Modelling, control and sensorless speed estimation of micro-wind turbines for deployment in Antarctica

• Published in: IET Renewable Power Generation
• Main Authors: Llano Chiguano, Danilo X (Xavier), McMahon, Richard A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2018
• Subjects: TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery; Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; British Antarctic Survey
• Online Access: http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/96927/; http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/96927/7/WRAP-Modelling-control-sensorless-speed-estimation-McMahon-2017.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1049/iet-rpg.2016.0528

This paper presents the modelling, control and sensorless speed estimation of two micro-wind turbines deployed by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in Antarctica. Mathematical models for the generators attached to an Ampair 100 and Rutland 913 wind turbines and their experimental validation are given. Also, a model for the wind turbines, particularly taking into account the power coefficient Cp versus tip speed ratio λ relationship was proposed and successfully evaluated on a wind turbine emulator test rig. This paper describes an analogue speed estimator board and a Kalman filter for estimating the shaft speed. These estimators use only DC side measurements to match the characteristics of the current version of the turbine control board. The wind turbine control and speed estimators were tested on the emulator test rig using real wind data from BAS research bases in Antarctica. Using only DC side measurements leads to low computation requirements to execute the algorithms in comparison to commonly used schemes that rely on AC measurements. In addition, the estimation algorithms are based on the model of a PM generator connected to a diode rectifier, as they can be used in a wider range of applications, including DC to DC converters with MPPT algorithms based on speed measurements.