Analysis of Transient Performance for DFIG

Wind Turbines under the Open Switch Faults

M. K. Ous,?n-Acmbcr, 1LLL, P. . OmbO, luJcnlAcmbcr, 1LLL, 5. LhOVdu, Acmbcr, 1LLL
unJ 5. . LhOVdhu, Acmbcr, 1LLL
Abstract-- The fast development of grid-integrated wind power
introduces new requirements for the operation and control of
power networks. In order to maintain the reliability of a host
power grid, it is preferred that the grid-connected wind turbine
should restore its normal operation with minimized power losses
in events of grid fault. This paper presents the results for the
transient performance of a 2M doubly-fed induction generator
(DFIG), a type of variable-speed wind turbine. The paper
concentrates on transient performance of the said generator
technology under open-switch grid faults. The simulation was
performed using MA TLAB - Simulink software. The results
obtained have shown that the control schemes employed for the
DFIG wind turbines played an effective role in the restoration of
the normal operation for the wind turbine in response to grid
faults. The results for both during and afer the grid fault will be
discussed in this paper.
Inde Terms-- Crowbar, doubly-fed induction generator, open
switch, transient analysis, ride-through, wind turbine
V ,V

, V , V

, 1,

,
I. NOMENCLATURE
d-q axis machine voltages
d-q axis machine currents
V , V

, V , _,
d-q axis machine fuxes
stator fux and mechanical rotor
position
mechanical speed
electromagnetic torque
mechanical torque
inertia and viscous fiction
II. INTRODUCTION
T
HE DFIG wind turbine technology has increasingly
become the most widely used energy conversion
technology in wind power generation, especially in large wind
farms. The main reason for the popularity of the grid
connection of DFIGs is their ability to supply power at
constant voltage and fequency, despite the fact that these
turbines operate at variable-speeds. The DFIG technology also
provides a capability to control the overall system power
factor.
M. K. Das is with Idian Maritime University, Kolkata Campus, India
(e-mail: [email protected]).
A.I.Elombo is with the University of Stelienbosch, South Africa (e-mail:
[email protected])
S. P. Chowdhury is with Electrical Engg. Dept., University of Cape Town,
South Africa (e-mail: [email protected]).
S. Chowdhury is with Electrical Engg. Dept., University of Cape Town,
South Africa (e-mail: [email protected]).
Over the recent years, most of the national network codes
and standards did not take into cognizance the prospects of the
capabilities of network support for wind turbines during grid
faults. Due to the increasing popularity of grid-connected wind
turbines, newer network codes and standards have been issued
with the recognition of the grid support capabilities of wind
generators during power disturbances on the national power
networks. It is, therefore, necessary to carry out accurate
transient simulations in order to understand the impact of the
host power system disturbances on the connected wind
turbines.
The transient simulation analysis is also a usefl tool for the
design of the rotor over-current protection mechanisms. The
over-current protection circuit, the so-called crowbar, is
needed in order to protect the rotor side fequency converter
during disturbances on the network [1]. The most common
approach in dynamic modeling of DFIG for wind turbines is
using a space vector theory based model of a slip-ring
induction machine. This method is quite effective, even when
voltage dips occur on the network due to severe grid faults.
The transient analyses of the DFIG wind-turbine have been
studied in [9], where the crowbar is realized by using six anti
parallel thyristors and with an active crowbar [10].
This paper presents the transient simulation analysis of a 2-
MW DFIG for wind power application under open switch
faults occurring on both the machine-side and line-side
converters. The efect of open switch faults on DFIG variables
will also be explored. As explained above, the DFIG is
simulated by means of space-vector theory based analytical
model of a slip-ring induction generator together with
fequency converter, transformer and control using MATLAB
- Simulink. The simulation results have shown that the control
schemes employed could effectively restore the wind turbineG
normal operation under open-switch faults.
III. DESCRITION OF DFIG WID TURBINE
There are two basic types of wind energy conversion
systems, viz. fxed- speed and variable-speed turbine
technologies. Fixed-speed turbine technologies operate at
constant speeds, regulated by using turbine pitch-controllers
even under varying wind speeds. In contrast, the aero-turbine
rotational speed can be allowed to follow the wind speed
variations to maintain a constant and optimum tip speed ratio.
However, variable-speed turbines also require active pitch
control mechanisms to allow for optimal operation of the
turbine during excessive wind speeds [11]. Variable-speed
induction generators are considered more attractive due to
their fexible rotor speed characteristics in contrast to the
constant speed characteristics of synchronous generators.
DFIG confguration is best suited for variable speed
generation since it can be controlled fom rotor side as well as
stator side. This is possible since the rotor circuit is capable of
bi-directional power fow. The doubly-fed machine can be
operated in generating mode in both sub-synchronous and
super-synchronous modes [11].
A DFIG consists of a wound-rotor induction machine, back
to-back PWM converters, a three-phase flter and a three
phase transformer. As shown in Fig. 1, the stator is connected
directly to the grid whereas the rotor is connected to the grid
via the back-to-back PWM converters, flter and transformer.
When compared with other the system components, the back
to-back converters are the least reliable of the generator shown
in Fig. 1.
t, " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " ',
:
1u 4u1Dne
:: DFIG stcm _ cuntrul and jn:utcxtiunV|nd 1urDnc

