1074 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 53, NO.

4, AUGUST 2006
Control and Performance Evaluation of a Flywheel
Energy-Storage System Associated to a
Variable-Speed Wind Generator
Gabriel O. Cimuca, Christophe Saudemont, Benot Robyns, Member, IEEE, and
Mircea M. Radulescu, Senior Member, IEEE
AbstractThe ywheel energy-storage systems (FESSs) are
suitable for improving the quality of the electric power delivered
by the wind generators and for helping these generators to con-
tribute to the ancillary services. Supervisors must be used for
controlling the power ow from a variable-speed wind generator
(VSWG) to the power grid or to an isolated load. This paper
investigates the control method and the energetic performances of
a low-speed FESS with a classical squirrel-cage induction machine
in the viewof its association to a VSWG. Atest bench is developed,
and experimental results are presented and discussed.
Index TermsEfciency, energy storage, induction machine,
losses, low-speed ywheel, power-ow control, supervisory, wind
energy conversion system.
I. INTRODUCTION
T
HE ENERGY can be stored as kinetic energy in a ro-
tating mass, which is called a ywheel. The ywheel is
coupled to an electric generator that produces electricity when
braking the ywheel. In the last years, ywheel energy-storage
systems (FESSs) have been rediscovered by the industrials due
to their advantages in comparison with other energy-storage
systems [1], [2].
FESSs have thus found a specic application for the electric-
power quality as far as the voltage and frequency maintenance
between the imposed limits are concerned. By virtue of their
high dynamics, long lifetime, and good efciency, FESSs are
well suited for short-term storage systems, which are generally
sufcient to improve the electric-power quality [1], [2]. In [3], a
suitable method is developed to predict the ability of the energy
Manuscript received December 30, 2004; revised May 10, 2005. Abstract
published on the Internet May 18, 2006. This work was supported in part by the
Romanian Ministry of Education and Research. The test-bench development
beneted from the nancial support of the Regional Council Nord-Pas de
Calais, the FEDER, the Technological Research National Center of Lille,
Forclum Ingenierie Verquin, Innovelect, and HEI.
G. O. Cimuca was with the Small Electric Motors and Electric Traction
(SEMET) Group, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400110 Cluj-Napoca
1, Romania, and also with the Laboratoire dElectrotechnique et dElectronique
de Puissance de Lille (L2EP), Ecole des Hautes Etudes dIngnieur (HEI),
59046 Lille Cedex, France. He is now with the Powertrain Department,
Siemens VDO Automotive, Timisoara, Romania (e-mail: gabriel.cimuca@
siemensvdo.com).
C. Saudemont and B. Robyns are with the Laboratoire dElectrotechnique
et dElectronique de Puissance de Lille (L2EP), Ecole des Hautes Etudes
dIngnieur (HEI), 59046 Lille Cedex, France (e-mail: christophe.saudemont@
hei.fr; benoit.robyns@hei.fr).
M. M. Radulescu is with the Small Electric Motors and Electric Traction
(SEMET) Group, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400110 Cluj-Napoca
1, Romania (e-mail: mircea.radulescu@mae.utcluj.ro).
Digital Object Identier 10.1109/TIE.2006.878326
storage to increase the penetration of the wind generators in
the power system. This paper shows that the most economical
energy-storage system is the FESS, if the maximum storage
period is 10 min. Moreover, for a 1-MW capacity wind turbine,
the association with a 300-kW FESS involves a gain of about
14 000 C per year in the extra revenue [3].
Flywheels are able to deliver a very high power, which
is limited only by the rating of the generators and power
electronics. The response time is limited to a few milliseconds,
and the number of charge and discharge cycles of a ywheel
is constrained only by the efciency of the electric and power
electronic systems cooling. Friction with the surrounding air
is the main cause of the loss for these storage systems. Low-
speed ywheels with a speed up to 10 000 r/min are, therefore,
contained in vessels lled with a helium to reduce the friction,
and high-speed ywheels are kept in a vacuum. The standby
losses are considerable, but the in-out efciency is very high.
The lifetime depends on the bearings used. In the low-speed
ywheels with up to 10 000 r/min, the bearings are commer-
cially available products with many years of service life and
easy monitoring of their operation. A few hundred low-speed
ywheels are used in Europe, e.g., for the uninterruptible power
supply (UPS) for Internet providers and special production ma-
chinery. High-speed ywheels are used in transport applications
because of their much lower weight. They offer little advantage
in stationary applications [4].
Flywheels compete with the superconducting magnetic
energy-storage systems in the applications requiring several
megawatts for 12 s, and they also compete with batteries in
the applications where the backup time needs to be longer
than some 15 s [4]. One of the most popular ywheel UPSs
is the Pillers POWERBRIDGE system, available in the range
of 2501300 kW. The bigger system can deliver 1.1 MW for
15 s and contains a low-speed ywheel with a maximum
rotational speed of 3600 r/min (www.piller.com).
