A Control Strategy for Reliable Power Output From a Stand-alone WRIG With Battery-Supported DC Link

Abstract

This paper proposes a versatile control strategy for a standalone wound rotor induction generator (WRIG) with back-to-back converters supported by a battery at dc-link. The principal feature of the study is the operation of the generator as a commanded current source, to supply only sinusoidal current as desired, and the operation of battery fed Front End Converter (FEC) as a constant voltage source, which adapts to varying load conditions. Further, in implementing this feature, in a significant deviation from conventional approaches, to Rotor Side Converter (RSC) and FEC are redefined with a view to achieve versatility and reliability in stand-alone operation. In particular, the RSC is employed to track the maximum power (instead of load voltage and frequency control), whereas the FEC maintains a constant load voltage and frequency. It is revealed that there are multiple benefits of the proposed strategy such as inherent load balancing; capability to support critical loads solely by battery through the FEC as in an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), especially at low wind speeds; compensating unbalanced or harmonic load currents via FEC (as in an active power filter); and smooth transition between the MPPT mode and the UPS mode by synchronization. Simulation results of a 2-MW wind turbine, along with test results of a 2.3-kW laboratory setup, validate the proposed strategy.