Acnuynanvc
'
Fig. 1: DFIG w with control and protection
IV. STEADY STATE MODEL OF DFIG
As explained in section V, DFIG is widely used to extract
wind energy in WECS due its controllability from both the
stator and the rotor sides. For the purposes of simulating the
overall WECS, a mathematical model has been developed to
simulate the transient behavior of the DFIG. It is important to
note that a wound-rotor type was used for the DFIG machine
used in this study, and that this rotor type needs to be fed fom
both the stator and rotor sides, hence the name Goubly-fedO
Normally, the stator is directly connected to the grid, whereas
the rotor side is interfaced through a variable frequency power
converter. In order to cover a wide operation range fom sub
synchronous to super-synchronous speeds, the power converter
placed on the rotor side was made to operate in a bi-directional
power fow mode. The DFIG can be regarded as a traditional
induction generator with a non zero rotor voltage [1].
Neglecting the stator transients, the per-unit electrical
equations of DFIG can be written in phasor form as follows:
I
d
Ods
O

and _
d Oqs
O

Vds =
r
s dS+
-
- ',, Vqs -
r
s1qs+- + slds
"

"i +
d
P.
and
. d
P,
v
. . , , =

,
+
P. +-
d| d|
= LJd +
^/_

and
Iqs " LJqs + ^/_,
I
d =
L I
d +
MI
.
and I
=
L I
+
M I
, qr . qs
dD
and
M
Tm = T, - J _- /D !, = -P
T
(lqJd, -IdJqr)
P, = vds1ds + v
qslqs
and
Qs = Vqs1ds -Vds1qs
V. DFIG SYSTEM CONTROL
A DFIG system is a wound rotor induction generator with
slip rings, with the stator directly connected to the grid and
with the rotor interfaced through a back-to-back partial-scale
power converter. The DFIG is doubly fed by means of
supplying a voltage on the stator fom the grid and also by
supplying a voltage on the rotor as induced by the power
converter [3, 4]. The converter consists of two conventional
voltage source converters (rotor-side converter, RSC and grid
side converter, GSC) and a common dc-bus, as illustrated in
Fig.I.
A. DFIG control in normal operation
The DFIG control structure, illustrated in Fig. 2, contains
the electrical control of the power converters, which is
essential for the DFIG wind turbine behaviour both in normal
operation and during fault conditions. Power converters are
usually controlled utilizing vector control techniques [6],
which allow de-coupled control of both active and reactive
power. The aim of the RSC is to independently control the
active and reactive power on the grid, while the GSC is
responsible of keeping the dc-link capacitor voltage at a pre
set value regardless of the magnitude and the direction of the
rotor power. As shown on Fig. 2, both RSC and GSC are
controlled by a two stage controller. The frst stage consists of
very fast current controllers, regulating the rotor currents to
the reference values that are specifed by a slower power
controller (second stage).
The active and reactive power set-point signals for the
second stage controllers of the converters in Fig. 2, are
dependent on the wind turbine operational mode (normal or
fault operation) signals. For example, in normal operation:
The active power set-point p:
d
for the rotor-side
converter is defned by the maximum power tracking
point (MPT) look-up table.
The reactive power set-point Q;;
d
for the rotor-side
converter can be set to a certain value or to zero
according to whether or not the DFIG is required to
contribute reactive power.
The grid-side converter is reactive neutral
(i.e. Qc = 0) in normal operation. This means that,
in normal operation, the GSC and the grid exchange
active power only, and therefore the transmission of
reactive power fom DFIG to the grid is done through
the stator only.
The dc-voltage set-point signal U
d
e is set to a constant value,
independent on the wind turbine operation mode. On the one
hand, the use of the partial-scale converter to the generatorG
rotor makes the DFIG concept quite attractive fom an
economical point of view. However, on the other hand, this
converter arrangement requires advanced protection system, as
it is very sensitive to disturbances on the host power grid.
2"' stagC
(yoCr}
Iox coextex
Q
GSC
Fig. 2: DFIG control in normal operation
B. DFIG control under gridfaults
The active power set-point Prd for the RSC control, in
normal operation, is defned by the maximum power tracking
point (MPT) as a fnction of the optimal generator speed, as
shown in Fig. 3. In events of grid faults, the generator speed
variation is not due to the wind speed change but due to
electrical torque reduction. This means that, during grid faults
the active power set-point p:dhas to be diferently defned,
i.e. as the output of a damping controller. Such a controller has
task to dampen the torsional excitations, which are excited in
the drive train owing to the grid fault.
.'.I_P|| , __________________!!!_|_i____________________.
: I: :
Dpm,,_,,"
"
I
I I
"
"
"
"
........... .......: : ........................................_.............. .!
Fig. 3: Active power set-point for normal and fault operation.
Diferent control schemes can be applied to dampen these
torsional oscillations. In this work, the damping controller [5]
is adopted and the PI damping controller produces the active
power reference signal Prd based on the deviation between
the actual generator speed and its reference, as shown in Fig.
3. The damping controller is tuned to actively dampen the
torsional oscillations excited during the grid fault in the drive
train system [7].
The pitch control system is incapable of damping the
torsional oscillations due to several delay mechanisms in the
