DC-link voltage selection for a multi-MW wind turbine

• Poopak Roshanfekr ^[1] ; Torbjörn Thiringer ^[1] ; Sonja Lundmark ^[1] ; Mikael Alatalo ^[1]
  1. [1] Chalmers University of Technology

     Chalmers University of Technology

     Suecia

     
• Localización: Compel: International journal for computation and mathematics in electrical and electronic engineering, ISSN 0332-1649, Vol. 33, Nº 5 (Special Issue: EVER 2012), 2014, págs. 1722-1740
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo
• Resumen

  • Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the dc-link voltage for the converter of a wind generator should be selected, i.e. to determine the losses in the generator and the converter when using various dc-link voltage levels.

    Design/methodology/approach – To presents the efficiency evaluation of 5 MW wind turbine generating systems, two 5 MW surface mounted permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSG) with medium and low rated voltage is designed. A two-level transistor converter is considered for ac/dc conversion. Three different dc-link voltage levels are used. By using these voltage levels the PMSG is utilized in slightly different ways.

    Findings – It is found that the system with the lower voltage machine has slightly higher annual energy efficiency compare to the higher voltage system. Furthermore, it is shown that the best choice for the dc-link voltage level is a voltage between the minimum voltage which gives the desired torque and the voltage which gives Maximum Torque Per Ampere.

    Originality/value – A procedure as well as investigations with quantified results on how to find the highest complete drive system efficiency for a wind turbine application. Based on two given PMSG, the most energy-efficient dc-link voltage has been established.