Design and implementation of variable speed wind energy induction generator systems for fault studies

• Main Author: Barendse, Paul Stanley
• Other Authors: Pillay, Pragasen
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: University of Cape Town 2015
• Subjects: Electrical Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14971

Includes bibliographical references (leaves [136]-139). === Due to the economical and environmental benefits, Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS) have received tremendous growth in the past decade. The increased interest in wind energy has made it necessary to model and experimentally evaluate entire WECS, so as to attain a better understanding and to assess the performance of various systems. As a direct consequence of the increase in wind generation systems, comes the need for the reduction of operational and maintenance costs of these wind generators. The most efficient way of reducing these costs is by the early detection of the degeneration of these generators health, thus facilitating a proactive response, minimizing downtime, and maximizing productivity. The more common induction machine failures are caused by the deterioration of the stator insulation and by the breaking of rotor bars. The thesis describes the design, modeling and implementation of two different variable speed induction generator systems for studying faults in wind energy applications. This project served as a platform for further research into the development and evaluation of a non-stationary fault detection technique suitable for wind energy induction generator purposes. Some common faults are implemented on the wind generators in an attempt to identify them from measurements and by using a steady state fault analysis technique (Motor Current Signature Analysis). For variable speed wind generation, there are two systems using induction generators. The first consist of a squirrel cage induction generator, which uses back-to-back converters in the stator circuit, as shown in Fig. 0.1. The second consists of a wound rotor induction generator, whereby the stator is directly connected to the grid and the rotor circuit consists of back-to-back converters, as shown in Fig. 0.2. When both the rotor and stator are capable of delivering power as with the wound rotor induction generator, they are known as doubly-fed induction generators (DFIG).