pitch [8]. Since the fault duration is negligibly short when
compared to the wind speed fuctuation periods, wind speed
was assumed constant in the grid fault simulations. The
damping controller minimizes the grid fault effect both on the
mechanical and on the electrical side of the turbine. The
protection system and the damping controller enhance the
DFIG fault ride-through capability altogether.
During a grid fault, the tasks of RSC and GSC can be
modifed, depending on whether the protection system (i.e.
crowbar) is triggered or not. In the case of less severe grid
faults (i.e. not triggered crowbar) or reactive power unbalance
in the system, the RSC and GSC have the same tasks as in
normal operation. However, in the case of severe grid fault
(i.e. triggered crowbar), a specifc grid support strategy needs
to be designed and developed.
VI. DFIG SYSTEM PROTECTION
The increased interest in renewable energy production
together with higher and higher demand from the energy
distribution companies (TSO) regarding grid energy injection
and grid support raise newer challenges in terms of control for
grid-connected wind turbine (WT) systems.
In a DFIG WT, where the stator of the generator is directly
coupled to the grid, a failure (voltage sag) will be detected by
the generator. Voltage sags can cause operational upsets on the
power electronic equipment on the rotor side, if no means of
protection is in place. If the grid voltage drops during the fault,
the GSC may not able to transfer the power fom the RSC
frther to the grid. In this case, the additional energy goes into
charging the dc-bus capacitor D thereby raising the dc-bus
voltage. It is therefore necessary to ensure that the converter is
protected against over-currents and that the generator rotor and
the dc-link are protected against over-voltages. The protection
system usually monitors diferent signals, such as the rotor
current and the dc-link voltage. A simple protection method of
the DFIG under grid faults is to short-circuit the rotor through
a device called crowbar. The value of the crowbar resistance is
dependent on the generator data. Therefore, each generator
type requires a new value of the exteral rotor resistance to be
chosen independently [3]. The fnction of the crowbar is to
limit the rotor current. When the crowbar is triggered, the RSC
is disabled and bypassed. Consequently, the independent
controllability of active and reactive power is lost. Generator
magnetization is, in this case, done over the stator, instead of
being done over the rotor circuit by the RSC. Since the GSC is
not directly connected to the generator windings, where the
high transient currents occur, this converter is not blocked for
protection. The crowbar protection can be removed afer a
predefned time or according to additional criteria, such as the
magnitude of the grid voltage.
VII. SILATION RESULTS AN ANALYSIS
In this section, the dynamic interaction between variable
speed DFIG wind turbines with the power transmission system
during the rotor side converter failure and grid failure is
illustrated and explained.
A. Behaviour immediately afer the fault
The voltage at the DFIG terminal drops and it leads to a
corresponding decrease of the stator and rotor fux in the
generator, during the fault. This results in a reduction of the
electromagnetic torque and active power, as it can be seen in
Fig. 4. As the stator fux decreases, the magnetization that has
been stored in the magnetic felds needs to be released. Thus,
the generator starts its demagnetization over the stator
thereafer, which is illustrated in Fig. 4 by the reactive power
peak during the fult. The drop of the mechanical torque is
lower than of the electromagnetic torque. Therefore, the
generator starts to accelerate. The dynamic relation between
the electrical torque, mechanical torque and the generator
speed is refected in Fig. 4.
During the fault, as the stator voltage decreases
signifcantly, high current transients appear in the stator and
rotor windings. It should be noted that the rotor current
resembles the stator current. In order to compensate for the
increasing rotor current, the RSC the rotor voltage reference
increases, which implies a
G
ush
O
of power fom the rotor
terminals through the converter. As the grid voltage drops
immediately afer the fault, the GSC becomes incapable of
transferring the whole power fom the rotor through the
converter frther to the grid. The GSC's control of the dc
voltage thus quickly reaches its limitation. As a result, the
additional energy goes into charging the dc-bus capacitor and
the dc-voltage rises rapidly, as it can be seen in Fig.5. The
protection system is activated whenever the limit of the rotor
current or that of the dc-voltage is exceeded. This short
circuits the generator rotor by triggering the crowbar. Further,
the RSC is blocked and its capability of the rotor currents
control, therefore, becomes disabled. While the crowbar is in
its triggered state, the dc-bus capacitor starts to discharge.
Also, the GSC begins to track the dc-link voltage back to its
reference. It should be noticed that, as long as the crowbar is
in its triggered state, the generator behaves as a conventional
squirrel-cage induction generator (SCIG), for which the
converter rotor voltage output is set to zero.
t+
- - - - -
F
au
- -
FaU
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o
w
b
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. .
,
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- - - - -l- - 1=1. . ou
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l

