schemes, varying in cost and complexity,
have been investigated for all the previously considered conversion systems. All control
schemes integrated with the power electronic converter are designed to maximize power
output at all possible wind speeds. The wind speeds range from the cut-in speed to the
rated wind speed, both of which are specific to the size and type of generator used in the
wind energy conversion system (WECS).
In this synopsis, the possible combinations of converter and generator topologies
for permanent magnet generators, caged rotor induction generators, synchronous
generators and doubly fed induction generators including more specifically wound rotor
induction machines are discussed and some of the possible control strategies are touched
upon. This paper serves as a concise summary and comparison of the state of art
regarding power electronic topologies and wind energy conversion systems.

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 DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF PMSG BASED WIND POWER GENERATION

2. PERMANENT MAGNET SYNCHRONOUS

GENERATORS

Permanent magnet excitation is generally favored in newer smaller scale turbine designs,
since it allows for higher efficiency and smaller wind turbine blade diameter. While
recent research has considered larger scale designs, the economics of large volumes of
permanent magnet material has limited their practical application. The primary advantage
of permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSG) is that they do not require any
external excitation current. A major cost benefit in using the PMSG is the fact that a
diode bridge rectifier may be used at the generator terminals since no external excitation
current is needed. Much research has been performed using a diode rectifier; however,
this leaves many options for the remainder of the power converter and its control.
A permanent magnet synchronous generator is a generator where the excitation field is
provided by a permanent magnet instead of a coil. The term synchronous refers here to
the fact that the rotor and magnetic field rotate with the same speed, because the magnetic
field is generated through a shaft mounted permanent magnet mechanism and current is
induced into the stationary armature.
They are known as synchronous generators because f, the frequency of the induced
voltage in the stator (armature conductors) conventionally measured in hertz, is directly
proportional to RPM, the rotation rate of the rotor usually given in revolutions per minute
(or angular speed). If the rotor windings are arranged in such a way as to produce the
effect of more than two magnetic poles, then each physical revolution of the rotor results
in more magnetic poles moving past the armature windings. Each passing of a north and
south pole corresponds to a complete "cycle" of a magnet field oscillation. Therefore, the
P
constant of proportionality is , where P is the number of magnetic rotor poles (almost
120
always an even number), and the factor of 120 comes from 60 seconds per minute and
P
two poles in a single magnet; f ( Hz ) = RPM
120
 3. PROBLEM DEFINITON

3.1 PROJECT OBJECTIVE

1. The basic need of proposing this project is to present following things:

2. An attempt to obtain maximum energy transfer from the wind turbine to the grid.

3. An effort to make converter and control schemes more efficient and cost effective
in hopes of an economically viable solution to increasing environmental issues.

4. Wind power generation has grown at an alarming rate in the past decade and will
continue to do so as power electronic technology continues to advance.

5. Wind Turbine Modelling

6. PMSG Modelling

7. Power Flow Content

4. POWER ELECTRONICS BASED INVERTER

4.1 Thyristor supply-side inverter

Using a thyristor-based grid-side inverter allows continuous control of the inverter firing
angle, regulating turbine speed through the DC-link voltage; hence, obtaining optimum
energy capture Advantages of this scheme include lower device cost and higher available
power rating than hard-switched inverters. A major drawback to this inverter is the need
for an active compensator for the reactive power demand and harmonic distortion
created, as shown in Fig. 1a. A voltage source converter (VSC) is used for the
compensator and the error signal between the reference and actual compensator current is
used to drive the pulse width modulated (PWM) control.

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 DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF PMSG BASED WIND POWER GENERATION

Fig.2.1 PMSG with diode rectifier converter options.

2.2 Hard-switching supply-side inverter

Various control strategies that can be applied to the converter in Fig. 1b have been
discussed. A proposed control involves the manipulation of the modulation index of the
reference sinusoidal signal applied to the PWM generator. This is achieved by
determining the DC-link voltage by a power mapping technique that contains the

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 DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF PMSG BASED WIND POWER GENERATION

maximum power versus DC voltage characteristic. The control system is further

improved by using a derivative control on the stator frequency, since it also changes with
change in DC-link voltage. This control is compared with maximum power point tracking
(MPPT), which includes an anemometer, a wind prediction control scheme and a fixed-
voltage scheme. The anemometer measures the wind speed and aids in providing the
wind power reference to the MPPT controller. The reference power is compared with the
actual DC power extracted in which the result is used to determine the new operating DC
voltage. The current control loop of the inverter receives the new operating DC voltage
and outputs an instantaneous driving signal for the PWM. In wind prediction methods,
autoregressive statistical models are commonly used. The system considers energy
captured in the previous time frame to predict the wind speed value for the next time
frame set. Under fixed-voltage control, the voltage of the inverter is fixed at a targeted
optimum wind speed. In comparing the four control methods, the fixed voltage scheme
was used as the reference since it was least efficient. The MPPT with anemometer setup
proved to be superior, obtaining 56–63% of energy available. However, the proposed
method using sensor-less control was not far behind, obtaining 55–61% of the total
energy available from the wind.

