Module 2.2-2 WIND TURBINE TECHNOLOGY Electrical System Gerhard J. Gerdes Workshop on Renewable Energies November 14-25, 2005 Nadi, Republic of the Fiji Islands Contents Module 2.2 Types of generator systems Variable and fixed speed Inverter technologies 2
Types of generator systems Converter type induction (asynchronous) generator synchronous generator asynchronous or synchronous generator with electronic inverter system Application applied in a large number of turbines (Danish type) only used for a small number of small wind turbines, mainly for stand alone systems a widely used concept for variable speed machines, increasing applications with growing size of wind turbines 3 Generator concepts of today s commercially available turbines 16 number of different types 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 one speed two speed variable speed 30 kw - <500 kw 500 kw - <1MW 1 MW - 2 MW 4
Wind turbine with Induction Generator, direct coupled to the grid rotor Gear box induction generator ASG contactor main switch fuse transformer grid pitch or stall wind speed rotor speed thyristor starter system management Control SG = synchronous generator, ASG = induction generator Electr. quantities compensation 5 Typical induction generator (squirrel-cage) Squirrel-cage 1 shaft 2 ball bearings 3 rotor 4 aluminium sticks 5 aluminium ring (4,5: squirrel-cage) 6 stator nuts with coils 7 stator 8 casing 9 coils of stator 10 ventilator 11 connection box 6
2 pole and 4 pole generator Rotating field 7 2 pole and 4 pole generator Rotating field 8
Synchronous Generator Speeds (rpm) Pole number 50 Hz 60 Hz 2 3000 3600 4 1500 1800 6 1000 1200 8 750 900 10 600 720 12 500 600 a larger number of poles means a lower rotational speed and thus lower gear box ratio but it means also a larger dimension of the generator and more weight 9 Synchronisation of a.c. machines synchronous machines can only be connected to the grid, when frequency phase position and voltage are the same induction generators do not have to be synchronised synchronisation 10
Induction generator advantages: cheap construction, no collector, no brushes very low maintenance no synchronisation disadvantages: requires an external 3-phase grid, no own grid building capability requires reactive power (usually compensated by capacitor banks) no voltage control 11 Wind turbine with induction (asynchronous) generator rotational speed: fixed rotational speed plus slip (~ 2 %) grid coupling: rigid, with low elasticity excitation: by the grid control: power control by stall or active stall (also pitch in case of small turbines) speed control by grid frequency advantage: simple and cheap construction, lower maintenance standard (stall) no synchronisation with the grid required disadvantage: production of reactive power, generation of power peaks, only low compensation of wind speed fluctuations, power generation not controllable (stall) 12
Torque diagram grid connected M p : pull-out torque linear torque function under normal operation range 13 Induction generator for wind turbines for a better matching of the torque characteristic of an induction generator to that of a wind turbine (rotor) one can: vary the resistance of the rotor windings vary applied grid voltage use pole changing induction machines (i.e. two speed) use a frequency converter with a squirrel-cage induction generator use a frequency converter with a slip ring induction generator use a double-fed induction generator 14
Vary resistance of rotor windings 15 Vary applied grid voltage 16
Pole changing induction machines 17 Danish concept direct grid- connection stall controlled, three bladed rotor with fixed hub wing-tip air brakes for emergency braking direct grid connection through thyristors ( soft-starter ) generally two generators (small ~.25 of large) or one generator with double windings (4 pole small, 6 pole large) induction generators deliberately designed for a larger slip to avoid overload of generator during stall procedure to reduce mechanical stress through high torque gradients during switching on and over the generators to reduce fluctuations of mechanical system and electrical output 18
Danish concept - schema note: smaller turbines < 100 kw used belt drives 19 Danish concept load curve with two induction generators from small to large generator from large to small generator 20
Rotor speed power diagram 600 kw source: DEWI 21 Switching from lower to higher rotor speed Example: Stall controlled wind turbine switching from lower to higher rotor speed (asynchronos generator) n 2 Active power, reactive power Active power Reactive power Generator speed 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Time, s n 1 Generator speed 22
Induction generator with variable slip induction generator with additional rotor winding Thyristor filter rotor speed partly variable (~2 to 10 % of nominal speed) elastic grid coupling through increased slip reduction of power peaks, no synchronisation needed generates reactive power, reduced efficiency under part load 23 Induction generator with variable slip - characteristics 24
