Terminal Voltage Regulation Characteristics by Static Var Compensator for a Three-Phase Self-Excited Induction Generator

Abstract

In this paper, the practical impedance approach steady-state analysis in the frequency domain for the three-phase self-excited induction generator (SEIG) with squirrel-cage rotor is presented along with its operating performance evaluations. The three-phase SEIG is driven by a variable-speed prime mover(VSPM) in addition to a constant-speed prime mover (CSPM) such as a wind turbine and a micro gas turbine for clean alternative renewable energy in rural areas. The basic steady-state characteristics of the VSPM are considered in the three-phase SEIG approximate equivalent circuit and the operating performance of the three-phase SEIG coupled with a VSPM and/or a CSPM are evaluated and discussed online under the conditions related to the speed changes of the prime mover and the electrical inductive load power variations with simple computation processing procedures. A three-phase SEIG prototype setup with a VSPM is implemented for small-scale clean renewable and alternative energy utilizations. The experimental performance results give good agreement with those obtained from the simulation results. Furthermore, a proportional-integral (PI) closed-loop feedback voltage regulation of the three-phase SEIG driven by the VSPM on the basis of the static var compensator (SVC) composed of the thyristor phase-controlled reactor in parallel with the thyristor switched capacitor and the fixed-excitation capacitor bank is designed and considered for the wind generation as a renewable power conditioner. The simulation analysis and experimental results obtained from the three-phase SEIG with SVC for its voltage regulation prove the practical effectiveness of the additional SVC with the PI-controller-based feedback loop in steady-state operation in terms of high performance with low cost.