2.3 Intermediate DC/DC converter stage

The use of a voltage source inverter (VSI) accompanied by a DC/DC converter is

investigated depicted in Fig. 1c. This setup is also compared to the converter shown in
Fig. 1b. Incorporating an extra DC/DC converter gives the following advantages:

1. Control of generator-side DC-voltage through variation of the switching ratio,

2. Maintains appropriate inverter-side DC-voltage,
3. Allows for selective harmonic elimination (SHE) switching, giving reduced losses,

4. Inverter no longer needs to control DC-voltage, and has more flexible control.

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 DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF PMSG BASED WIND POWER GENERATION

The inverter power control can be achieved by regulating the magnitude of the
fundamental line current and the phase angle between the line current and line voltage.
The controller is configured such that the VSI is switched at the frequency of the
triangular carrier signal and its output harmonics are well defined. For every shaft speed,
optimum values of DC voltage and current can be identified corresponding to the
maximum available turbine power. The DC/AC voltage ratio and power angle are used as
control variables that are tuned to control the power, and ultimately the speed of the
generator. The inverter control can also be implemented to keep the DC-link constant and
vary the reactive power in a manner that attains maximum real power transfer to the grid.
Results show that the thyristor-based inverter with active compensator is best suited for
strong AC systems since it relies on the system to ensure commutation. However, both
the VSI and DC/DC–VSI systems are capable of integrating with both strong and weak
AC systems.

Other control strategies have been discovered for this converter. The DC/AC
inverter can control the active and reactive power delivered to the grid via control of the
q-axis and d-axis current, respectively. The q-axis reference current is determined by the
error in the DC-link voltage, and is then compared with the actual current. The phase
angle of the utility, used in power factor control, is detected using software phase lock
loop (PLL) in a d–q synchronous reference frame. Power factor control creates the d-axis
reference current allowing it to be compared with the actual d-axis current. The error in
both reference frame currents are used to create the d–q-axis reference voltages used in
space vector PWM control. Using the voltage equation governing a boost-up DC/DC
chopper and a proportional–integral (PI) controller, the duty ratio of the chopper switch
may be determined for any particular optimum point. The inverter-side DC voltage
remains constant set by the grid voltage giving the advantage of flexible transfer of active
and reactive power to the grid.

A slight modification to the DC-link shown in Fig. 1c is made by including a battery. The
battery allows charging during night time when load demand is usually lower. An
immediate advantage is a constant DC-link voltage, therefore, controlling the chopper
output current to its maximum value giving maximum output power. To

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 DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF PMSG BASED WIND POWER GENERATION

perform the control, a relationship between the output power and duty cycle of the
chopper is used. Starting from an arbitrary point, the duty cycle can be continuously and
slowly adjusted between a specific ranges searching for the maximum power point. It is
found that the control system began losing efficiency at high speeds; this was due to the
phase lag between the DC current and duty ratio. A faster sampling rate would help
correct this problem.

2.4 Back-To-Back PWM Converters

The use of two, 6-switch, hard-switched converters, with a DC-link capacitor, Fig. 2a,
has been explored. The generator side rectifier is controlled through a PI controller such
that the d-axis current is held to zero to obtain maximum electrical torque with minimum
current. A MPPT is used in determining the optimum rotor speed for each wind speed to
obtain maximum rotor power. In contrast, the grid side inverter controls the line current
to be sinusoidal through a hysteresis controller. The DC-link voltage is also controlled by
a PI controller, via the grid side inverter.

More recently, a converter using two B-4 converters and two DC-link capacitors
has been developed, shown in Fig. 2b. Again MPPT calculates the output power of the
generator by measuring the DC-link current and voltage, and then alters the operating
point by increasing or decreasing the reference current magnitude. The MPPT control is
performed on the generator side rectifier. The grid-side control sets the inverter current
through a PI controller and the DC-voltage error. The current error is used to drive the
inverter switching signals. A PLL is used on each side to ensure unity power factor is
maintained throughout the entire system.

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 DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF PMSG BASED WIND POWER GENERATION

Fig.2. PMSG with back-to-back PWM converter schemes.

2.5 Unconventional schemes

A rather unconventional scheme using a PMSG has been discussed. The system uses a
rotary phase shifter (RPS) as a frequency converter. The RPS can adjust the angular
velocity of the generator at a low cost in comparison to a power electronic device. A
flywheel is also used as power stabilizer; it has a lifetime that is not limited unlike the use
of a battery. As this is an uncommon method, more details can be found in.

Recently, research has been performed to solve DC-link shortage problems under
low wind speed conditions. By placing three switches between the diode rectifier legs and
middle point of the DC-link capacitor, the voltage at low winds can be increased. During
low wind speeds, the switches are turned on and off alternately,

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 DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF PMSG BASED WIND POWER GENERATION

keeping the system symmetrical while increasing the voltage. The switches are not used
during high winds to avoid frequent over-voltages. This is not a common practice but one
worth noting, and further details can be found in. Another modification to the converter
system in Fig. 1b can be made to ensure energy flow is unidirectional from generator to
grid. By placing a simple diode in between the capacitive DC-link and the inverter,
energy flow is restricted due to the reverse blocking capabilities of the diode.

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 DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF PMSG BASED WIND POWER GENERATION

3. REFERENCES
• Schiemenz I, Stiebler M, Control of a permanent magnet synchronous generator used in a variable
speed wind energy system. In: Proceedings of IEEE IEMDC’01, 2001. p. 872–7.
• IEEE Paper - “A review of power converter topologies for wind generators” - Jamal A. Baroudi,
Venkata Dinavahi, Andrew M. Knight.
• IEEE Paper - “Control of Permanent-Magnet Generators Applied to Variable-Speed Wind-Energy
Systems connected to the Grid” - Monica Chinchilla, Member, IEEE, Santiago Arnaltes, Member,
IEEE, and Juan Carlos Burgos, Member, IEEE.

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