PERFORMANCE COMPARISON OF TRADITIONAL AND EMERGING DOUBLY-FED GENERATOR TOPOLOGIES FOR GRID-CONNECTED WIND POWER APPLICATIONS

Currently the accepted technology for large wind turbines is the doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG). This technology is popular primarily due to the reduced cost of the partially rated power electronic converter. On the negative side is the fact that the generator requires brushes and slip rings which require regular maintainance.An alternative scheme is based on the brushless doubly-fed reluctance machine (BDFRM) which also has the cost benefit of a partially rated power converter but as its name implies does not require brushes and slip rings.The BDFRM has not been used for a wind power application. This project will experimentally examine its performance for a wind power application. There are a number of different approaches to the control of a BDFRM. The project will examine the use of Direct Power Control (DPC). This control approach will include sensorless operation and machine parameter independence. With the proliferation of wind power generation the issue of power system stabilty is of great concern. It is important to examine the fault-ride-through (FRT) capabilty of any generation system. This project will examine the FRT capability of the BDFRM and compare this to that of the DFIG. This will require that special grid fault emulation equipment is included in the laboratory test rig.