CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDMENT (i)
CERTIFICATE (ii)
CONTENTS (iii)
LIST OF FIGURES (vi)
LIST OF TABLES (vii)
INTRODUCTION (viii)
ABSTRACT (xii)
Chapter 1: Wind Turbines 1-8
Chapter 2: Controllers 9-12
Chapter 3: Generator 13-17
Chapter 4: Power Electronics Applications In Wind Energy Conversion System 18-22
Chapter 5: Conclusions 42-43
References 44
(i)
ABSTRACT
This report describes about he wind power and its potential that can be harnessed in the future to
meet the current energy demand. With detailed description of the wind turbine and the wind
generator focus has been given on the interconnection of the generators with the grid and the
problems associated with it. The use of power electronics inn the circuitry and their applications
have also been emphasized. In the end a voltage stability analysis has been done with respect to
various models of the wind turbines to find the best way to clear faults and have optimum output.
(ii)
CHAPTER 1
WIND TURBINES
A wind turbine is a rotating machine which converts the kinetic energy in wind into mechanical
energy. If the mechanical energy is then converted to electricity, the machine is called a wind
generator, wind turbine, wind power unit (WPU), wind energy converter (WEC), or
aerogenerator.
Wind turbines can be separated into two types based by the axis in which the turbine rotates.
Turbines that rotate around a horizontal axis are more common. Vertical-axis turbines are less
frequently used.
HORIZONTAL AXIS WIND TURBINES
Fig.1.1 Horizontal axis wind turbine
Horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT) have the main rotor shaft and electrical generator at the top
of a tower, and must be pointed into the wind. Most have a gearbox, which turns the slow rotation
of the blades into a quicker rotation that is more suitable to drive an electrical generator.
1
Since a tower produces turbulence behind it, the turbine is usually pointed upwind of the tower.
Turbine blades are made stiff to prevent the blades from being pushed into the tower by high
winds. Additionally, the blades are placed a considerable distance in front of the tower and are
sometimes tilted up a small amount.
Downwind machines have been built, despite the problem of turbulence, because they don't need
an additional mechanism for keeping them in line with the wind, and because in high winds the
blades can be allowed to bend which reduces their swept area and thus their wind resistance. Since
cyclic (that is repetitive) turbulence may lead to fatigue failures most HAWTs are upwind
machines.
HAWT advantages
• Variable blade pitch, which gives the turbine blades the optimum angle of attack. Allowing
the angle of attack to be remotely adjusted gives greater control, so the turbine collects the
maximum amount of wind energy for the time of day and season.
• The tall tower base allows access to stronger wind in sites with wind shear. In some wind
shear sites, every ten meters up, the wind speed can increase by 20% and the power output
by 34%.
• High efficiency, since the blades always move perpendicularly to the wind, receiving
power through the whole rotation. In contrast, all vertical axis wind turbines, and most
proposed airborne wind turbine designs, involve various types of reciprocating actions,
requiring airfoil surfaces to backtrack against the wind for part of the cycle. Backtracking
against the wind leads to inherently lower efficiency.
HAWT disadvantages
• The tall towers and blades up to 90 meters long are difficult to transport. Transportation
can now cost 20% of equipment costs.
• Tall HAWTs are difficult to install, needing very tall and expensive cranes and skilled
operators.
• Massive tower construction is required to support the heavy blades, gearbox, and
generator.
2
• Reflections from tall HAWTs may affect side lobes of radar installations creating signal
clutter, although filtering can suppress it.
• Downwind variants suffer from fatigue and structural failure caused by turbulence when a
blade passes through the tower's wind shadow (for this reason, the majority of HAWTs use
an upwind design, with the rotor facing the wind in front of the tower).
• HAWTs require an additional yaw control mechanism to turn the blades toward the wind.
Vertical axis Wind Turbines
Fig.1.2 Vertical axis wind turbine
Vertical-axis wind turbines (or VAWTs) have the main rotor shaft arranged vertically. Key
advantages of this arrangement are that the turbine does not need to be pointed into the wind to be
effective. This is an advantage on sites where the wind direction is highly variable. VAWTs can
utilize winds from varying directions.
With a vertical axis, the generator and gearbox can be placed near the ground, so the tower doesn't
need to support it, and it is more accessible for maintenance. Drawbacks are that some designs
produce pulsating torque. Drag may be created when the blade rotates into the wind.
VAWT advantages
• A massive tower structure is less frequently used, as VAWTs are more frequently mounted
with the lower bearing mounted near the ground.
