Investigation of the Operational Behaviour of a

Wind Energy Conversion System including

Double Fed Induction Generator in converter's
faulty conditions
Dimitrios G.Giaourakis, Athanasios N.Safacas, Savvas Tsotoulidis

Electromechanical Energy Conversion Laboratory

Electrical and Computer Engineering Department,
University of Patras, Rio-Patras, Greece, 26504
Tel:(+30)-2610-997351, fax: (+30)-2610-997362
Email: dgkiaourakis@ece.upatras.gr
a.n.safacas@ece.upatras.gr
stsotoulidis@ece.upatras.gr

Abstract- In this paper, the wind energy conversion system that
uses the structure of Doubly-Fed Induction Generator (DFIG)
under fauIt condition is presented. Moreover, a simulation of
this wind energy conversion system under fault conditions in
MATLABI SIMULINK is done and the results are evaluated.
Two typical cases of fault, open-circuit faults in two IGBTs in
Rotor Side Converter and in one diode in Grid Side Converter
are studied.
Keywords: DFIG, simulation, back-to-back converter, PWM,
fault conditions in DFIG.
I. INTRODUCTION
As it is well-known wind energy owns a large
proportion of electric energy production from renewable
energy sources. Various types of systems for wind potential
conversion have been designed. The most important of these
systems are the following [4]:
a)Fixed-speed wind turbine with an induction generator
"Danish concept", b) Variable speed wind turbine concept
with variable rotor resistance, c) Variable speed concept with
full-scale power, d) Variable-speed wind turbine equipped
with a doubly-fed induction generator.
In this work the behaviour of a wind energy conversion
system with Doubly-Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) is
studied. This type of system has a lot of advantages. One of
them is that the wind generator can be controlled more easily
and additionally it can be operated in the region of low wind
speeds e.g. 4m1s, in which other wind energy conversion
systems couldn' t be operated. The variable speed range of
such wind energy systems is about 30% below and above the
nominal synchronous speed. The rating of the power
converter which is a back-to-back voltage source converter is
25-35% of the generator capacity [5, 6], which made this an
economical choice compared to the full converter design of
most other variable speed wind turbines. For these systems
monitoring and diagnosis are important to prevent fault
conditions that maybe have catastrophic consequences. Fault
diagnosis could be done by measuring some basic quantities
of the system in healthy condition, registering data and
comparing them with the corresponding of fault condition.
So, fault diagnosis and identification could be achieved.
As it is concluded by the international literature the
fault conditions that have been investigated mostly are:
a)unbalanced stator conditions, b)voltage sags of the grid,
c) faults in induction motor (e.g. broken bar), d)DC link
fluctuation.
In this work faults in the back-to-back converter are
studied, when the DFIG operates in subsynchronous mode,
so the Grid Side Converter (GSC) operates as a boost
rectifier and without using the upper IGBTs (Fig. 1). Two
types of defects can appear on IGBT-an open circuit or a
short circuit fault. It is more possible that these faults can
appear in one IGBT only or in two IGBTs either in the same
leg of converter, or in two different legs. In the first case, the
system can operate for a considerable period of time but with
degraded performance and low efficiency. Open-circuit
faults in two IGBTs in RSC and in one diode in GSC are
investigated. The investigation of the operational behavior
of the system, when one or more of the above faults happen,
is important to understand the consequences in normal
operation, to estimate the size of the corresponding
disturbances and risk-assessment of the system in such fault
cases.
II. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
The system' s structure including the DFIG (Fig.I)
consists of an asynchronous machine that operates in
generation mode, of which the stator is connected directly to
the grid of constant voltage and frequency and the rotor
plugging in the grid via a back-to-back power electronic
converter. This system is used to achieve a wide range of
operation from subsynchronous to supersynchronous
operation (positive and negative slip). This can be achieved
via power flow in both directions.

