DC Generation System

Cursino Brandao Jacobina

Departamento de Engenharia Eletrica - CEEI - UFCG

I. I NTRODUCTION
A very common type of generation system employs controlled turbines in which the mechanical
power can be selected, e.g., hydraulic turbine and gas turbine. In this case, the wished active (P s )
and reactive (Qs ) powers can be chosen independently. Internally, the dc-link voltage (v c ) and the

mechanical speed (m ) can be also imposed. Another usual generation system employs uncontrolled
turbines, where the mechanical power changes virtually without control, e.g., wind turbine. In this
case, only the reactive power (Qs ) and the dc-link voltage (vc ) can be selected independently. The

reference mechanical speed (m ) is defined by the optimization of the disposable wind power, as
a function of the wind speed.
Fig. 1 shows a possible DC generation system composed of a turbine (e.g., hydraulic, gas, or
wind turbines), a dc generator machine, the generator side converter (operating as a rectifier), a
capacitor dc-link, where eventually it can be placed a dc-load, the electrical single-phase grid side
converter (operating as an inverter), and an electrical single-phase grid system.

Generator Side Converter Dc-link Dc-load Grid Side Converter

ic
vc
+

qg1 qg2 C qs1 qs2

2
g1 g2 0 s1 s2
vc
+

qg1 qg2 C qs1 qs2

2
ig
vg i s1

te wm
tm vs1
es1

DC Generator Machine Turbine Single-Phase Electrical Grid System

(hydraulic, gas, wind)

Fig. 1. Generator system.

 Turbine Generator
w*m - tm* te wm

+
S Rw
~ tm ~
wm
Current Control

Ge. Conv.
Field Control qg
v*c - te* Torque
v*
g
S Rc Control
+

PWM

Dc-load
vc l*e

Gr. Conv.
v* qs
P*s i*s + s
Q*s IC S Rs
-
is
es
~
Electrical
Grid

Fig. 2. Control system for the case in which the turbine can be controlled.

II. C ONTROLLED T URBINE

Fig. 2 shows the control system used in the case in which the mechanical power can be controlled.
The mechanical speed is controlled to ensure the power balance. It is controlled through the

mechanical torque m . The controller R defines the reference torque m that should be generated
by the controlled turbine. The dc-link voltage is controlled by the controller R c by means of the
electromagnetic torque e . The electromagnetic torque e is imposed by using a armature current
control and excitation field control. That control defines the voltage v g to be supplied by the
generator side converter, using a PWM technique. From the demanded active Ps and reactive Qs
powers, the reference current is is determined. It is synchronized with the electrical grid voltage e s
with amplitude and power factor angle defined by Ps and Qs . The current controller Rs defines the
voltage vs to be supplied by the electrical grid side converter using an adequate PWM technique.
In Fig. 2 the following notation are used:
R = speed controller;
Rc = dc-link voltage controller;
Rs = grid current controller;
vs = grid voltage;
is = grid current;
Ps = active power required;
 te
w*m -S tm* 1 tm - + 1/Fm wm
Rw
sTp+1 S sTm+1
+
wm

(a)

Closed Loop of the

Torque Control
vc* - S te
* 1 te Kg vc
Rc
sTi+1 sTc+1
+
vc
(b)

es
P*s is* + vs* 1 vs + - 1/Rs is
Q*s IC S Rs
sTw+1 S
- sTs+1
is
es
(c)

Fig. 3. Simplified control block system to calculate the gains of the controller for the case in which the turbine can be controlled.
(a) Speed control. (b) Capacitor dc-link voltage control. (c) Output active and reactive power control.

Qs = reactive power required;

= rotor or stator machine flux;
IC = current calculation;
m = machine speed;
e = electromagnetic torque;
m = mechanical torque.
Fig. 3 presents a simplified block diagrams usable to determine the gains of the controller. In
those diagram the following symbology is used
Tp = turbine time constant;
Fm = friction coefficient;
Jm = rotational inertia (moment of inertia) of the group turbine-generator;
Tm = Jm /Fm = mechanical time constant;
Ti = field oriented control time constant (Ti > Tg , Tg is the machine stator current time constant);
Tc and Kg = time constant and gain of the simplified torque/dc-link voltage model, respectively,
given by
Rl C
Tc =
2
 3Rl Eg
Kg =
4vc
where Eg the amplitude of generator voltage, vc is the dc-link voltage, C is the capacitance of
the dc-link capacitor, Rl is equivalent resistance seen by the generator converter (pl = vc2 /Rl , pl
is the power supplied by the generator);
Tw = time constant of the converter (Ti
1/fc , fc is the converter commutation frequency);
Rs and Ls = internal inductance and resistance of the electrical grid, respectively;
Ts = Ls /Rs = time constant of the electrical grid.

III. U NCONTROLLED T URBINE

Fig. 4 shows the system control used in the case in which the mechanical power can not be
controlled. The reference mechanical speed is set by an optimization function of the wind speed
vwind , implemented by the block OT IM. The mechanical speed is controlled by means of the
controller R , whose output is the electromagnet torque e . The electromagnetic torque e is
imposed through a armature current control and excitation field control. That control defines the
voltage vg to be supplied by the generator side converter, using a PWM technique. The dc-link
voltage is controlled by the controller R c through the electrical grid current is . The controller Rc
defines the amplitude Is of the current is .The reference instantaneous current is is generated from
this amplitude and the power factor angle - determined by the reactive power Q s - synchronized
with es by means of block IC. The current is is controlled by the controller Rs , that defines the
voltage vs to be supplied by the electrical grid side converter using an adequate PWM technique.
Fig. 5 presents a simplified block diagrams usable to determine the gains of the controller. In
those diagram Ks is the gain of the simplified current/dc-link voltage model, given by

Rl m
Ke =
2 vc
 Turbine Generator
te wm
~ tm ~
Current Control
Field Control
te*

Ge. Conv.
vwind w*m + v*
g qg
OTIM S Rw Torque
Control
wm
-

PWM

Dc-load
l*e

Gr. Conv.
v*c - I* i*s + v* qs
s s
S Rc IC S Rs
+ -
vc is
es
Q*s
~
Electrical
Grid

Fig. 4. Control system for the case in which the turbine can not be controlled.

Closed Loop of the

Torque Control tm
vwind w*m + te* 1 te + - 1/Fm wm
OTIM S Rw
sTi+1 S
- sTm+1
wm

(a)

es
vc* + I*
s is* + vs* 1 vs + - 1/Rs is Is Ks vc
S Rc IC S Rs S Amp
- -
sTw+1 sTs+1 sTc+1
vc Q*s es is

(b)

Fig. 5. Simplified control block system to calculate the gains of the controller for the case in which the turbine can not be
controlled. (a) Speed control. (b) Capacitor dc-link voltage and output reactive power control.