3
• Designs without yaw mechanisms are possible with fixed pitch rotor designs.
• A VAWT can be located nearer the ground, making it easier to maintain the moving parts.
• VAWTs have lower wind startup speeds than HAWTs. Typically, they start creating
electricity at 6 M.P.H. (10 km/h).
• VAWTs may have a lower noise signature.
VAWT disadvantages
• Most VAWTs produce energy at only 50% of the efficiency of HAWTs in large part
because of the additional drag that they have as their blades rotate into the wind.
• While VAWTs' parts are located on the ground, they are also located under the weight of
the structure above it, which can make changing out parts nearly impossible without
dismantling the structure if not designed properly.
• Having rotors located close to the ground where wind speeds are lower due to wind shear,
VAWTs may not produce as much energy at a given site as a HAWT with the same
footprint or height.
• Because VAWTs are not commonly deployed due mainly to the serious disadvantages
mentioned above, they appear novel to those not familiar with the wind industry. This has
often made them the subject of wild claims and investment scams over the last 50 years.
Wind Turbine Glossary
4
Fig.1.3 Parts of a wind turbine
Anemometer: Measures the wind speed and transmits wind speed data to the controller.
Blades: Most turbines have either two or three blades. Wind blowing over the blades causes the
blades to "lift" and rotate.
Brake: A disc brake which can be applied mechanically, electrically, or hydraulically to stop the
rotor in emergencies.
Controller: The controller starts up the machine at wind speeds of about 8 to 16 miles per hour
(mph) and shuts off the machine at about 65 mph. Turbines cannot operate at wind speeds above
about 65 mph because their generators could overheat.
Gear box: Gears connect the low-speed shaft to the high-speed shaft and increase the rotational
speeds from about 30 to 60 rotations per minute (rpm) to about 1200 to 1500 rpm, the rotational
speed required by most generators to produce electricity. The gear box is a costly (and heavy) part
of the wind turbine and engineers are exploring "direct-drive" generators that operate at lower
rotational speeds and don't need gear boxes.
5
Generator: Usually an off-the-shelf induction generator that produces 60-cycle AC electricity.
High-speed shaft: Drives the generator. Low-speed shaft: The rotor turns the low-speed shaft at
about 30 to 60 rotations per minute.
Nacelle: The rotor attaches to the nacelle, which sits atop the tower and includes the gear box,
low- and high-speed shafts, generator, controller, and brake. A cover protects the components
inside the nacelle. Some nacelles are large enough for a technician to stand inside while working.
Pitch: Blades are turned, or pitched, out of the wind to keep the rotor from turning in winds that
are too high or too low to produce electricity.
Rotor: The blades and the hub together are called the rotor.
Tower: Towers are made from tubular steel (shown here) or steel lattice. Because wind speed
increases with height, taller towers enable turbines to capture more energy and generate more
electricity.
Wind direction: This is an "upwind" turbine, so-called because it operates facing into the wind.
Other turbines are designed to run "downwind", facing away from the wind.
Wind vane: Measures wind direction and communicates with the yaw drive to orient the turbine
properly with respect to the wind.
Yaw drive: Upwind turbines face into the wind; the yaw drive is used to keep the rotor facing into
the wind as the wind direction changes. Downwind turbines don't require a yaw drive, the wind
blows the rotor downwind.
Yaw motor: Powers the yaw drive.
The following is a graph between Power Coefficient (CP) vs Tip Speed Ratio (λ)
6
Fig.1.4 Power coefficient vs tip speed ratio
Wind turbines typically have two degrees of freedom to optimize power generation.
1. The ability to change their yaw or compass orientation by turning (using motors) the
entire nacelle unit so the rotor is pointed directly into the wind.
This process is controlled by wind direction information from nearby wind vanes which
are located to minimize the effect due to wake turbulence from the wind turbines.
2. The pitch of the blades which can be changed to keep a near-constant rotation rate under
varying wind speeds, where the rotation rate is chosen to optimize the power-generation
efficiency of the turbine. Another purpose of both the blade pitch control and yaw
Mechanisms is to act as a brake under extremely strong wind condition.
Cut- in speed: The lowest wind speed at which a wind turbine begins producing usable
power is called cut-in speed. It is about 3m/s.
Cut-out speed: The highest wind speed at which a wind turbine stops producing power is
called cut-out speed. It is about 30m/s.