978-1-4673-0342-2112/$31.00 ©2012 IEEE 1067 leIT 2012

 0 ... "

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the investigated system-basic structure.

stator and rotor in d- and q-axis, Rs is the resistance of the

That is why the bi-directional topology of ACfDC/AC
converter is used. The rotor electrical power Pr is only a
fraction of stator active power output Ps (Pr=-sPs)' Since the
electromagnetic torque Mel is negative in case of power
generation and Qs is positive and constant for a constant
frequency grid voltage, the sign of Pr depends on the slip (s)
sign. Pr is positive for negative slip (speed greater than
stator windings [0], Ls, LR, Lm, are the stator, rotor and
mutual inductances [H), LR", LSq are the stator and rotor
leakage inductances [H) ,w is the speed of the reference
frame [radls].
By calculating the apparent power and taking the real
parts, the following equations represent the stator-side and
rotor-side active and reactive power respectively:

Ps �(USdiSd + usqisq), PR �(URdiRd + uRqiRq),

synchronous speed), or negative for positive slip (speed
lower than synchronous speed). For supersynchronous speed = =
(5)
operation, Pr is transmitted to DC bus capacitor and tends to
raise the DC voltage. For subsynchronous speed operation, Qs �(USqiSd - USdiSq). QR �(URqiRd - URdiRq)'
= =
(6)
Pr is taken out of the DC bus capacitor C and tends to The mutual flux between rotor and stator produces
decrease the DC bus voltage. magnetic energy, which is stored in the magnetic field. This
This paper deals with the reaction of the DFlG when an energy produces an electromagnetic torque which is
open-cicruit fault happens in two IGBTs in the same leg of calculated as
the Rotor Side Converter and in one diode of the Grid Side
Mel = P(iq'l'Sd -id'l'sq)' (7)
Converter in subsynchronous mode.
where p is the number of pole pairs.
A. Doubly-Fed Induction Generator model
Equation (7) describes the torque balance in DFlG:
dO
The analysis of the DFlG operation is based on the (J M +J L ) - +Mel = M L2 .
well-known dynamical model described by the following
dt
(8)
equations (synchronously frame):
Parameter values for the laboratory asynchronous
d'PSd
· -(Os HI
USd =RS 'ISd TS +dt
machine are presented in Table 1.
q
TABLE I
d'Ps PARAMETER VALUES OF DFIG
.
q PN(kW) 6.5
USq =Rs 'ISd +OJs'l'Sd +-­
dt (1)
VN(V) 380
p 2
d'PRd Rs(il) 0.8
URd =Rs ·iRd + -«(Os -(OR)'I'Rq L,s(H) 0.005
dt RR (il) 1
(2)
. d'PR L,D (H) 0.005
q
URq =Rs . 'Rq +-- +«(Os -(OR)'I'Rd Lm(H) 0.114
dt
B.
'l'Sd = (Ls<y +Lm)iSd +LmiRd Rotor side converter (RSC)

'l'S = (Ls<y +Lm)iS +LmiR Rotor side converter acts as a PWM rectifier during the
q q q (3)
machine working in super synchronous mode and as an
'l'Rd = (LR<y +Lm)iRd +LmiSd inverter during subsynchronous mode. The purpose of the
(4) rotor side converter' s control is the independent control of
'l'R = (LR<y +Lm)iR +LmiS
q q q the rotor' s active and reactive power. To succeed it, three
phase quantities are transformed in d-, q- synchronously
where USd, USq, URd, URd, ism iSq. iRd• iRq , 'P sd, 'Psq, 'PRd, 'PRq, are reference frame, where the d-axis is aligned with the stator' s
voltages [V], currents [A] and flux linkages [Wb] of the flux vector (Fig. 2). This happens because the stator of the
DFlG is directly connected to the grid' s voltage. This means

1068
that 'l's is constant and 'l'Sq is equal to zero. So the following
relations are applied:

'I'Sq = 0 ' dt
d'l'Sq
0,
=
(9)
i.
ABC TO '..
i'l a.
Neglecting the small stator' s resistance R,:
USd=O. Fig. 3 Block diagram of GSC's control.
The following equations are obtained solving the (3):

ISq IRq, ISd

. Lm · · 'PSa-LmiRd III. FAULTS STUDY IN DFIG
= - (Lscr+Lm) =
(Lscr+Lm)
(10)