To emulate the possibility of wind generators to participate
in the ancillary services, a generating system, which must be
able to feed isolated loads or to be integrated in the network
including classical generators, is considered. The commutation
between both cases corresponds to an islanding. The generators
must then work without an auxiliary source to contribute to
the generation/consumption balance and to set the adequate
frequency and voltage.
In order to reach these objectives, a variable-speed wind
generator (VSWG) coupled to the FESS has been considered.
By using power electronics, the energy generation and storage
0278-0046/$20.00 2006 IEEE
CIMUCA et al.: CONTROL AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A FESS ASSOCIATED TO A VSWG 1075
Fig. 1. VSWGFESS assembly under study.
Fig. 2. Scheme of the experimental test bench.
systems can be coupled via a dc link. In such a conguration,
the FESS ensures the dc-link voltage control [5], [6], thus
contributing to the generation/consumption balance. The power
converter connected to the network can then be concerned with
the main voltage and frequency control, and the wind generator
can contribute to the ancillary services (voltage and frequency
regulation).
In this paper, the performance of the proposed system is
analyzed by considering its connection to a network with the
aim of smoothing the power generated by the VSWG, and the
importance of an adequate energy management of the FESS
is pointed out [7][11]. The reference value of the power
generated to the network, which yields the energy generated
or stored by the FESS, can be determined by means of a
fuzzy-logic supervisor [7][11]. Fuzzy logic is a helpful tool
to design a supervisor, which integrates an information on
the active power generated by the wind generator and the
FESS speed. Simplied supervisors based on the fuzzy-logic
approach are proposed, and it is shown in this paper that they
are interesting in a real-time application. The FESSs used in this
type of application incorporate low-speed ywheels [4][12].
The FESS performance and control strategies are particularly
analyzed from the point of view of the losses by considering a
classical induction machine.
A test bench of 3 kW, which is described in this paper, allows
a real-time simulation of the behavior of a permanent-magnet
synchronous generator-based (PMSG) VSWG associated with
an induction machine-based FESS connected to the ac grid
or to an isolated load. The ac grid connection is considered,
and the experiments on the test bench validate the proposed
supervisory strategies and the low-speed FESS performance
analysis.
Fig. 1 shows the VSWGFESS assembly under a study. It
is scale modeled by the laboratory test bench schematized in
Fig. 2, which is currently developed at the Ecole des Hautes
Etudes dIngenieur (HEI) Lille, France. The test bench has a
modular structure allowing the study of different VSWGFESS
system topologies. There are four main parts in the bench.
1) Wind-turbine emulator (WTE). The wind turbine is em-
ulated by a dc machine (3 kW/1500 r/min), which is
fed through a pulsewidth-modulation (PWM) converter
entailing a DS1104 dSPACE card (PowerPC 603e/TI
DSP TMS320F240) control.
2) Power generation (PG). The WTE drives a PMSG (2.83
kW/3000 r/min) whose stator is connected to the dc link
(2200 F/800 V) through a PWM rectier. This one,
which is similar to the grid-connected PWM inverter, is
controlled by a DS1103 dSPACE card (PowerPC 604e/TI
DSP TMS320F240).
3) Network Connection (NC). The VSWGFESS assembly
is connected to the power network (or to the isolated load)
1076 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 53, NO. 4, AUGUST 2006
Fig. 3. Photographs of the test bench.
through a PWM inverter, which is controlled always by
the DS1103 dSPACE card.
4) FESS. The squirrel-cage induction machineIM (3 kW/
1500 r/min), which is coupled to a ywheel (0.2 kg m
2
),
is powered by a DS1104 dSPACE card-controlled PWM
converter.
All the PWM converters have the same structure and are
provided with SEMIKRON insulated gate bipolar transistors
(IGBTs) (1200 V/50 A). Control and measurement interfaces
between converters, dSPACE cards and sensors make the pos-
sible conguration changes.
Fig. 3 shows the test-bench pictures and allows identifying
its main components. Converter No. 4 is used for supplying the
dc machine.
The developed test bench allows investigations of the grid-
connected or isolated load-connected energy generation and
storage systems. Several grid connections can be thus consid-
ered with a reference to the lter (L, LC, etc.) used, so that
the different control strategies accounting for likely unbalanced
energy ows can be implemented.
In the next section, the FESS control strategy, two power-
ow supervisors, and the FESS IM control are treated. Experi-
mental results are presented in order to validate the theoretical
concepts. Section III deals with a FESS performance evaluation
by determining its losses and efciency. Related simulation and
experimental results are presented. The design of a fuzzy-logic
supervisor is outlined in Appendix A, and the experimental
FESS main parameters are given in Appendix B.
II. CONTROL OF A FESS ASSOCIATED TO A VSWG
A. Control Strategy for the FESS
