The wind energy conversion system considered in this thesis is based on a vertical axis wind turbine with a cable wound direct drive PM generator. Diode rectifiers are used to connect several such units to a single DC-bus and a single inverter controls the power flow from the DC-bus to a utility grid. This work considers the described system from a generator perspective i.e. the turbine is primarily seen as a torque and the inverter is seen as a controlled load. A 12 kW VAWT prototype with a single turbine has been constructed within the project. The power coefficient of this turbine has been measured when the turbine is operated at various tip speed ratios. This measurement determines both how much energy the turbine can convert in a given wind and at what speed the turbine should be operated in order to maximise the energy capture. The turbine torque variation during the revolution of the turbine has also been studied. A PM generator prototype has been constructed in order to study power loss in the stator core at low electrical frequencies. Heat exchange between the stator and the air-gap between the stator and the rotor has been studied. Heat exchange between the stator and the air-gap is increased by turbulence caused by the rotor. The generator was also used in a demonstration of a DC-grid where two diode rectified PM generators supplied power to a single DC load.  An initial study of an inverter suitable for grid connection of the 12 kW PM generator has been performed. Several turbine control strategies are evaluated in simulations. The control strategies only require the parameter "turbine speed" to determine the optimal system load.

This research investigates a low-cost generator and power electronics unit for smallscale (<10kW) wind turbines, for both standalone and grid-connected applications. The proposed system uses a high-inductance permanent magnet generator together with a switched-mode rectifier (SMR) to produce a variable magnitude output current. The high inductance characteristic allows the generator to operate as a current source, which has the following advantages over conventional low-inductance generator (voltage source) systems: it offers simple control, and avoids the need for bulky / costly energy storage elements, such as capacitors and inductors. The SMR duty-cycle is controlled in an open-loop manner such that 1) maximum power is obtained for wind speeds below rated, and 2) the output power and turbine speed is limited to safe values above rated wind speed. This topology also has the ability to extract power at low wind speeds, which is well suited to small-scale wind turbines, as there is often limited flexibility in their location and these commonly see low average wind speeds. The thesis is divided into two parts; the first part examines the use of the SMR as a DC-DC converter, for use in standalone applications. The duty-cycle is essentially kept constant, and is only varied for maximum power tracking and turbine speed / power limiting purposes. The SMR operates in to a fixed voltage source load, and has the ability to allow current and hence power to be drawn from the generator even at low wind and hence turbine speeds, making it ideal for battery charging applications. Initial dynamometer testing and limited wind-tunnel testing of a commercially available wind turbine show that turbine power can be maximised and its speed can be limited by adjusting the SMR duty-cycle in an open-loop manner. The second part of the thesis examines the use of the SMR as a DC-AC converter for grid-connected applications. The duty-cycle is now modulated sinusoidally at the mains frequency such that the SMR produces an output current that resembles a fullwave rectified sinewave that is synchronised to the mains voltage. An additional H-bridge inverter circuit and low-pass filter is used to unfold, filter and feed the sinusoidal output current in to the utility grid. Simulation and initial resistive load and preliminary grid-connected tests were used to prove the inverter concept, however, the permanent magnet generator current source is identified as non-ideal and causes unwanted harmonic distortion. The generator harmonics are analysed, and the system performance is compared with the Australian Standard THD requirement. It is concluded that the harmonics are caused by 1) the low-cost single-phase output design, 2) the use of an uncontrolled rectifier, and 3) the finite back-EMF voltage. The extent of these harmonics can be predicted based on the inverter operating conditions. A feed-forward current compensation control algorithm is investigated, and shown to be effective at removing the harmonics caused by the nonideal current source. In addition, the unipolar PWM switching scheme, and its harmonic components are analysed. The low-pass filter design is discussed, with an emphasis on power factor and THD grid requirements. A normalised filter design approach is used that shows how design aspects, such as cutoff frequency and quality factor, affect the filter performance. The filter design is shown to be a trade-off between the output current THD, power loss, and quality factor. The final chapter summarises the thesis with the design and simulation of a 1kW single-phase grid-connected inverter. The inverter is designed based on the low-pass filter and feed-forward compensation analysis, and is shown to deliver an output current to the utility grid that adheres to the Australian Standards. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1375316 / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 2009