Wind turbine with inverter system in the main power circuit (variable speed) rotor pitch or stall gear box wind speed generator SG or ASG rotor speed excitation unit inverter system capacitors if asynchronous generator system management control SG = synchronous generator, ASG = induction generator main switch filter fuse electr. quantities transformer grid 25 Wind turbine with inverter system in the main power circuit(variable speed) rotational speed: grid coupling: storage the excitation: control: system advantage: disadvantage: variable soft, not coupled to grid frequency, elasticity produced by using the rotational energy capacity of the rotor at acceleration or deceleration of rotational speed self-excitation (i.e. exciting dynamo) power control by pitch (seldom stall) speed limitation by pitch speed control by power regulation of the inverter smoothing of power output, compensation of wind speed fluctuations controllable power generation controllable production of reactive power operation at optimal power coefficient c p due to variable speed generation of voltage and frequency for autonomous energy systems expensive construction generation of harmonics, higher level of maintenance 26
Wind turbine with variable speed rotor power rotor speed curve = always in aerodynamic optimum source: DEWI 27 Advantage variable speed fluctuations of wind speed converted into torque fluctuations high mechanical strain on the drive train fluctuations of wind speed converted into rotor speed increase rotor stores energy smoothens output source: DEWI 28
6 pulse rectifier inverter system rectifier 6-pulse inverter transformer source: DEWI 29 12 pulse rectifier inverter system two 6-pulse inverters in parallel special transformer (three windings, with star/ triangle configuration) source: DEWI I1 and I2 before and after the transformer 30
Harmonic distortion 6-pulse inverter 6-pulse inverter with high level of harmonic distortion requires high efforts for filtering source: DEWI 12-pulse inverter 12-pulse inverter normally two 6- pulse inverter in parallel one inverter with star-star, the other with star-triangle connection special three-winding transformer harmonic distortion greatly reduced 12-pulse inverter more complex, requires less efforts for filtering 31 Inverter with pulse-width width- modulation PWM rectifier inverter with IGBT transformer source: DEWI 32
Function of PWM inverter the condenser between rectifier and PWM inverter acts like an ideal DC voltage source Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT) switch at high frequencies (up to 10 khz) to create a sine wave practical no harmonic distortion up to ordinal number 19 harmonics with higher ordinal numbers exist, but have no effect on the grid, because inductance of the grid blocks higher frequencies capacitance of grid acts like a short-cut for high frequencies ideal for modern variable speed wind turbines power output can be controlled (power gradient) no harmonic distortion 33 Output of a PWM inverter with IGBTs 34
Power switch cabinet (300 kw) with IGBTs (Enercon) IGBT modules IGBT control board (MPU) AC out DC in 35 Frequency analysis of a wind with PWM inverter Frequency analysis of a wind with pulse width modulated inverter frequency resolution: 6,25 Hz 1.5 Current/nominal current, % 1.0 0.5 0.0 Sampling frequency of the PWM inverter 2. harmonic 3. harmonic 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Frequency, khz 36
Double fed induction generator variable speed with pulse width modulated inverter rotor pitch or stall gear box wind speed Slip ring generator ASG rotor speed ASG = induction generator inverter system system management control main switch filter fuse electr. quantities transformer grid 37 Double fed induction generator rotational speed: grid coupling: excitation: control: advantage: disadvantage: variable soft, elasticity produced by using the rotational energy storage capacity of the rotor at acceleration or deceleration of the rotational speed by the grid power control by stall or pitch speed limitation by pitch speed control by power regulation of the inverter system smoothing of power output compensation of wind speed fluctuations controllable power generation operation at optimal power coefficient c p due to variable speed expensive construction generation of harmonics 38
Frequency converter (squirrel-cage a.c.) 39 Frequency converter (slip ring a.c.) 40
Double-fed induction generator (DFIG) 41 Example: Grid connection of a variable speed double fed induction generator 1.2 Active power/rated power Generator speed / synchronous speed 1.0 0.8 Generator speed 0.6 0.4 Active power 0.2 0.0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Time, s 42
Rotational speed and power against wind velocity variable rotor speed WT fixed rotor speed WT, two stage Power Power RPM Wind Speed Power RPM 1 Power RPM 2 Wind Speed Rotor Speed 43 Typical instantaneous power behaviour variable rotor speed, pitch controlled WT constant rotor speed, stall controlled WT Power P rated Time P rated Time 44
Measured power curve and power curve given by manufacturer 1800 1600 Electrical power, kw 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 Calculated power curve 200 Measured power curve 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 Wind speed at hub height, m/s 45