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Ecotcnia 48/750 Variable-Speed Wind Turbine

Alex M. De Broe, Marc Guadayol, Pep Prats, Jordi Roca1, Ola Carlson2

II. DESIGN PROCESS

Abstract. This paper presents the Ecotcnia 48/750 variablespeed wind turbine. The first two paragraphs explain the design criteria and describe the design process followed. The third paragraph gives an overview of the various algorithms applied at the different hierarchical control levels. Also results illustrating the operation in the field are presented. Finally the implementation and mechanical integration of the variable-speed technology hardware is shown. The main advantages of the Ecotcnia 48/750 variable-speed wind turbine are increased energy capture by adjustment of the operating point, reduced mechanical oscillations and an optimized grid compatibility. Keywords: variable speed, fixed pitch, vector control

INTRODUCTION The objective of the project was the development of a variable-speed wind turbine based on the design of the Ecotcnia 48/750 fixed-speed stall-regulated wind turbine. The project was initiated in the year 2000 with the collaboration of the Chalmers University of Technology. The project was supported by the EU 5th Framework Program. I. DESIGN CRITERIA The variable-speed Ecotcnia 48/750 wind turbine is based on the existing Ecotcnia wind turbine. This turbine is of the classic concept with a three-bladed upwind rotor, a gearbox and squirrel-cage induction generator. The most important design criteria is maintaining the benefits of the wind turbine while introducing variable-speed technology. In order to maintain the robustness of the turbine, the concept of the variable-speed version assimilates this classical layout and inserts a back-to-back AC-DC-AC powerelectronic conversion stage in between each generator and the transformer. This allows for a very wide operating range of the wind turbine rotational speed. Also on the grid-side, full power converters have benefits such as increased reactive-power capacity and a high level of robustness in case of voltage transients.

In a first phase of the development, control algorithms were developed for the generator-side and grid-side converters based on the vector control technique. A dynamic model of the aerodynamics, the drive train and generator was developed in the Matlab-Simulink environment and simulations were carried out at three different time scales. A small-scale test bench was used to confirm in practice the simulation results. The second phase of the project was the testing of the vectorcontrol algorithms and the control hardware & software at full power in the Chalmers University laboratory. The third phase was the installation of a wind turbine prototype in Tarifa (Spain). This test site allowed tests of the power-electronics and control hardware in a real-life environment and tuning of the speed & power control strategies. The last phase of the project was the installation of a preseries of the Ecotcnia 48/750 variable-speed wind turbine in a commercial wind park. III. CONTROL ALGORITHMS A. Vector control In the development of the Ecotcnia 48/750 variable-speed wind turbine, state of art vector control has been used. The main idea of this control is to transfer the ac-currents and voltages to dc values, by coordinate transformations, and carry out the control algorithms on the dc-side and then inverse the transformation back to ac. This transformation is illustrated in Figure 1 by the blocks abc-dq. In the control of the generator, the phase currents ia, ib and ic are controlled in such a manner that isq* deliver the desired electromagnetic torque while isd* set the reference value for the flux. These reference values are created by the torque, speed, and position control loop, see Figure 1 [1], [2]. The torque, Tem*, and speed, m* reference values are given by the overall wind turbine controller. The position control is used during maintenance work. The efficiency can be increased at partial load if the flux is decreased as shown in the flux, Br, versus speed curve. The grid side converter controls the active and reactive power to the grid by the current reference values, isgq* respective isgd*. The active power from the generator converter is past to the grid by using the dc-link as a connection between the converters, i.e. the dc-link voltage control the active power to the grid. The reactive power, or power factor, can be set by the operator of the electrical system [3].

1 Alex M. De Broe, Marc Guadayol, Pep Prats and Jordi Roca are working at Ecotcnia sccl. (E-mail: pepprats@ecotecnia.com) 2 Ola Carlson is with the Chalmers University of Technology (E-mail : ola.carlson@elteknik.chalmers.se)

damping of the drive train. speed reference tracking. This simple loop can also be considered as an algorithm emulating a virtual slip, giving the generator a much bigger dampening than the one corresponding to the real -and very low- slip of the induction generator. This greatly improves the dampening of the drive train. In order to see the attenuation of the drive train, a step in reference speed has been recorded (Figure 3). The graph shows a smooth behavior of the speed and the power, without oscillations.