The wind power research at the division of Electricity at Uppsala University is aimed towards increased understanding of vertical axis wind turbines. The considered type of wind turbine is an H-rotor with a directly driven synchronous generator operating at variable speed. The experimental work presented in this thesis comprises investigation of three vertical axis wind turbines of different design and size. The electrical, control and measurement systems for the first 12 kW wind turbine have been designed and implemented. The second was a 10 kW wind turbine adapted to a telecom application. Both the 12 kW and the 10 kW were operated against dump loads. The third turbine was a 200 kW grid-connected wind turbine, where control and measurement systems have been implemented. Experimental results have shown that an all-electric control, substituting mechanical systems such as blade-pitch, is possible for this type of turbine. By controlling the rectified generator voltage, the rotational speed of the turbine is also controlled. An electrical start-up system has been built and verified. The power coefficient has been measured and the stall behaviour of this type of turbine has been examined. An optimum tip speed ratio control has been implemented and tested, with promising results. Use of the turbine to estimate the wind speed has been demonstrated. This has been used to get a faster regulation of the turbine compared to if an anemometer had been used.

<p>In the process of designing an electric power supply system for an aircraft, parameters like low weight and low losses are important. Reliability, robustness and low cost are other important factors. In the Saab Gripen aircraft, the design of the primary power supply of the electric flight control system was updated by exchanging a switching transistor regulator to a magnetic amplifier (magamp). By introducing a magamp design, weight was saved and a more reliable power supply system at a lower cost was achieved.</p><p> In this particular case, with the power supply of the electric flight control system in the Saab Gripen fighter, advantage could be taken of a specific permanent magnet generator (PM-generator). The frequency of the generator offered the perfect conditions for a magamp controller. A key parameter in designing magnetic amplifiers (magamps) is low losses. New amorphous alloys offer new possibilities of the technique in designing magnetic amplifiers, because of their extremely low losses.</p><p> The core losses are evaluated by studying the equations and diagrams specifying the power losses. The core losses are evaluated and compared with the copper losses in the process of optimizing low weight and low losses. For this an engineering tool is developed and demonstrated.</p><p> Evaluations of the hysteresis characteristics for the magnetic alloys, as well as modeling and simulation of the core losses, are presented in this work. The modeling of the core losses includes hysteresis losses, eddy current losses and excess losses as well as copper losses. The losses are studied dynamically during realistic operational conditions. The model can be used for any generic analysis of hysteresis in magnetic circuits. Applications of magnetic amplifiers in aircrafts have been demonstrated to be a feasible alternative</p>

In the process of designing an electric power supply system for an aircraft, parameters like low weight and low losses are important. Reliability, robustness and low cost are other important factors. In the Saab Gripen aircraft, the design of the primary power supply of the electric flight control system was updated by exchanging a switching transistor regulator to a magnetic amplifier (magamp). By introducing a magamp design, weight was saved and a more reliable power supply system at a lower cost was achieved. In this particular case, with the power supply of the electric flight control system in the Saab Gripen fighter, advantage could be taken of a specific permanent magnet generator (PM-generator). The frequency of the generator offered the perfect conditions for a magamp controller. A key parameter in designing magnetic amplifiers (magamps) is low losses. New amorphous alloys offer new possibilities of the technique in designing magnetic amplifiers, because of their extremely low losses. The core losses are evaluated by studying the equations and diagrams specifying the power losses. The core losses are evaluated and compared with the copper losses in the process of optimizing low weight and low losses. For this an engineering tool is developed and demonstrated. Evaluations of the hysteresis characteristics for the magnetic alloys, as well as modeling and simulation of the core losses, are presented in this work. The modeling of the core losses includes hysteresis losses, eddy current losses and excess losses as well as copper losses. The losses are studied dynamically during realistic operational conditions. The model can be used for any generic analysis of hysteresis in magnetic circuits. Applications of magnetic amplifiers in aircrafts have been demonstrated to be a feasible alternative / QC 20101103