By substituting these equations to (9), (1l), the active and In Fig. 1 the rotor side converter in faulty condition can
reactive power are given by the following equations: be seen (case Fl). If the upper switch Tl and lower switch
T4 are simultaneously opened, the defect causes a loss of
p. Lm . � 'PSd-LmiRd
-2Usq (LS<T+Lm) IRq' Qs
3
s = =
2
USq (LScr+Lm) ,
(11) reversibility in current of the two IGBTs (Tl and T4) and
appears in inverter mode by the loss of two alternation of the
From the equations (11) it is concluded that independent phase current. Thus, if the IGBT Tl is open and the current
control of active and reactive power can be succeeded. in the phase (u) is positive, the phase of induction motor
Finally, the equation that calculates the electromagnetic remains connected to the negative potential of the dc link
torque is given by the following equation: voltage by the antiparallel diode D4. In the same way, if the

Mel -
3 (P) Lm .
- -2 2 'I'dq (LScr+Lm) IRq
Fig. 2. Block diagram of RSC's control.
C. Grid side converter (GSC)
The grid side converter acts as a PWM inverter during
the machine working in super synchronous mode and as a
rectifier during subsynchronous mode. The purpose of the
grid side converter is to produce active power and feed it in
the rotor side converter. In subsynchronous mode, the
rotor' s power is coming from the capacitor of the DC link so
the voltage interconnection is dropped down. This leads to
power transportation from the grid to the capacitor. In
supersynchronous mode the rotor feeds the capacitor, its
voltage increases and the grid side converter transfers active
power to the grid. Moreover, reactive power that is
exchanged between grid side converter and the grid, can be
controlled. In our case the upper IGBTs of the GSC are
always off.
The control of this converter (Fig. 3) is achieved by
transforming the three phase quantities to a d-, q­
synchronously frame, in which the d-axis is aligned with the
vector of the grid' s voltage, because grid' s voltage is
constant. So, the following relations are resulted:
_
(12)
IGBT T4 is open and the current in the phase (u) is negative,
the phase of induction motor remains connected to the
positive potential of the dc link voltage by the antiparallel
diode D1. During this modulation period, the phase current
is almost zero. Moreover, the currents of the two other
phases are modulated in amplitude and are opposite
compared to the healthy operation mode. The new degraded
mode is characterized, on the mechanical plan, by a speed
fluctuation and a strong ripple of the electromagnetic couple
of induction motor.
In Fig. 1 the grid side converter in faulty condition is
seen (case F2). Since DS has an open-circuit fault (F2) and
bearing in mind that in our case the upper IGBTs are always
off, either the T2 must not conduct and so the converter
would operate as a two-phase converter or the modulation
technique must be changed. If T2 continues to conduct as it
had conducted in normal operation, a lot of electrical energy
would be stored in the inductors. As a result of this, a dc
component will appear in the grid currents and overheating.
IV. SIMULATION RESULTS
To study in detail the behaviour of a DFIG 6. S kW,
when the open-circuit faults, that have been described before,
happen, the whole system has been simulated in
Matlab/Simulink environment using average models and
some characteristic results are presented in each case of fault.
Furthermore, FFT analysis for fault diagnosis and
identification has been done. It should be remarked that no
protection system is consindered and the system continues to
operate in fault condition. A constant value of wind speed is
considered. So the wind turbine and rotor speed of the
asynchronous machine is specific and equal to 900rpm

Ugd - ud,
dUgd
dt -
_

0, Ugq - 0, dt
_ dUgq
- 0,
_

(13) (DFIG operates in subynchronous mode).

where Ugd is the component of grid voltage in d-axis and Ugq is In the rotor side converter SPWM modulation technique
the component of grid voltage in q-axis. with f.w=IO kHz is used and in the grid side converter PWM
modulation technique with variable duty cycle and also
Through the following equations the active and reactive f.w=IO kHz is used. Parameters' value of filters: a) rotor side
power can be calculated: converter: C=lmF, L=SmH, b) grid side converter:
p. 3 . 3 .
gc = 2Ugdlgd, Q gc = -2Ugdlgq' (14) C=O.SmF, L=4rnH (it is observed via simulation that with
lower values of GSC' s LC filter a high harmonic content
It is concluded that independent active and reactive power occurs). Also, the value of the COCIink is equal to 1mF.
control can be achieved.