+
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_
t
tre _
-
:
_ : _ -
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_ _ _ _ _
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i + s+

:
------i +-----
t - 1 |
++++ ~ +t: +:+
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:+++
. . . .

. . . . . .. . , . . . . .
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r++< - - - - - -i . . . .
,

: :

- - - - - - - - - -i - l - i , , , , g
++ - - - - - - - - - - -i -
+++

+:+
t:++
t 1++

1= = = = = =1= f = = = = = =
,
- - - - - - - - - - : - : - : - - -
T
:++

..
.

= = =
71++

:++

:+
:++
rs+
, -

_ . . . . .
,

:
. , . . . . .
,
i! !
,

t-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
"
-
9-
-
-
-
-
- -
= c r
,
_
-
T
-

1
++

t
i
i
1

+++
.
++
tt:

:t
--
t+s
-

t+s
t+
++++

_ +t: +:+
, :_ . . . . . .

l l
:
l

++++ +:+
Fig. 4: Wind far terinal voltage, active power, reactive power, electrical
torque, mechanical torque and speed
B. Behaviour afer fault clearance
Fig. 4 shows that the stator voltage is restored and the
electromagnetic torque and active power begin to increase,
immediately afer the fault is cleared. With reference to Fig. 5
it can be seen that the demagnetized stator and rotor act to
oppose the increase in the grid voltage and fux, leading to a
corresponding increase in the rotor and stator currents. It has
been observed that the voltage does not completely recover
instantaneously afer the fault clearance. Rather, the voltage
recovers to a level lower than its nominal value immediately
afer the fault clearance, whereas it frther recovers to the
nominal level once the crowbar has been removed. The reason
for this is that the generator continues to behave as SCIG just
afer fault clearance, which results in the absorption of reactive
power for the magnetization. Since the RSC is disabled until
the crowbar is removed, this means that the RSC cannot be
able to provide the reactive power necessary for the
magnetization of the generator. As a result, the generator
draws reactive power from the grid and this kind of operation
hampers the recovery process of the grid voltage.
The crowbar is only removed once the grid voltage has
recovered to the desired level. Thereafer, the generator
currents and voltages start to converge to their pre-fault values
and the RSC starts to actively control the active and reactive
power.
C Transient behaviours
From the transient stability viewpoint, the drive train of the
wind turbine needs to be represented by a two-mass model in
order to be able to simulate the torsional oscillations excited in
the drive train system during grid faults. A damping controller
therefore needs to be implemented and tuned to actively
dampen these oscillations, which otherwise might lead to self
excitation and high mechanical stress of the drive train system.
The converter control and protection is essential for the fault
ride-through capability of the DFIG wind turbine. The
protection system of the converter (i.e. crowbar resistance) is
triggered when high transient currents and voltages occur in
the generator and converter, otherwise the power converter
device would be damaged during grid faults. When the
crowbar is triggered, DFIG behaves as a conventional SCIG,
and therefore its controllability is temporarily lost. The
crowbar resistance, which value is strictly dependent on the
generator data sheet, has infuence on the rotor current and on
the reactive power demands of the generator during grid faults.
:
_::
:
u
: :
:
___ .l
-----
-----; -
:
- -;-----1
:
+
r:
:
o
0.000 5C
*
0.125 0.250
- - - - -
- -
- -
:
- - - - -
I
: t
= = = = = ; = ='= = = = = I
:
: t
-----(--
:

:
.... .... . . ....
o

:
; .0
::