Mechanical and electrical hardwear

gear box induction generator
encoder ac ic ia ib

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Tem Br

m, m Calcula -tions Br Br m

ia* ib* ic* isd isq dq abc dq isd* PI Tem isq* abc

iag* ibg* icg* abc dq

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abc dq isgd* isgq* cos isgd, usgd Grid isgq, usgq power Udc control

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Control of generator and converters

Figure 3. Response to a step change in the reference speed Figure 1. vector control block diagrams of both generator-side and grid-side converters B. Speed and power control Using vector control algorithms on the generator side a highbandwidth torque controller is achieved. This enables effective dampening of the drive train and a smooth power output. Insufficient dampening of the drive train causes speed and power oscillations due to wind fluctuation. The reference torque is given by the slower-acting speed loop. The structure of the speed control is seen in Figure 2. An outer control loop gives the reference speed as a function of power. This is shown in figure 4. The optimum speed for a given power is:

WOPT = kP1 / 3
Where WOPT is the optimum speed, P is the power captured by the wind turbine and k is a constant, which depends on the power curve of the wind turbine. This algorithm results in higher power output at low wind speeds than fixed-speed configurations. The controller uses its own electrical power measurement to find the optimum reference speed, with a compensation for generator and converter losses. A minimum speed is used to make the algorithm converge faster.

Figure 2. Structure of the speed loop 1 An I-P loop has been used as a speed control loop. This loop performs both:

Figure 4. Control structure Some experimental results are shown in figure 5 and 6. Figure 5 shows the theoretical curves and actual measurements of the operating point in the power-speed plane. The difference

between the measured points and the theoretical curve is caused by the wind fluctuation and the elasticity of the drive train. Figure 6 shows a time series of speed, power and torque during operation at maximum speed. As can be seen the speed is maintained below its operational limit and the torque effectively tracks the power.
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Figure 7. Effect of air density on power curve Although these effects are not easy to detect, statistical analysis of the behavior of the wind turbine can indicate their occurrence. At Ecotcnia strategies are defined to detect and correct the decrease in power output because of environmental conditions. A first approach is a kind of fuzzy-logic strategy that adjusts the operational limits of the wind turbine based on long-term data. These methods are now being evaluated in the field. V. IMPLEMENTATION For the practical implementation of the variable-speed wind turbine the following criteria were adopted: Complete integration of converters in the tower with the four converters located at two different levels (Figure 8). Additional heat generated by losses in converters should not affect other components. This has been solved by: - a proper dimensioning of tower air in- and outlets. - cabinets with free air inputs and conducted air outputs. The converters are based on in-house development. Some over-sizing of generator-side converters to allow stall-regulated rotor techniques. Full-simulated behavior interfaces between the main control and the four converters with state flow diagrams of the five machines involved: Start-up and operation of the four converters. Operation with one or two generators. Error actions.

Figure 5. Operating points in the power-speed plane: experimental data and theoretical curves

Figure 6. Time series of generator power, speed and torque during operation at maximum speed C. Energy production optimization strategies A major benefit of a variable-speed configuration is the possibility to compensate power decrease due to variations in the power curve. These variations are caused mainly by changes in air density and dirty blades. Figure 7 shows the effect of air density in the power produced at different wind speeds. In dry climates dirty blades produce similar losses in power output.

Figure 8. Integration of the electrical cabinets in the tower VI. CONCLUSIONS The Ecotcnia 48/750 variable-speed wind turbine is fully operational and shows very promising behavior in terms of drive train dampening and maximum power tracking. In Galicia the first pre-series of 10 Ecotcnia 48/750 variablespeed wind turbines is installed in a wind park of 25 wind turbines. This mixed wind park will allow us to evaluate in detail the benefits of the variable-speed technology. In the near future fine-tuning of the energy optimization strategies will be done. The Ecotcnia 48/750 variable speed wind turbine could easily be adapted for connection to a weak grid or even stand-alone applications. REFERENCES
[1] W. Leornad, Control of Electrical Drives, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1985. N. Mohan, Electric Drives an integrated approach, MNPERE, Minnesota, 2000. Svensson, J., "Grid-Connected Voltage Source Converter-Control Principles and Wind Energy Applications", Gteborg, Sweden, Chalmers University of Technology, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technical Report No. 331, April 1998.

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