1069
 In Fig. 4-9 some characteristic simulation' s results can In Fig. 6c normalized FFf analysis spectrum of rotor
be seen. when open-circuit fault (Fl) happens. Furthermore. faulty phase current in healthy (blue line) and faulty
the spectrum of some basic variables of the system is condition (red line) can be seen. The harmonic content of this
evaluated in order to use them for fault diagnosis and variable of the system in faulty condition is presented in
identification. Table II.
TABLE II
HARMORMONIC CONTENT OF GRID FAULTY PHASE CURRENT
FREQUENCIES (Hz) NORMALIZED AMPLITUDE
20 I
28 0.1
60 0.03

It is observed via simulation results that normalized

FFf analysis spectrum of the other two rotor phase currents
(a) is similar to this in Fig. 6c appearing a lower harmonic
content at the frequency of 28Hz and also a harmonic content
at the frequency of 100Hz appears.

(b)
Fig. 4. Grid line to line voltage in GSC filter input (a)in healthy condition
and (b)in faulty condition.
--'- '---,
1.11 1.2 1.11:2

In Fig. 5c the range of frequences (100 Hz-II5 Hz). (a)

that appears around of 110 Hz both in healthy condition and
in faulty condition. is due to the operation of DFIG.

(a)

3.17
(c)
(bi'
�--.- .. -
--,.----,--- ---,-- ---,---r- Fig. 6. (a) Rotor phase currents in (a) healthy and (b)faulty condition.
(c) Normalized FFT analysis spectrum of rotor faulty phase current
in healthy(blue line) and faulty condition(red line).

-+.
,\,----,oi.
.. .-- �
(c)
Fig. 5. Grid phase currents in GSC filter input (a)in healthy condition
and (b)in faulty condition.
(c) Normalized FFf analysis spectrum of grid phase currents 0
0

in healthy (blue line) and faulty condition (red line).

Fig. 7. DC link voltage (open-circuit fault happens in t=2sec).

1070
 In Fig. 8c normalized FFT analysis spectrum of stator As it is observed when the open-circuit fault (Ft)
phase current in healthy (blue line) and faulty condition (red occurs, the only part of the system that is affected is that in
line) can be seen. The harmonic content of this system RSC' s side. More specifically, a specific harmonic content
variable in faulty condition is presented in Table III. occurs in rotor' s phase currents and in stator' s phase
TABLE III currents. This harmonic content occurs only when an open­
HARMORMONIC CONTENT OF GRID FAULTY PHASE CURRENT circuit fault happens in two IGBTs in one leg and for that
FREQUENCIES (Hz) NORMALIZED AMPLITUDE reason it could be used for fault diagnosis. A possible fault
10 1 diagnosis method of this kind of fault is measuring and
50 0.8
recording the rotor' s and stator' s phase currents in healthy
60 0.1
70 0.1 condition and comparing them with the results of
120 0.1 measurements that are done taking in faulty condition.
Moreover, fault identification about which IGBT of the RSC
It is observed via simulation results that normalized has an open-circuit fault could be done comparing the
FFT analysis spectrum of the other two stator' s phase normalized amplitude of the basic harmonic of the stator' s
currents is similar to this in Fig. 8c appearing a lower phase currents. The faulty phase current appears high
harmonic content at the frequency of 10Hz. normalized amplitude and it also is higher than the one
appearing in the currents of other phases. Furthermore, when
(FI) happens, the stator' s phase currents and the
electromagnetic torque obtain higher value-approximately
twice. This could be harmful for the whole system.
In Fig. 10-12 some characteristic simulation' s results
can be seen, when open-circuit fault (F2) happens.
Furthermore, the spectrum of some basic variables of the
system is evaluated in order to use them for fault diagnosis
�
1.16 ---d7- -�,.,�.- �
and identification. In this case the only part of the system
(a) that is affected is the GSC and the behaviour of the
asynchronous machine. For that reason simulation results
only for some basic grid' s variables are presented (in the
input of GSC' s filter).

