Impact of hybrid FACTS devices on the stability of the Kenyan power system

<p>Flexible alternating current transmission system (FACTS) devices are deployed for improving power system’s stability either singly or as a combination. This research investigates hybrid FACTS devices and studies their impact on voltage, small-signal and transient stability simultaneously under various system disturbances. The simulations were done using five FACTS devices-static var compensator (SVC), static synchronous compensator (STATCOM), static synchronous series compensators (SSSC), thyristor controlled series compensator (TCSC) and unified power flow controller (UPFC) in MATLAB’s power system analysis toolbox (PSAT). These five devices were grouped into ten pairs and tested on Kenya’s transmission network under specific contingencies: the loss of a major generating machine and/or transmission line. The UPFC-STATCOM pair performed the best in all the three aspects under study. The settling times were 3 seconds and 3.05 seconds respectively for voltage and rotor angle improvement on the loss of a major generator at normal operation. The same pair gave settling times of 2.11 seconds and 3.12 seconds for voltage and rotor angle stability improvement respectively on the loss of a major transmission line at 140% system loading. From the study, two novel techniques were developed: A performance-based ranking system and classification for FACTS devices.</p>

Parameterized 2D Field Model of a Switched Reluctance Motor

This work aimed to develop a parameterized, two-dimensional field model of a switched reluctance motor (SRM). The main task of the developed model was to calculate the value of the electromagnetic torque for various positions of the rotor. Based on these calculations, the characteristics of the electromagnetic torque were determined depending on the position of the rotor angle φ for the current function I (T = f (φ, I)). Using the model, it was possible to additionally observe the phenomena occurring in the motor winding, e.g., distributions, isolines of magnetic potential, induction, and to calculate the values of the temperature. The parameterized structural elements that made up the entire model can be freely changed and, thus, the results for various structures can be obtained. Thanks to this, it was possible to evaluate and compare motor of different designs. To validate the model, measurements were conducted on real-scale reluctance motors, and families of electromagnetic torque characteristics were obtained for various design cases. The results received from the tested motors were juxtaposed with simulation results procured via the model. Based on this comparison, it was possible to determine the accuracy of the model’s operation.

Comparative Technical-Economical Analysis of Transient Stability Improvements in a Power System

Power systems are rapidly evolving to face the increasing penetration of renewable inverter-based generation units and to improve their reliability and safety. A power system is constantly exposed to sudden changes or disturbances that may affect its stability. In this paper, a comparative analysis of solutions to improve transient stability, both rotor angle and frequency stability, is performed. These solutions are SVC, STATCOM, a fast excitation system, and an additional parallel transmission line. Sensitivity analyses were performed to evaluate the effects of the location of the three-phase fault line and the most effective SVC or STATCOM installation bus. Based on these analyses, the worst-case fault is considered, and the critical fault clearing time is determined as an engineering parameter for comparing the different solutions. For the numerical analysis, the IEEE 9 bus system is considered, and the PowerWorld software tool is used. Rotor angle and frequency stability analyses were performed. Moreover, specifically for SVC and STATCOM, the effects of different values of short-circuit ratios were considered in the context of rotor angle stability analysis. As part of the frequency stability analysis, the use of the remuneration for load shedding service in Italy was considered to perform an economic analysis for SVC and STATCOM.

Research on a PMSM control strategy for electric vehicles

This paper proposes a novel state estimation based permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) control method for electric vehicle (EV) driving. Firstly, a state feedback decoupling control with disturbance feed-forward (SFDCDF) is described. As motor angular speed and rotary angle are key information for the proposed control algorithm and park’s transformation, a novel observer based angular speed estimator (OBASE) is proposed for angular speed estimation. Moreover, an extended Kalman filter (EKF) based rotary angle estimator (EBRAE) is used for rotary angle estimation with information of the estimated angular speed. The convergence of angular speed estimation is proven through Lyapunov stability theory. Simulation results also indicate that the proposed algorithms can control PMSM torque, current, and angular speed to accurately follow reference values without severe fluctuation. In addition, in order to provide SFDCDF with load torque information, the OBASE is slightly modified to work as a vehicle load estimator (VLE) so PMSM responds more rapidly and speed fluctuates more slightly when the load suddenly changes. Then a series of hardware in the loop (HIL) simulations are carried out. Results indicate that the proposed control strategy can precisely estimate PMSM’s angular speed and rotor angle. Also, it can improve the driving performance of PMSM used on EVs.

A Comprehensive Review of Small-Signal Stability and Power Oscillation Damping through Photovoltaic Inverters

This paper focuses on the methods that ensure the rotor angle stability of electric power systems, which is most frequently analyzed with small-signal models. Over the past several decades, power system stabilizers (PSSs) for conventional excitation systems were the main tools for improving the small-signal stability of electromechanical oscillatory modes. In the last decade, power oscillation damping (POD) control implemented in photovoltaic (PV) inverters has been considered an alternative to PSSs. As PV generation undergoes massive rollout due to policy directions and renewable energy source integration activities, it could potentially be used as a source of damping, which is crucial for sustaining the rotor angle stability of the remaining in-service synchronous generators. Several studies have already been dedicated to the development of different damping strategies. This paper contributes to the existing research in power system stability by providing a comprehensive review of the effects of PV generation on small-signal stability, as well as the recent evolution of POD control through PV inverters. The features and impacts of the various ways to realize POD controllers are assessed and summarized in this paper. Currently, detailed information and discussions on the practical application of PV inverter PODs are not available. This paper is, thus, intended to initiate a relevant discussion and propose possible implementation approaches concerning the topic under study.

Design and Implementation of Inverse Kinematics and Motion Monitoring System for 6Dof Platform

Six-axis motion platforms have a low contraction height and a high degree of freedom. First of all, the designed six-axis crank arm platform, including the motor, reducer, crank arm, link, platform support arm, and upper and lower platforms, can be designed for different bearing requirements. Secondly, it uses a coordinate transform and kinematics theory to derive each motor rotor angle. A set of platform data acquisition (DAQ) monitoring modules was established, and the LabVIEW programming language was used to write measurement software. The monitoring items include displacement, speed, and acceleration, which can be displayed on the screen and recorded by an industrial computer in real time and dynamically. Then, an RS-485 or RS-232 communication transmission interface was used to provide the control system with the related movement information. Finally, an industrial computer combined with a motion control card was used as a control kernel to realize the control algorithms, internet module function, I/O write and read signals, firmware integration, and human–machine interface message. The experimental results validate the appropriateness of the proposed method.