The wind generators are considered as negative charges for
the power grid, because they do not consume the electric energy
but generate it without participating to the ancillary services. It
is well known that the wind speed is very uctuant, and by this
Fig. 4. Graphic representation of the FESS control strategy.
reason, the wind generator will deliver a variable electric power.
To overcome this drawback, two methods are available, i.e.,
1) acting on the mechanical system, e.g., using the pitch-
or stall-controlled wind turbines in order to deliver a
constant power to the wind generator [13] and [14];
2) acting on the electric system, e.g., associating an energy-
storage system with the wind generator in order to
regulate the electric power delivered into the power grid
[5][12].
The rst method gives acceptable results when connecting
the wind generators at a strong power grid, but if the wind gen-
erator supplies a weak grid or an isolated load, the power uctu-
ations can still be questionable. That is the reason for choosing
the second method in the power regulation. An energy buffer is
needed in order to make a good power regulation [5][12].
In this paper, the energy buffer consists of a FESS with a
classical squirrel-cage induction machine as is shown in Fig. 1.
A PMSG is used as a VSWG.
Fig. 4 gives a graphic explanation of the control principle of
the FESS. The FESS has two functions: 1) to regulate the dc-
link voltage and 2) to regulate the power ow toward the mains.
To regulate the dc-link voltage, a PI voltage controller is used
and gives the value of the power P required for maintaining
this voltage at the reference value V
DCref
. If P
reg
is the power
CIMUCA et al.: CONTROL AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A FESS ASSOCIATED TO A VSWG 1077
Fig. 5. Block diagram of the supervisor.
Fig. 6. Surface of the fuzzy-logic supervisor.
expected from the coupling VSWGFESS assembly and P
wg
,
which is the active power generated by the VSWG, the refer-
ence value of the active power exchanged between the FESS
and the dc-link is determined by
P
ref
= P
reg
P
wg
P. (1)
B. FESS Power-Flow Supervisory
In [7] and [11], a fuzzy logic-based supervisor was proposed
to control the FESS in association with the VSWG. The y-
wheel speed has a nite range of variation. The supervisor
has to compute the value of P
reg
from (1) in order to main-
tain the ywheel speed between its limits. The inputs of the
supervisor are the ltered value of the generated power P
wgf
and the ywheel speed , respectively. Ideally, the P
reg
should
be identical with the P
wgf
, but that means an innite inertia
of the ywheel in order to hamper the overfulllment of its
speed limits. Therefore, the supervisor adapts the P
reg
value
in function of the P
wgf
and the ywheel speed, respectively.
The supervisor is schematized in Fig. 5 and fully described in
Appendix A.
The fuzzy-logic supervisor was tested by a simulation with
a MATLAB/Simulink, and the behavior of the FESSVSWG
system was satisfactory [7]. Unfortunately, the implementation
of the fuzzy-logic supervisor on the DS 1104 dSPACE card
needs a very big cycle period (900 s), which alters the control
of the FESS electric machine. This was the reason for searching
a simplied supervisor in order to reduce the cycle period.
Fig. 6 shows the surface of the fuzzy-logic-supervisor repre-
sentation. It can be approximated by the surface of Fig. 7 [11],
which is empirically computed by
P
reg
= 0.63 P
wgf
+ 0.52 0.17[p.u.]. (2)
Fig. 7. Surface of the simplied supervisor.
TABLE I
P
reg
VALUES FOR THE CONSTANT-POWER SUPERVISOR
Fig. 8. Surface of the constant-power supervisor.
The parameters of (2) were chosen in order to keep the
corners of the approximated surface in Fig. 7 as closer as
possible to the four external corners of the fuzzy-logic surface
of Fig. 6. By using this method, the better approximation of the
fuzzy-logic surface can be obtained. The supervisor based on
(2) was implemented on the DS 1104 dSPACE card. Hence, the
control of the FESS can be done during a shorter cycle period
(200 s).
With the simplied supervisor, the value of P
reg
is always
variable due to the ywheel speed uctuations. However, P
reg
is more smoothed than P
wg
, but less smoothed than P
wgf
.
1078 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 53, NO. 4, AUGUST 2006
Fig. 9. FESS induction machine control scheme.
If the ywheel inertia is sufciently high, another supervisor
can be implemented in order to obtain a constant P
reg
. This
supervisor is also derived from the fuzzy-logic supervisor, and
was implemented by a lookup table with a linear interpolation.
The lookup table values for the input vectors and output matrix,
respectively, are given in Table I. Fig. 8 shows the surface of the
constant-power supervisor. The cycle period is always 200 s.
C. Flux-Weakening Operation of the FESS Induction Machine
Since the maximum speed of the ywheel is 3000 r/min,
whereas the base speed of the IM is 1500 r/min, the FESS IM
must operate in its ux-weakening region in order to reach the
maximum speed of the ywheel. In this region, the rated power
of the IM is still available from 1500 to 3000 r/min.
The IM being under a rotor ux-oriented control, the corre-
sponding power equation is determined as
P
IM
T
emIM
= p
M
L
r