7
CHAPTER 2
CONTROLLERS
Power control
A wind turbine is designed to produce a maximum of power at wide spectrum of wind speeds.
The wind turbines have three modes of operation:
8
• Below rated wind speed operation
• Around rated wind speed operation
• Above rated wind speed operation
If the rated wind speed is exceeded the power has to be limited. There are various ways to achieve
this.
Stall
Stalling works by increasing the angle at which the relative wind strikes the blades (angle of
attack), and it reduces the induced drag (drag associated with lift). Stalling is simple because it can
be made to happen passively (it increases automatically when the winds speed up), but it increases
the cross-section of the blade face-on to the wind, and thus the ordinary drag. A fully stalled
turbine blade, when stopped, has the flat side of the blade facing directly into the wind.
A fixed-speed HAWT inherently increases its angle of attack at higher wind speed as the blades
speed up. A natural strategy, then, is to allow the blade to stall when the wind speed increases. This
technique was successfully used on many early HAWTs. However, on some of these blade sets, it
was observed that the degree of blade pitch tended to increase audible noise levels.
Pitch control
Furling works by decreasing the angle of attack, which reduces the induced drag from the lift of
the rotor, as well as the cross-section. One major problem in designing wind turbines is getting the
blades to stall or furl quickly enough should a gust of wind cause sudden acceleration. A fully
furled turbine blade, when stopped, has the edge of the blade facing into the wind.
Standard modern turbines all pitch the blades in high winds. Since pitching requires acting against
the torque on the blade, it requires some form of pitch angle control. Many turbines use hydraulic
systems. These systems are usually spring loaded, so that if hydraulic power fails, the blades
automatically furl. Other turbines use an electric servomotor for every rotor blade. They have a
small battery-reserve in case of an electric-grid breakdown. Small wind turbines (under 50 kW)
9
with variable-pitching generally use systems operated by centrifugal force, either by flyweights or
geometric design, and employ no electric or hydraulic controls.
Other controls
Yawing
Modern large wind turbines are typically actively controlled to face the wind direction measured
by a wind vane situated on the back of the nacelle. By minimizing the yaw angle (the
misalignment between wind and turbine pointing direction), the power output is maximized and
non-symmetrical loads minimized. However, since the wind direction varies quickly the turbine
will not strictly follow the direction and will have a small yaw angle on average. The power output
losses can simplified be approximated to fall with cos3(yaw angle).
Electrical braking
Braking of a small wind turbine can also be done by dumping energy from the generator into a
resistor bank, converting the kinetic energy of the turbine rotation into heat. This method is useful
if the kinetic load on the generator is suddenly reduced or is too small to keep the turbine speed
within its allowed limit.
Cyclically braking causes the blades to slow down, which increases the stalling effect, reducing
the efficiency of the blades. This way, the turbine's rotation can be kept at a safe speed in faster
winds while maintaining (nominal) power output. This method is usually not applied on large grid-
connected wind turbines.
Mechanical braking
A mechanical drum brake or disk brake is used to hold the turbine at rest for maintenance. Such
brakes are usually applied only after blade furling and electromagnetic braking have reduced the
turbine speed, as the mechanical brakes would wear quickly if used to stop the turbine from full
speed. There can also be a stick brake.
10
11
CHAPTER 3
GENERATOR
A generator is a device which converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. Wind generators
have traditionally been wind turbines, i.e. a propeller attached to an electric generator attached to
appropriate electronics to attach it to the electrical grid.
Generators can be classified broadly into two categories:
a) Synchronous Generators
b) Asynchronous Generators
The basis of this categorization is the speed at which the generators are run. Synchronous
generators are run at synchronous speed (1500 rpm for a 4 pole machine at 50Hz frequency) while
asynchronous generators run at a speed more than the synchronous speed.
SYNCHRONOUS GENERATOR
Synchronous generators are doubly fed machines which generate electricity by the principle when
the magnetic field around a conductor changes, a current is induced in the conductor. Typically, a
rotating magnet called the rotor turns within a stationary set of conductors wound in coils on an
iron core, called the stator. The field cuts across the conductors, generating an electrical current, as
the mechanical input causes the rotor to turn.
12
Fig.3.1 Synchronous Generator
The rotating magnetic field induces an AC voltage in the stator windings. Often there are three sets
of stator windings, physically offset so that the rotating magnetic field produces three phase
currents, displaced by one-third of a period with respect to each other.