_:+
0.000 5C* 0.125 0.250
-----
:
- - - --: - --
:
- - - - -
I
- - - - - I - - - - - : -: = =: = = = = = I

0.000 5C* 0.125 0.250
Fig. 5. Rotor currents and voltages
VIII. CONCLUSIONS
This paper deals with the analysis of the performance of a
DFIG-based wind generator and its interaction with the mains
in case of grid failure. The voltage drop related problems
during a grid fault can be split up into two parts in general.
The frst part is the drop of stator (grid) voltage and the second
part is the switch-in process of the crowbar resistor which
converts the DFIG confguration into an ordinary squirrel-cage
induction generator with increased rotor resistance. Firstly, the
switching-in of the crowbar resistor at fll grid and thus fll
stator voltage has been presented and analyzed. The
dependency of the rotor currents and rotor voltages as wen as
the torque on the rotor resistance has been shown. This can be
used as an introductory analysis of the DFIG behavior.
Secondly, the decrease in stator voltages with additional
switching-in of the crowbar resistor has been analyzed. With
reference to the simulations, the dependency on the crowbar
resistance for the rotor currents, rotor voltage and torque has
been presented. The simulation results provide insightfl
understanding on the most signifcant phenomena concerning
the behavior of DFIG-based wind turbines during grid faults.
IX. ApPENDI
Generator Parameters:
Rated power = 2 MW, Rated voltage = 0.69 kV, Base angular
fequency = 314.l6rad/s, Stator/rotor turs ratio = 0.4333,
Angular moment of inertia (J=2H) = 1.9914 p.u, Mechanical
damping = 0.02 p.u, Stator resistance = 0.0175 p.u, Rotor
resistance = 0.019 p.u, Stator leakage inductance = 0.2571 p.u,
Rotor leakage inductance = 0.295 p.u, Mutual inductance =
6.921 p.u.
X. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors grateflly acknowledge the support rendered by
Jadavpur University, India, University of Stellenbosch, South
Afica and University of Cape Town, South Afica for
carrying out the research work.
XI. REFERENCES
[1] J. B. Ekanayake, L. Holdsworth, X. G. Wu, N. Jenkins, <yamic
Modeling of DFIG Wind Turbines,6 IEEE Transaction on Power
Systems, Vol. 18. No. 2, May 2003, pp. 803 1809 .
[2] M. H. J. Bollen, M. Martins, G. Olguin, "Voltage dips at the terminals
of wind-power installations," presented at the Nordic Wind Power
Conference 2004, 1-2 March 2004, Chahers University of Technology,
Goteborg, Sweden.
[3] Holdsworth L., Charalambous I., Ekanayake J.B., Jenkins N., (ower
system fault ride through capabilities of induction generator based wind
turbines.6Wind Engineering, Vol. 28, No 4, 2004, pp 399-412.
[4] Sun T., Chen Z., Blaabjerg F., Iransient stability of DFIG Wind
Turbines at an Exteral Short-circuit fault.6 Wind Energ 2005, No 8,
2005, pp 345-360.
[5] Ahmatov V., Onalysis of dynamic behavior of electric power systems
with large amount of wind power< PhD theSiS, 2003, Orsted DTU.
[6] Heier S. frid Integation of Wind Energy Conversion Systems6 John
Wiley&Sons, Ltd. Chichested UK, 1998.
[7] Ahmatov V., Oariable-speed wind turbines with DFIGs. Part II:
Power System StabilityQ Wind Engineering, Vol. 26, No. 3, 2002, pp