rd
i
sq
(3)
where P
IM
is dened as the electric power, T
emIM
is the
electromagnetic torque, is the mechanical speed, p is the
pole-pair number, M is the mutual inductance, L
r
is the rotor
inductance,
rd
is the d-axis rotor-ux component, and i
sq
is
the q-axis component of the stator current.
From (3), the rotor-ux reference value can be computed as

ref
=
P
IMr
L

r
p M

i
sqmax

mes
(4)
where P
IMr
is the sum of the IM rated power and its estimated
losses [15], and
mes
is the IM rotor measured speed. In (4), the
IM parameters assigned with an asterisk dene the estimated
parameters.
D. Control of the FESS Induction Machine
The torque control is used for the FESS induction machine.
The reference power of the FESS P
ref
must be saturated
to the rated value of the IM power in order to avoid the IM
overheating. The ywheel speed is always kept between 1000
and 3000 r/min. Thus, a logical function was implemented as
a = ( > 1000)&(P
ref
< 0) xor ( < 3000)&(P
ref
0)
and the torque reference is given by
T
ref
=

0, if a = 0
T

ref
, if a = 1
(5)
with
T

ref
=
P
ref

+ B + T
s
(6)
where P
ref
is computed by (1), T
s
is the static torque and B
is the viscous friction coefcient. From (3)(5), the reference
current results as
i
sqref
= k
T
ref
L

r
p M

ref
(7)
CIMUCA et al.: CONTROL AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A FESS ASSOCIATED TO A VSWG 1079
Fig. 10. Wind speed.
Fig. 11. Speed of the wind generator, without the FESS.
where k is an experimentally determined coefcient whose
value depends on the IMs operation modes, i.e.,
k =

0.95, if P
ref
0 (motor)

ref

r
, if P
ref
< 0 (generator)
(8)
where
r
is the rated value of the IM rotor ux.
The control scheme of the FESS induction machine is pre-
sented in Fig. 9. The torque control of the IM gives very good
results and allows the FESS to control the dc-link voltage and
the power ow from the VSWG to the mains.
E. Experimental Results for the VSWGFESS Assembly
Experiments were carried out to validate the developed su-
pervisors and the control of the dc-link voltage by the FESS.
The experiments prove that the FESS can control the dc-link
voltage and the power ow from the generation system to the
power network or the isolated load.
The FESS can either smooth the power delivered into the
power network or control the power ow in order to deliver a
constant power into an isolated load (or into a weak grid). The
experiments presented in this paper concern only the network
connection of the VSWGFESS assembly without considering
the isolated-load feeding. As it can be seen in Fig. 9, the
network converter can also be controlled to deliver a reactive
power into the network, which is necessary to the VSWGFESS
assembly for contributing to the ancillary services.
Fig. 10 shows the wind speed, which was measured in the
northern part of France, where a wind farm was installed. These
wind-speed values were used to control the WTE. Fig. 11 shows
the speed of the VSWG, which is the same with the WTE speed,
and Fig. 12 shows the power delivered to the power grid by the
VSWG. As it can be shown in Fig. 12, the power grid receives
a variable power.
1) Power smoothing. Figs. 1318 show how the simpli-
ed supervisor operates in order to smooth the electric
power delivered into the network. Fig. 14 shows the
regulated power given by the simplied supervisor P
reg
,
Fig. 12. Power delivered into the power network, without the FESS.
Fig. 13. Speed of the VSWG.
Fig. 14. Regulated power P
reg
.
Fig. 15. Electric power delivered into the power network.
Fig. 16. Flywheel speed.
and the network receives a smoothed power (Fig. 15).
The regulated power is more smoothed with respect to
the generated power and that involves the ywheel-speed
variations (Fig. 16). The dc-link voltage is well regulated
at 400 V by the FESS (Fig. 17). Fig. 18 shows the
measured power at the IM terminals.
2) Constant-power supervisor. Figs. 1924 present the ex-
perimental results with the constant-power supervisor. If
the wind generator supplies a weak grid or an isolated
load, it must be capable to deliver a constant power.
1080 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 53, NO. 4, AUGUST 2006
Fig. 17. dc-link voltage.
Fig. 18. IM measured power.
Fig. 19. Speed of the VSWG.
Fig. 20. Regulated power P
reg
.
Fig. 21. Electric power delivered into the power network.
This experiment shows that the VSWGFESS assembly
can deliver a constant power providing that the ywheel
inertia is sufciently high. If the ywheel inertia is small,
its speed will soon go toward the saturation limits, and the
supervisor will vary the regulated power in order to keep
the ywheel speed within its range (Figs. 2022).
By comparing Figs. 12, 15, and 21, the FESS contribution
to the power-ow regulation and the difference between the
proposed supervisors are emphasized. It can be shown that the
Fig. 22. Flywheel speed.
Fig. 23. dc-link voltage.
Fig. 24. IM measured power.
constant-power supervisor needs a bigger ywheel inertia than
the simplied supervisor.
The above-mentioned gures point out another aspect con-
cerning the FESS losses, i.e., the VSWGFESS assembly de-
livers less power than the VSWG without FESS. This aspect
will be treated in the next section.
III. FESS PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
A. FESS Electronic Power Converter Losses
The dissipated power on the IGBT operating in the switching
mode may be expressed by
P =
1
T

