Open Access
Control strategy for a droop-controlled grid-connected DFIG wind turbine
(IEEE, 2022) Oraa Iribarren, Iker; Samanes Pascual, Javier; López Taberna, Jesús; Gubía Villabona, Eugenio; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren
The application of droop control techniques without inner current control loops to doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) based wind turbines does not allow to provide a stable response at all operating points in terms of rotational speed and active and reactive power. After modeling the system dynamics and analyzing the causes of instability, this paper proposes a control strategy that allows to stabilize the system response at all possible operating points. Simulation results performed in MATLAB/Simulink validate the proposed control strategy proving its effectiveness.
Open Access
Active damping based on the capacitor voltage positive-feedback for grid-connected power converters with LCL filter
(IEEE, 2019) Samanes Pascual, Javier; Gubía Villabona, Eugenio; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación
The capacitor voltage positive-feedback is a widely extended active damping strategy. It can effectively damp the LCL output filter resonant poles for low ratios of resonance to sampling frequencies. However, the existing delays in the control loop limit the applicability of the capacitor-voltage positive-feedback. For high ratios of resonance to sampling frequencies, it becomes ineffective and can even destabilize the system. This limitation is overcome in this paper by adjusting the delay in the feedback path. With the delay adjustment, a robust damping can be achieved if the delays are properly considered, including the filters, and the grid impedance variations are taken into account. Simulation results validate the proposed active damping strategy.
Open Access
Control design and stability analysis of power converters: the discrete generalized Bode criterion
(IEEE, 2021) Urtasun Erburu, Andoni; Samanes Pascual, Javier; Barrios Rípodas, Ernesto; Sanchis Gúrpide, Pablo; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren
For the controller design and stability analysis of power electronic converters, the Bode stability criterion and its subsequent revisions are the most practical tools. However, even though the control of the power converter is usually implemented in a microprocessor, none of these methods is infallible when applied to a discrete system. This article therefore proposes a new stability criterion, named the Discrete Generalized Bode Criterion (DGBC). This method is based on the Nyquist criterion but developed from the open-loop Bode diagram, evaluated also at 0 Hz and at the Nyquist frequency. The proposed criterion combines the advantages of the Nyquist and Bode criteria, since it is always applicable and provides an interesting and useful tool for the controller design process. The method is applied to design an active damping control of an inverter with LCL filter, showing how the proposed criterion accurately predicts stability, in contrast to the existing Bode criteria. The theoretical analysis is validated through experimental results performed with a three-phase inverter and an LCL filter.
Open Access
Strategies for improving the efficiency and grid-connection stability of power converters for wind energy systems
(2018) Samanes Pascual, Javier; Gubía Villabona, Eugenio; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
La energía eólica es una de las principales fuentes de generación renovable, una tecnología que continúa expandiéndose gracias a la reducción de costes y a la mayor concienciación ambiental de la sociedad. Esta expansión a nivel mundial está provocando que las turbinas eólicas se conecten a redes débiles, que plantean nuevos problemas de estabilidad. Asimismo, para continuar avanzando en la reducción del coste de la energía generada, la eficiencia de los sistemas de generación eólica, y consecuentemente del convertidor de potencia, se convierte en un aspecto clave. Por ultimo, existe una tendencia entre los principales fabricantes de aerogeneradores a incrementar el tamaño de las turbinas, aprovechando las economías de escala existentes. Esta tendencia está forzando a buscar nuevas estructuras de conversión para estas turbinas que alcanzan hoy en día los 9 MW. Dentro de este contexto general, en esta tesis se abordan las siguientes líneas de investigación: - Modelo detallado de los lazos de control de un convertidor de conexión a red. - Mejora de la respuesta din amica del convertidor. - Mejora de la estabilidad y de la eficiencia de convertidores de conexión a red al amortiguar el filtro de salida mediante el control. - Incremento de la eficiencia gracias a la utilización de modulaciones específicas para convertidores eólicos. - Análisis de las estructuras de conversión para turbinas eólicas de gran potencia y extensión a estos sistemas de las técnicas anteriores.
Open Access
Dual-stage control strategy for a three-level neutral point clamped converter with selective harmonic mitigation PWM
(IEEE, 2023-11-01) Rosado Galparsoro, Leyre; Norambuena, Margarita; Samanes Pascual, Javier; Lezana, Pablo; Gubía Villabona, Eugenio; López Taberna, Jesús; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoa eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritza; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
Grid-connected converters must meet the requirements imposed by grid codes, such as harmonic emission limits and grid voltage support during voltage dips. Selective harmonic mitigation pulsewidth modulation (SHMPWM) is a very interesting technique for high power converters to meet the maximum harmonic emission levels, while keeping a low switching frequency. However, the combination of this modulation with a proportional integral (PI) controller requires slow dynamics, which makes it difficult to comply with the dynamic response requirements of grid codes. As an alternative, model predictive control (MPC) offers a very fast dynamic response, but a wide spread harmonic spectrum in steady state. Thus, the combination of MPC with a PI controller with SHMPWM is advantageous. In this work, a dual-stage control strategy is implemented. During transients, finite control set MPC (FCS-MPC) is activated to rapidly drive the current to the desired reference, while in steady state, the PI controller with SHMPWM is used. Therefore, the dual-stage control strategy allows to comply with the two requirements of grid codes, becoming a suitable strategy for grid-connected converters.