The rotor magnetic field may be produced by induction by permanent magnets (in very small
machines), or by a rotor winding energized with direct current through slip rings and brushes. The
rotor magnetic field may even be provided by stationary field winding, with moving poles in the
rotor. Automotive alternators invariably use a rotor winding, which allows control of the alternator
generated voltage by varying the current in the rotor field winding. Permanent magnet machines
avoid the loss due to magnetizing current in the rotor, but are restricted in size, owing to the cost
of the magnet material. Since the permanent magnet field is constant, the terminal voltage varies
directly with the speed of the generator.
ASYNCHRONOUS GENERATOR
Asynchronous generators or Induction generators are singly excited a.c. machine. Its stator
winding is directly connected to the ac source whereas its rotor winding receives its energy from
stator by means of induction. Balanced currents produce constant amplitude rotating mmf wave.
The stator produced mmf and rotor produced mmf wave, both rotate in the air gap in the same
direction at synchronous speed. These two mmf s combine to give the resultant air-gap flux
13
density wave of constant amplitude and rotating at synchronous speed. This flux induces currents
in the rotor and an electromagnetic torque is produced which rotates the rotor.
Asynchronous generators are mostly used as wind turbines as they can be operated at variable
speed unlike synchronous generator. Two kinds of asynchronous generators are used namely
a) Squirrel cage induction generator (SCIG)
b) Doubly fed induction generator (DFIG)
SQUIRREL CAGE INDUCTION GENERATOR
A squirrel cage rotor is the rotating part. In overall shape it is a cylinder mounted on a shaft.
Internally it contains longitudinal conductive bars (usually made of aluminum or copper) set into
grooves and connected together at both ends by shorting rings forming a cage-like shape. The core
of the rotor is built of a stack of iron laminations.
Fig.3.2 Cage Rotor
The field windings in the stator of an induction motor set up a rotating magnetic field around the
rotor. The relative motion between this field and the rotation of the rotor induces electric current in
the conductive bars. In turn these currents lengthwise in the conductors react with the magnetic
field of the motor to produce force acting at a tangent to the rotor, resulting in torque to turn the
shaft. In effect the rotor is carried around with the magnetic field but at a slightly slower rate of
rotation. The difference in speed is called slip and increases with load.
DOUBLY FED INDUCTION GENERATOR
14
DFIG is Double Fed Induction Generator, a generating principle widely used in wind turbines. It
is based on an induction generator with a multiphase wound rotor and a multiphase slipring
assembly
CHAPTER 4
POWER ELECTRONICS
APPLICATIONS IN
WIND ENERGY CONVERSION
SYSTEM
Soft Starting with Thyristors
If you switched a large wind turbine on to the grid with a normal switch, the neighbours would see
a brownout (because of the current required to magnetize the generator) followed by a power peak
due to the generator current surging into the grid.
15
Another unpleasant side effect of using a "hard" switch would be to put a lot of extra wear on the
gearbox, since the cut-in of the generator would work as if you all of a sudden slammed on the
mechanical brake of the turbine. To prevent this situation, modern wind turbines are soft starting,
i.e. they connect and disconnect gradually to the grid using thyristors, a type of semiconductor
continuous switches which may be controlled electronically. Thyristors waste about 1 to 2 per cent
of the energy running through them. Modern wind turbines are therefore normally equipped with a
so called bypass switch, i.e. a mechanical switch which is activated after the turbine has been soft
started. In this way the amount of energy wasted will be minimized.
PWM IGBT RECTIFIER AND INVERTER
A device that converts dc power into ac power at desired output voltage and frequency is called an
Inverter.
Voltage Source Inverter is one in which the dc source has small or negligible impedance. In other
words, a voltage source inverter has a stiff voltage source at its input terminals.
AC loads may require constant or adjustable voltage at their input terminals. When such loads are
fed by inverters, it is essential that output voltage of the inverters is so controlled as to fulfill the
requirements of the ac loads.
PWM control is a method to control the output voltage that is widely in application. In this
method, a fixed dc input voltage is given to the inverter and a controlled ac output voltage is
obtained by adjusting the on and off periods of the inverter components.
The advantages possessed by PWM technique are as under:
i. The output voltage control with this method can be obtained without any additional
components.
ii. With this method, lower order harmonics can be eliminated or minimized along with its
output voltage control. As the higher order harmonics can be filtered easily, the filtering
requirements are minimized.
The insulated gate bipolar transistor or IGBT is a three-terminal power semiconductor device,
noted for high efficiency and fast switching. Since it is designed to rapidly turn on and off,
amplifiers that use it often synthesize complex waveforms with pulse width modulation and low-
16
pass filters.