��
.. -----.�----�----� , ----��----�----�
..�

(b)

'"

'.

Fig. 10. DC link voltage (open-circuit fault happens in t=2sec).

In Fig. llc normalized FFT analysis spectrum of grid

(c) phase current in healthy (blue line) and faulty condition (red
Fig. 8. (a)Stator's phase currents in (a)healthy and (b)faulty condition. line) can be seen. The harmonic content of this variable of
(c) Normalized FFT analysis spectrum of rotor phase current in the system in fault condition is presented in Table IV.
healthy(blue line) and fault condition (red line).
TABLE IV
HARMORMONIC CONTENT OF ROTOR FAULTY PHASE CURRENT
FREQUENCIES (Hz) NORMALIZED AMPLITUDE
0 0.9
50 I
100 0.9
105 0.06
150 0.05

It is observed via simulation results that normalized

FFT analysis spectrum of the other two grid phase currents
is similar to this in Fig. llc appearing a lower basic
harmonic and DC component-approximately twice.
Fig. 9. Electromagnetic torque(open-circuit happens in t=2sec).

1071

(a)
I�
� - - - - -
...
--
(c)
Fig. II. (a)Grid's phase currents in (a)healthy and (b)faulty condition.
(c) Normalized FFr analysis spectrum of rotor phase current in
healthy(blue line) and fault condition (red line).
:-
Fig. 12. Electromagnetic torque(open-circuit happens in t=2sec).
As it is observed when the open-circuit fault (F2)
occurs, the only part of the system that is affected is that in
GSC' s side. More specifically, a specific harmonic content
occurs in grid phase currents. This harmonic content occurs
only when an open-circuit fault happens in one diode of GSC
and for that reason it could be used for fault diagnosis.
Moreover, fault identification about which diode of the GSC
has an open-circuit fault could be done comparing the
normalized amplitude of the basic harmonic and DC
component of the grid phase currents. The faulty phase
current appears a high normalized amplitude and it also is
higher than the one appearing in the currents of other phases­
approximately two times.
The above simulation results can be confirmed by
experimental results. An experimental provision has already
been established in the laboratory. More specifically, the
wind generator will be simulated through a controlled dc
machine as a motor machine to a DFlG. Finally, simulation
of a 1. 5 MW wind energy conversion system using DFlG has
been done and similar results have been obtained.
V. CONCLUSION
In this paper a wind energy conversion system with
DFlG under faulty condition in subsynchronous mode is
simulated. Open-circuit faults in two IGBTs in one leg of
Rotor Side Converter and in one diode in Grid Side
Converter are investigated. It should be remarked that no
protection system is consindered and the system continues to
operate in fault condition. It is concluded that when an open­
circuit fault in one diode of the GSC happens, the only part
of the system that is affected is that in GSC side. This fault
causes a specific harmonic content in the grid phase currents,
which is unique for this kind of fault and it could be used for
fault diagnosis and identification. More specifically, it causes
a DC and a basic harmonic component that in faulty phase
-
has higher amplitude. The other parts of DFlG aren' t
affected so much when this open-circuit fault occurs.
On the other hand, when an open-circuit fault in two
IGBTs in the same leg of the RSC happens, the only part of
the system, that is affected, is the RSC's side and the
asynchronous machine' s behavior. This fault causes a
specific harmonic content of the rotor and stator phase
currents, which is unique for this kind of fault and it could be
used for fault diagnosis and identification. More specifically,
high amplitude of the basic harmonic appears in faulty
phases. A possible fault diagnosis method is the measuring
and recording the values of stator' s phase currents and
rotor' s phase currents and comparing their spectrum with the
corresponding data that have been recording in healthy
condition. Furthermore, the generator' s electromagnetic
torque could be used for fault diagnosis.
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