T

0
V
CE
(t) i(t) dt (9)
where T is the signal period, V
CE
is the drop voltage on the
IGBT, and i is the electric current crossing the IGBT.
Switching Losses: For an IGBT power converter leg
(Fig. 25), the commutation losses can be expressed by [16]
and [17]
p
com
=

k
W
ON
W
ON
(i) + k
W
OFF
W
OFF
(i)

f
pwm
(10)
where W
ON
(i) and W
OFF
(i) are the turn-on and turn-off
dissipated energy characteristics for the IGBT, respectively; in
this case, k
W
ON
= k
W
OFF
= V
dc
/E
W
with V
dc
as the voltage
of the dc-link circuit and E
W
as the manufacturers labora-
tory test voltage. The total commutation losses of the FESS
CIMUCA et al.: CONTROL AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A FESS ASSOCIATED TO A VSWG 1081
Fig. 25. Structure of a power converter leg.
Fig. 26. Positive half period of the current waveform at the power-converter
leg terminal.
three-phase bridge-type power converter are obtained by tre-
bling p
com
of (10).
Conduction Losses: Fig. 26 shows the electric current at
one terminal of the power converter for a positive half period;
the IGBT conduction periods T
IGBT
and of the diode T
D
are
presented for a PWM period T
PWM
. If the PWM frequency
is sufciently high, it can be considered that for an electrical
period, the cyclic ratio for a power converter leg is
=
1
2
+
r sin( + )
2
=
T
IGBT
T
pwm
= T
IGBT
f
pwm
(11)
where f
pwm
= 1/T
pwm
, r denotes the modulation depth and
as the power factor. Some values for are given in Fig. 27.
It should be noted that the dead time of the power converter
is not considered in this study.
Therefore, the conduction periods of the IGBTs and diodes
during a PWM period are, respectively,
T
IGBT
=

f
pwm
=

1
2
+
r sin( + )
2

T
pwm
(12a)
T
D
=
1
f
pwm
=

1
2

r sin( + )
2

T
pwm
. (12b)
A sinusoidal shape of the current has been assumed by
neglecting its overlapped waves, i.e., i = |I
k
| sin [18]. More-
over, the current is a supposed constant during the PWMperiod,
and only the positive half period of the current is considered
Fig. 27. Waveforms of the voltage u, current i, and power P.
for the losses computation (for the second half period of the
current, the losses being the same).
The dissipated energy in the IGBT during one PWM period
and for an angle is given by
E
TR
= V
CE
|I
k
| sin

1
2
+
r sin( + )
2

T
pwm
(13)
where V
CE
is the voltage drop on the IGBT in the switch-
on mode. The average dissipated power in the IGBT for an
angle is
P
TR
= V
CE
|I
k
| sin

1
2
+
r sin( + )
2

. (14)
Fig. 27 shows that the power has a double pulsation as
compared to the voltage or the current. Therefore, the average
dissipated power in the IGBT can be written as
P
IGBT
= V
CE
|I
k
|

