Three-level Vienna Rectifier with a Brushless and Permanent Magnetless Generator for Wind Energy Conversion Systems

This paper proposes a system design and control technique for a newly developed brushless and permanent magnetless synchronous generator-based variable-speed wind energy generation system, transferring power to a constant voltage dc grid via a three-level Vienna rectifier (VR). The recently established generator named Brushless Induction excited Synchronous Generator (BINSYG) is a wound field synchronous generator (WFSG), whose excitation is developed by controlling an Induction Machine fitted to the same machine structure and sharing the same magnetic core. A new controller is proposed that ensures the stable operation of BINSYG for a wide variation of shaft speeds. VR achieves sinusoidal input current and can control the power factor at its input, which is particularly suitable for wind energy applications. The top and bottom capacitor voltages of the VR are balanced using redundant switching combinations. The system with its proposed control algorithm is modelled in MATLAB/Simulink for a 5 kW rated BINSYG feeding power to a 750 V dc grid. The steady-state and dynamic state simulation results are presented and the controller performance is verified for a wide range of wind speeds. Further, real-time results using the OPAL-RT testbed are presented for the same system to verify the effectiveness of the overall control strategy.