WIND GENERATION SYSTEM DESCRIPTION USING PWM IGBT
CONVERTERS
Fig.4.1 A voltage fed double PWM converter wind generation system
Converter System
The voltage-fed converter scheme used in this system is shown. A vertical (or horizontal) wind
turbine is coupled to the shaft of a squirrel cage induction generator through a speedup gear ratio
(not shown). The variable frequency variable voltage power from the generator is rectified by a
PWM IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistor) rectifier. The rectifier also supplies the excitation
need of the machine. The inverter topology is identical to that of the rectifier, and it supplies the
generated power at 60 Hz to the utility grid.
STATCOM
A STATCOM or Static Synchronous Compensator is a regulating device used on alternating
current electricity transmission networks. It is based on a power electronics voltage-source
17
converter and can act as either a source or sink of reactive AC power to an electricity network. If
connected to a source of power it can also provide active AC power.
A STATCOM works by rebuilding the incoming voltage waveform by switching back and forth
from reactive to capacitive load. If it is reactive, it will supply reactive AC power. If it is
capacitive, it will absorb reactive AC power. This is how it acts as a source/sink.
Uses
Usually a STATCOM is installed to support electricity networks that have a poor power factor and
often poor voltage regulation. There are a number of other uses for STATCOM devices including,
wind energy voltage stabilisation, and harmonic filtering. However, the most common use is for
voltage stability.
Back-to-back voltage source convertor is used in doubly fed induction generator which
controls the grid and rotor currents. By controlling the rotor currents by the converter it is possible
to adjust the active and reactive power fed to the grid from the stator independently of the
generators turning speed. Rotor circuit is controlled by a power electronics converter, the
induction generator is able to both import and export reactive power
Salient advantages of the converter system include the following:
• Line side power factor is unity with no harmonic current injection (satisfies IEEE 519).
• The cage type induction machine is extremely rugged, reliable, economical, and
universally popular.
• Machine current is sinusoidal—no harmonic copper loss.
• Rectifier can generate programmable excitation for the machine.
• Continuous power generation from zero to highest turbine speed is possible.
• Power can flow in either direction permitting the generator to run as a motor for start-up
(required for vertical turbine). Similarly, regenerative braking can quickly stop the turbine.
• Autonomous operation of the system is possible with either a start-up capacitor or with a
battery on the dc link.
18
• Extremely fast transient response is possible.
• Multiple generators or multiple systems can be operated in parallel.
• The inverter can be operated as a VAR/harmonic compensator when spare capacity is
available.
Considering all the above advantages, and with the present trend of decreasing converter and
control cost, this type of conversion system has the potential to be universally accepted in the
future. Of course, in recent years, soft-switched resonant link and resonant pole topologies have
been proposed, but additional research and development are needed to bring them to the
marketplace.
CHAPTER 7
CONCLUSIONS
CONCLUSIONS
From the report we studied that wind has a lot of potential in it and if properly harnessed then it
can help solve the energy crises in the world. The study of wind turbine and its characteristics
showed that how it can be properly designed and used to get the maximum output. The power
electronic circuitries have helped the concept of wind power a lot. Without them this concept
would have been too expensive and far fetched. With the thyristors and converters being used not
only the operations have been smoothened but also the efficiency has been increased to a great
19
extent. From the voltage stability analysis it was showed that how a doubly fed induction
generator has superior characteristics than a simple induction generator. This report also showed
the integration of wind farms with the transmission grid and the problems associated with it and
the probable solutions that can be applied to solve them and have a better performance.
20
REFERENCES
1. Yongning Chi, Yanhua Liu, Weisheng Wang, “Voltage Stability Analysis of Wind Farm
integration into Transmission Network” IEEE Trans. Energy Conversion, vol. 21, issue 1,
pp. 257-264, March. 2006.
2. Poller.M.A, "Doubly-fed induction machine models for stability assessment of wind
farms," Power Tech Conference Proceedings, IEEE Bologna, Volume 3, 23-26 June 2003
Page(s):6 pp.
3. K. Nandigam, B. H. Chowdhury. "Power flow and stability models for induction
generators used in wind turbines," IEEE Power Engineering Society General Meeting,
Vol.2, 6-10 June 2004 Page(s):2012 - 2016
4. [Link]
5. [Link]
6. [Link]
7. [Link]/encyclopedia
21