+
r cos
4

. (15)
In the same way, the diode conduction losses can be
written as
P
D
= V
D
|I
k
|

r cos
4

(16)
where V
D
is the voltage drop on the diode. Equations (15) and
(16) determine the conduction losses for one leg of the power
electronic converter. Hence, the total conduction losses of the
FESS power converter are given by (17):
p
cond
= 3 (P
IGBT
+ P
D
) = 3 |I
k
|

V
CE
+ V
D

+ r cos
V
CE
V
D
4

. (17)
By summing the commutation and conduction losses given
by (10) and (17), respectively, one obtains the total losses of the
FESS power converter. The characteristics of the SKM 50 GB
1082 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 53, NO. 4, AUGUST 2006
Fig. 28. Equivalent diagram of the IM.
123 D IGBT module, which are provided by SEMIKRON, have
been used in the simulation of the FESS power converter with a
PWM frequency set at 8 kHz. This frequency has been chosen
because of the dSPACE card.
B. FESS Electromechanical Losses
Stator copper losses of the IM are computed by using the
stator resistance R
s
and the park components of the stator
current
p
JS
= R
s
(i
2
sd
+ i
2
sq
). (18)
Rotor copper losses for the IM can be written as the product
of the IM electric power P
IM
and the slip s
p
JR
= s P
IM
= s (v
sd
i
sd
+ v
sq
i
sq
). (19)
Iron losses are determined from the IM equivalent diagram
of Fig. 28.
p
Fe
= 3
(U
s
cos R
s
I
s
)
2
+ (U
s
sin )
2
R

. (20)
It should be noted that (20) calculates the IM iron losses for
a sinusoidal regime by neglecting the PWM losses.
Friction losses are determined as
p
f
= (T
s
+ B). (21)
C. Simulation Results and Efciency Estimation
According to the above established FESS losses equations,
the simulations were performed in the MATLAB/Simulink
environment in order to determine the IM-based FESS ef-
ciency. The scheme from Fig. 1 was simplied like it can
be shown in Fig. 29. With this scheme, the energy is taken
from the power network to accelerate the ywheel, and then
the ywheel is braked and returns its energy to the power
network. Accordingly, the FESS efciency can be determined
either for one operating (charging or discharging) mode or for
a charge/discharge cycle (CDC).
To determine the FESS efciency for a CDC, the simplest
way is to estimate the energy by integrating the measured
power. Therefore, the FESS efciency is