Open Access
Role of student associations in the acquisition of competences in university engineering programs
(IEEE, 2023) Samanes Pascual, Javier; Parra Laita, Íñigo de la; Berrueta Irigoyen, Alberto; Rosado Galparsoro, Leyre; Soto Cabria, Adrián; Elizondo Martínez, David; Catalán Ros, Leyre; Sanchis Gúrpide, Pablo; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC
Students in the STEM field (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), do not only require deep technical knowledge, but a complete set of global skills related to management, teamwork, lifelong learning, personal development, communications skills or proactiveness, abilities often referred as soft-skills. Student-led organizations, and specifically, university student associations, are one of the best alternatives to promote the acquisition of soft-skills in STEM high education fields. These skills are competences already included in official university programs that can hardly be addressed or acquired from traditional university education. This article studies how student enrollment in student led organizations (SLOs), with an active participation on their organization and activities, allows engineering students to achieve a better development of these soft skills. As case study, a medium size university, with 9000-students and eleven SLOs, six of them focused on STEM related fields, is used in this paper. A survey is conducted among the university community to identify their degree of participation in SLOs, and to test whether participation in these initiatives increases students' self-perception of their soft skill acquisition during their university studies. This survey shows how students of engineering programs, with a high degree of involvement in SLOs, demonstrated greater confidence in their soft skills at the end of their university years.
Open Access
On the limits of the capacitor-voltage active damping for grid-connected power converters with LCL filter
(IEEE, 2018) Samanes Pascual, Javier; Gubía Villabona, Eugenio; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
Active damping strategies are widely extended to avoid stability issues at the LCL filter resonant poles in grid-connected voltage source converters. The capacitor voltage derivative active damping effectively damps the filter resonant poles without additional sensors, but it loses its effectiveness as the resonance frequency approaches the converter control Nyquist frequency, influenced by the existing delays in the control loop. To reduce this limitation, the delays can be reduced by performing a multisampled derivative, however, even though the stability limits might be extended, the oversampled approach might increase noise amplification problems. An appropriate filtering solution is required in the feedback path in order to reduce noise amplification and eliminate aliasing problems, without compromising the stability, as a result of a modification in the active damping feedback path. This work examines the limits of applicability of the capacitor voltage derivative strategy taking into account the filters used in the AD path, providing experimental results to validate the presented approach.
Open Access
Modeling a grid-forming DFIG wind turbine
(IEEE, 2023-08-31) Oraa Iribarren, Iker; Samanes Pascual, Javier; López Taberna, Jesús; Gubía Villabona, Eugenio; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoa eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritza; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
This paper presents a small-signal state-space model that allows analyzing the dynamics of doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind turbines in which grid-forming control strategies are implemented. Specifically, in this paper, a droop-controlled DFIG wind turbine is modeled. The system is modeled in the dq-axis, synchronized with the grid voltage, which simplifies the modeling by not having to linearize the terms dependent on the rotational speed of the dq-axis. Independent models for each element of the system are obtained, which are then combined to model the complete system under study. This modeling methodology provides great flexibility, allowing for easy inclusion of the LC harmonic filter, and enabling future incorporation of the grid-side converter to analyze its interaction with the rotor-side converter. The developed model is validated through simulation, demonstrating that it accurately reproduces the dynamic response of the system under study.
Open Access
Deadbeat voltage control for a grid-forming power converter with LCL filter
(IEEE, 2023) Samanes Pascual, Javier; Rosado Galparsoro, Leyre; Gubía Villabona, Eugenio; López Taberna, Jesús; Pérez, Marcelo A.; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren
Grid-forming power converters are controlled as voltage sources to regulate the grid voltage and frequency. These converters can increase power system strength if they impose a voltage waveform resilient to grid transients. For this reason, in this paper, we propose a deadbeat control strategy of the capacitor voltage for high power converters with LCL filter. To damp the LCL resonant poles, an active damping strategy is developed, based on a modification of the deadbeat control law. With this purpose, a notch filter is applied to the electrical variables allowing to emulate different damping resistances for the fundamental component and the harmonics. As a result, the active damping does not introduce tracking errors of the fundamental frequency component, while it provides damping to the filter resonance. The proposed strategy does not require knowledge of the grid impedance, an interesting feature in grid-connected power converters because the grid impedance is generally unknown. Experimental results validate the proposed strategy.
Open Access
Robust active damping strategy for DFIG wind turbines
(IEEE, 2021) Rosado Galparsoro, Leyre; Samanes Pascual, Javier; Gubía Villabona, Eugenio; López Taberna, Jesús; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación
Doubly fed induction generators (DFIGs) with an LCL filter are widely used for wind power generation. In these energy conversion systems, there is an interaction between the grid-side converter (GSC) and the rotor-side converter (RSC) control loops, the generator and the LCL filter that must be properly modeled. Such interaction between the GSC and the RSC proves to have a significant influence on the stability. Several active damping (AD) methods for grid-connected converters with an LCL filter have been proposed, nevertheless, the application of these techniques to a DFIG wind turbine is not straightforward, as revealed in this article. To achieve a robust damping irrespective of the grid inductance, this article proposes an AD strategy based on the capacitor current feedback and the adjustment of the control delays to emulate a virtual impedance, in parallel with the filter capacitor, with a dominant resistive component in the range of possible resonance frequencies. This work also proves that, by applying the AD strategy in both converters simultaneously, the damping of the system resonant poles is maximized when a specific value of the grid inductance is considered. Experimental results show the interaction between the GSC and the RSC and validate the proposed AD strategy. © 1986-2012 IEEE.