An Ultracapacitor Integrated Power Conditioner for Intermittency Smoothing and Improving Power Quality of Distribution Grid

 ABSTRACT:

Penetration of various types of distributed energy resources (DERs) like solar, wind, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) onto the distribution grid is on the rise. There is a corresponding increase in power quality problems and intermittencies on the distribution grid. In order to reduce the intermittencies and improve the power quality of the distribution grid, an ultracapacitor (UCAP) integrated power conditioner is proposed in this paper. UCAP integration gives the power conditioner active power capability, which is useful in tackling the grid intermittencies and in improving the voltage sag and swell compensation. UCAPs have low energy density, high-power density, and fast charge/discharge rates, which are all ideal characteristics for meeting high-power low-energy events like grid intermittencies, sags/swells. In this paper, UCAP is integrated into dc-link of the power conditioner through a bidirectional dc–dc converter that helps in providing a stiff dc-link voltage. The integration helps in providing active/reactive power support, intermittency smoothing, and sag/swell compensation. Design and control of both the dc–ac inverters and the dc–dc converter are discussed. The simulation model of the overall system is developed and compared with the experimental hardware setup.

KEYWORDS:

1.      Active power filter (APF)

2.      Dc–dc converter

3.      D–q control

4.      Digital signal processor (DSP)

5.      Dynamic voltage restorer (DVR)

6.      Energy storage integration

7.       Sag/swell

8.       Ultracapacitors (UCAP)

SOFTWARE: MATLAB/SIMULINK

BLOCK DIAGRAM:

Fig. 1. One-line diagram of power conditioner with UCAP energy storage.

EXPECTED SIMULATION RESULTS:

Fig. 2. (a) Source and load rms voltages V_srms and V_Lrms during sag. (b) Source voltages V_sab (blue), V_sbc (red), and V_sca (green) during sag. (c) Injected voltages V_inj2a (blue), V_inj2b (red), and V_inj2c (green) during sag. (d) Load voltages V_Lab (blue), V_Lbc (red), and V_Lca (green) during sag.

Fig. 3. (a) Currents and voltages of dc–dc converter. (b) Active and reactive

power of grid, load, and inverter during voltage sag.

CONCLUSION:

In this paper, the concept of integrating UCAP-based rechargeable energy storage to a power conditioner system to improve the power quality of the distribution grid is presented. With this integration, the DVR portion of the power conditioner will be able to independently compensate voltage sags and swells and the APF portion of the power conditioner will be able to provide active/reactive power support and renewable intermittency smoothing to the distribution grid. UCAP integration through a bidirectional dc–dc converter at the dc-link of the power conditioner is proposed. The control strategy of the series inverter (DVR) is based on inphase compensation and the control strategy of the shunt inverter (APF) is based on id − iq method. Designs of major components in the power stage of the bidirectional dc–dc converter are discussed. Average current mode control is used to regulate the output voltage of the dc–dc converter due to its inherently stable characteristic. A higher level integrated controller that takes decisions based on the system parameters provides inputs to the inverters and dc–dc converter controllers to carry out their control actions. The simulation of the integrated UCAP-PC system which consists of the UCAP, bidirectional dc–dc converter, and the series and shunt inverters is carried out using PSCAD. The simulation of the UCAP-PC system is carried out using PSCAD. Hardware experimental setup of the integrated system is presented and the ability to provide temporary voltage sag compensation and active/reactive power support and renewable intermittency smoothing to the distribution grid is tested. Results from simulation and experiment agree well with each other thereby verifying the concepts introduced in this paper. Similar UCAP based energy storages can be deployed in the future in a microgrid or a low-voltage distribution grid to respond to dynamic changes in the voltage profiles and power profiles on the distribution grid.

REFERENCES:

[1] N. H. Woodley, L. Morgan, and A. Sundaram, “Experience with an inverter-based dynamic voltage restorer,” IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 1181–1186, Jul. 1999.

[2] J. G. Nielsen, M. Newman, H. Nielsen, and F. Blaabjerg, “Control and testing of a dynamic voltage restorer (DVR) at medium voltage level,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 806–813, May 2004.

[3] V. Soares, P. Verdelho, and G. D. Marques, “An instantaneous active and reactive current component method for active filters,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 660–669, Jul. 2000.

[4] H. Akagi, E. H. Watanabe, and M. Aredes, Instantaneous Reactive Power Theory and Applications to Power Conditioning, 1st ed. Hoboken, NJ, USA: Wiley/IEEE Press, 2007.

[5] K. Sahay and B. Dwivedi, “Supercapacitors energy storage system for power quality improvement: An overview,” J. Energy Sources, vol. 10, no. 10, pp. 1–8, 2009.