FESS
=

E
d
E
s

100 (22)
where E
s
and E
d
are the energy stored/delivered in/from the
ywheel, respectively, both considered for one CDC.
Fig. 29. Block scheme of the system used to determine the FESS efciency.
The FESS electric-power converter efciency obtained from
simulations in the MATLAB/Simulink was 97.5%. It should be
noted that this efciency concerns only the Converter 2 from
Fig. 29. During the experiments, the measure of the current in
the dc link was very difcult because of the very fast variations
of the current. On the other hand, it was simpler to measure
the power at the alternative sides of the converters 2 and 3,
respectively, and to determine the global efciency of the dc-
link power converter, i.e., coupling the two converters and
the dc link. Thus, the global efciency of the dc-link power
converter, which is determined by simulations, was about 95%.
For the IM-based FESS, the simulation results revealed an
IM efciency of about 90%. The efciency for one CDC of the
FESS was 77% at the dc-link side of the Converter 2 and 73%
at the network side of the Converter 3.
D. Experimental Results and FESS Efciency Determination
The scheme of Fig. 29 was implemented on the test bench,
and experiments were carried out in order to determine the
FESS efciency.
By considering the energy at the IM terminals, the efciency
of the IMplus ywheel can be determined. The FESS efciency
is determined from the energies at the network-side terminals of
the Converter 3 from Fig. 29. By comparing the energy at the
network side and the energy at the IM terminals, the efciency
of the dc-link power converter can be determined [15].
Fig. 30 presents the experimental results of the IM-based
FESS. It can be shown that the IM efciency was 88% in
the rated-load (charging) mode and 81% in the generator (dis-
charging) mode. The resulted dc-link power converter global
efciency was 91% in charging and to 92% in discharging
operation, respectively.
Fig. 31 shows the variations of the FESS energy and the
ywheel energy for some CDCs of the IM-based FESS. The
positive values of the energy are for the charging operation
mode. This experiment allows the determination of the FESS
efciency for one CDC (or only for one operating mode of the
FESS). Therefore, the experimentally obtained efciency of the
IM-based FESS for one CDC was about 71% (at the network
side of the Converter 3).
Figs. 18 and 24 show that the maximum IM measured power
is about 1 kW, but this is only for some seconds. The IMaverage
power is around 0.5 kW. Hence, an IM of 0.75 kW would be
sufcient for the experimental FESS.
As the rated power of the IM under study is 3 kW, this
one will always operate under its rated power. This involves
a poor efciency of the IM. Only for magnetizing it, the power
CIMUCA et al.: CONTROL AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A FESS ASSOCIATED TO A VSWG 1083
Fig. 30. Experimental efciency of the FESS with IM.
Fig. 31. FESS with the IM energy measured at the network side and the
ywheels kinetic energy.
needed is about 300 W. Consequently, the power delivered into
the network by the VSWGFESS assembly is less than the
power delivered by the VSWG without FESS (Figs. 12, 15, and
21). Nevertheless, the VSWGFESS assembly can contribute to
the ancillary services, which is not possible with a stand-alone
VSWG.
The IM-based FESS losses being quite important, this could
appear a disadvantage. However, bigger IMs have a better ef-
ciency, thus representing a convenient solution for the FESSs
designed to be associated with the VSWGs.
IV. CONCLUSION
This paper presents a control and performance evaluation of
a FESS associated to a VSWG. This papers aim is to prove
that a FESS containing a low-speed IM-ywheel assembly can
control the dc-link voltage of the grid-side power converter and
the power ow from the VSWG to the grid.
The FESS control strategy, two power-ow supervisors, and
the FESS IM control are treated. Experimental results are
Fig. 32. Degree of membership of the input variables.
TABLE II
INFERENCE TABLE
presented in order to validate the theoretical concepts. The
FESS energetic performances evaluation is also considered for
determining the FESS losses and efciency. Related simulation
and experimental results are presented.
APPENDIX A
FUZZY-LOGIC-SUPERVISOR DESIGN
Fig. 5 shows the inputs of the supervisory allowing deter-
mination of P
reg
. The fuzzy-logic supervisor is based on the
following principles.
1) If the ywheel rotational speed is too small, then the
storage is favored. A larger amount of the generated
power is used to charge the FESS, and a less power is
delivered to the mains.
2) If the ywheel rotational speed is too high, then the
generation is favored. A larger amount of the generated
power is delivered to the mains and a less power is stored.
3) If the ywheel rotational speed is medium, then the
system is under a normal operation. The mains receive
the ltered generated power P
wgf
.
This was the basic idea when the fuzzy rules were established.
Fuzzycation: The membership functions of the normalized
input variables are shown in Fig. 32. Three fuzzy sets are
considered: Small (S), Medium (M), and Big (B).
Inference: The fuzzy rules are determined from Table II.
Seven fuzzy sets are considered for the output variable: Very
Small (VS), Small (S), Small Medium (SM), Medium (M), Big
Medium (BM), Big (B), and Very Big (VB).
Defuzzycation: The membership functions of the normal-
ized output variable are shown in Fig. 33.
1084 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 53, NO. 4, AUGUST 2006
Fig. 33. Degree of membership of the output variable.
APPENDIX B
FESS MAIN PARAMETERS
IM-plus-ywheel parameters
Number of poles 2p = 4.
Stator resistance R
s
= 0.76 .
Rotor resistance R
r
= 0.76 .
Core-loss resistance R