171-188.
[8] Akhmatov V., Oariable-speed wind turbines with DFIGs. Part N:
Uninterupted operation features at gid faults with converter control
coordinationQ Wind Engineering, Vol. 27, No. 6, 2003, pp 519-529.
[9] A. Petersson, S. Lundberg, T. Thiringer, 0DFIG Wind-trubine Ride
Through System Infuence on the Energy Production,6presented at the
Nordic Wind Power Conference 2004, 1-2 March 2004, Chahers
University of Technology, Goteborg, Sweden.
[10] J. Niiranen, Ooltage Dip Ride Trough of DFIG Equipped with Active
Crowbar, Opresented at the Nordic Wind Power Conference 2004, 1-2
March 2004, Chalmers University of Technology, Goteborg, Sweden.
[11] Richard Gagon, Gilbert Sybille, Serge Berard, Daniel Pare, <odeling
and Real-Time Simulation of a DFIG driven by a wind turbineQ
Proceedings of Iterational Conferences on power systems transients
(lST@5) in Montreal, Canada, June 19-23.2005, pp. No.lST05-162.
XII. BIOGRAPHlS
M. K. Das received his BEE and ME (Control System Engg.) in 2002 and
2005 respectively. He is a member of the lT (UK). He is presently Lecturer
of Indian Maritime University, Kolkata Campus, (Govt. of India, Ministry of
Shipping) India and acting as the Chairman of the Y Section of Kolkata
Network of the lT(UK).
Email: [email protected]
A. I. Elombo received his B.Sc. degee in electrical engineering, which was
awarded with frst class honors in 2009 from the University of Cape Town in
South Africa. He is currently working toward his M.Sc. degee in electrical
engineering at the University of Stellenbosch. He is also serving as an
assistant engineer for Namibia Power Corporation (Pty) Ltd, NamPower.
E-mail: [email protected]
S. Chowdhury received her BEE and PhD in 1991 and 1998 respectively.
She was connected to MIS M.N.Dastur & Co. Ltd as Electrical Engineer from
1991 to 1996. She served WomenG Polytechnic, Kolkata, Idia as Senior
Lecturer from 1998 to 2006. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in the
Electrical Engineering Department of The University of Cape Town, South
Africa. She became member of lEE in 2003. She visited Brunei University,
UK and The University of Manchester, UK several times on collaborative
research progme. She has published two books and over 55 papers mainly
in power systems. She is a Member of the lT (UK) and l(l) and Member of
lEE(USA).
Email: sunetra.chowdhuct.ac.za
S. P. Chowdhury received his BEE, MEE and PhD in 1987, 1989 and 1992
respectively. I 1993, he joined E.E.Deptt. of Jadavpur University, Kolkata,
India as Lecturer and served till 2008 in the capacity of Professor. He is
curently Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering Department of the
University of Cape Town, South Africa. He became lEE member in 2003.
He visited Brunei University, UK and The University of Manchester, UK
several times on collaborative research progamme. He has published two
books and over 110 papers mainly in power systems and renewable energy.
He is a fellow of the lT (UK) with C.Eng. l (I) and the lTE (l) and
Member of lEE (USA). He is a member of Knowledge Management Board
and Council of the lT (UK).
Email: sp.chowdhuruct.ac.za