= 293.3 .
Magnetizing inductance M = 77.67 mH.
Leakage inductance L

= 7.30 mH.
Stator inductance L
s
= 81.32 mH.
Rotor inductance L
r
= 81.32 mH.
Total leakage factor = 0.071.
Rated current I = 10.9 A.
FESS inertia J = 0.2085 kg m
2
.
Viscous friction coefcient B = 0.0011 N m s rad
1
.
dc-link parameters
Capacity C = 2200 F.
Maximal voltage V
dc max
= 800 V.
Power converter parameters
All the power converters are provided by SEMIKRON and
are composed from a SKD 51/14 rectier module, three SKM
50 GB 123 D and one SKM 50 GAL 123 D IGBT modules
whose parameters are fully given at http://www.semikron.com.
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Gabriel O. Cimuca received the M.S. degree from
the Electrical Engineering Faculty, Technical Uni-
versity of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, in
2001, and the Ph.D. degree jointly from the Tech-
nical University of Cluj-Napoca and the Ecole Na-
tionale Superieure dArts et Metiers de Lille, France,
in 2005, both in electrical engineering.
Between November 2001 and October 2005, he
was a Ph.D. student in the Electrical Engineering
Faculty, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-
Napoca, Romania, and at Ecole Nationale Superieure
dArts et Metiers (ENSAM) de Lille, France. He worked within the Laboratoire
dElectrotechnique et Electronique de Puissance (L2EP) de Lille, Lille, France,
and was engaged in theoretical and experimental research on a ywheel energy
storage system to be associated with a variable-speed wind generator. Since
March 2006, he has been with the Powertrain Department, Siemens VDO
Automotive, Timisoara, Romania. He is author or coauthor of 17 technical
papers and reports.
Dr. Cimuca received the 3rd and 2nd Prize Awards at the Romanian High-
School Competition in Electrotechnics in 1995 and 1996, respectively.
Christophe Saudemont received the Ph.D. degree
in electrical engineering from the Science and Tech-
nology University of Lille, Lille, France, in 1999.
Since 2001, he has been with the Depart-
ment of Electrical Engineering, Ecole des Hautes
Etudes dIngenieur, Lille, France. Since 2002, he
has also been a Researcher with the Laboratoire
dElectrotechnique et Electronique de Puissance de
Lille, Lille, France. His research interests include
renewable energies, decentralized electric energy
production, and integration of dispersed renewable
energy sources.
Dr. Saudemont is a member of the Socit franaise des Electriciens et des
Electroniciens.
CIMUCA et al.: CONTROL AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A FESS ASSOCIATED TO A VSWG 1085
Benot Robyns (M96) was born in Brussels, Bel-
gium, in 1963. He received the Ingnieur Civil Elec-
tricien and Docteur en Sciences Appliques degrees
fromthe Universit Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-
la-Neuve, Belgium, in 1987 and 1993, respectively,
and the Habilitation Diriger des Recherches degree
from the Universit des Sciences et Technologies de
Lille, Lille, France, in 2000.
From 1988 to 1995, he was with the Laboratory
of Electrotechnics and Instrumentation, Faculty of
Applied Sciences, Catholic University of Louvain, as
an Assistant. Since 1995, he has been with the Department of Electrotechnics,
Ecole des Hautes Etudes dIngnieur, Lille, France, where he is currently
the Department Head. Since 1998, he has also been with the Laboratory of
Electrotechnics and Power Electronics of Lille, Lille, France, as a Researcher,
where he is currently the Head of the Electrical Network and Energetic Systems
research team. He is the author and coauthor of more than 100 papers in
the elds of digital control of electrical machines, renewable energies, and
distributed generation.
Prof. Robyns is a member of the Socit Franse des Electriciens et des
Electroniciens, the Socit Royale Belge des Electriciens, and the European
Power Electronics Association.
Mircea M. Radulescu (M94SM99) was born in
Cluj-Napoca, Romania, on September 4, 1954. He
received the Dipl.-Ing. degree (with honors) from the
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca,
Romania, in 1978 and the Dr.-Ing. degree from
the Polytechnic University of Timisoara, Timisoara,
Romania, in 1993, both in electrical engineering.
In 1983, he joined the Faculty of Electrical Engi-
neering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, where
he is currently a Full Professor in the Department of
Electric Machines and the Head of the Small Electric
Motors and Electric Traction Group. He was an Invited Research Associate with
the Laboratoire dElectromcanique et de Machines Electriques, Ecole Poly-
technique Fdrale de Lausanne, Switzerland, during 1990-1991 and with the
Laboratoire dElectrotechnique de Grenoble, Institut National Polytechnique
de Grenoble, France, during 1992-1993. He was an Invited Professor with
Helsinki University of Technology, Finland, in 1997; Rheinisch-Westflische
Technische Hochschule Aachen, Germany, in 1999; the University of Akron,
OH, in 1999 and 2001; the Universit Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI), France,
in 2002; and the Universit de Picardie Jules Verne Amiens, France, in 2003.
He is the author and coauthor of ten scientic monographs, multiauthor books,
and textbooks, and of more than 100 published scientic papers in refereed
technical journals and international conference and symposium proceedings.
His teaching and research activities include computer-aided design of electro-
mechanical devices; eld analysis of electromagnetic structures; design and
control of small electric motors; actuators and mechatronic drives; design,
control, and electromagnetic compatibility of electric traction systems; and
ferrohydrodynamics.
Prof. Radulescu is a Foundation Member of the Romanian Association of
Small Electric Machines Builders, an Associate Editor of the international
scientic quarterly ELECTROMOTION, and a Member of the International
Steering Committee of several conferences and symposia in the eld of electric
motor drives and electric traction. His biography is listed in Whos Who in the
World (Editions 19971999) and Whos Who in Romania (Edition 2002).