Wind energy has been the fastest emerging renewable energy source over the last decade. The overriding provisos to minimise greenhouse emissions and increasing concerns regarding energy security have been the major inducements for many countries to make a resolute transition to new and non-conventional power sources. Direct-drive systems for wind turbines are potentially a more reliable alternative to gearbox driven systems. Gearboxes are liable to significant accumulated fatigue torque loading with relatively high maintenance costs. It is with this in mind that the primary focus of this research is on direct-drive wind turbines. Generators in direct-drive wind turbines tend to be of large diameter and heavier due to the support structure required to maintain as small air-gap as possible between the stationary and rotating parts of the generator. Permanent magnet generators (PMGs) are the most common type to be used within direct-drive wind turbines nowadays. Generators and other drive-train components in wind turbines experience significant varying loads, which may lead to a bearing failure. These varying loads can lead to misalignment within the drivetrain producing eccentricity between the generator rotor and stator. Rotor eccentricity generates a magnetic force referred to as Unbalanced Magnetic Pull (UMP). The induced UMP for the same rotor eccentricity is much higher in PMGs than induction generators because of the higher permanent magnet magnetic field. UMP is an important issue requiring further research. A part of this study provides a more detailed treatment of UMP under varying rotor eccentricity regimes for various permanent magnet machine topologies. The effect of UMP in direct-drive PMGs on the lifetime of the main bearing is a topic that requires more research aimed at proposing design improvements and solutions. The hope being that the availability of such solutions can be applied to practical reductions in operating costs. In brief, identification of the root causes of failure and impacts on component lifetime remain a subject of research. Establishing analytical tools for studying the impact of UMP on component lifetime in direct drive wind turbines and identifying the prospects for air gap winding machines using single bearing configuration are the two key areas for further research. Firstly, this research aims to establish the relationship between bearing forces and different types of eccentricities and UMP in direct drive machines. It is intended to use such models for predicting bearing wear and fatigue. Secondly, this research aims to establish the analytical tools for studying static, dynamic and tilting eccentricity in air-gap winding direct drive generators. Such tools are used to increase the understanding of the dynamics of direct drive PM generators. The final step of this study is using a multi-body simulation software (SIMPACK) to initiate investigations and comparison by providing assessments of electromagnetic interaction and internal drive-train loading for four possible designs for a proposed 5MW direct-drive wind turbine in response to the loads normally seen by a wind turbine. The four designs include: (a) iron-cored PM direct-drive generator supported by two main bearings, (b) airgap winding PM direct-drive generator supported by two main bearings, (c) iron-cored PM direct-drive generator supported by a single main bearing, (d) airgap winding PM direct-drive generator supported by a single main bearing. An aero-elastic simulation code (HAWC2) is used to extract the hub loads for different wind speeds corresponding to the normal operation of the wind turbine. The dynamic eccentricity and its influence on the electromagnetic interaction and consequential effects on bearing loading for all four designs is examined to determine the most optimal support structural configuration for a direct-drive system. In summary, the main aim of this thesis is studying the effect of different types of rotor eccentricities in different types of direct drive PMGs on the main bearing arrangements. The results show that static rotor eccentricity has the maximum impact compared to the other types of eccentricities. The main result of an eccentricity is the induced UMP which applies directly as an extra force on the bearings. The influence of UMP on bearing wear is studied. This influence is found to be significant in PM machines and should be considered when designing the bearing stiffness. A 20% static rotor eccentricity in a PM machine is found to induce an UMP that roughly equals third the total weight of the machine. A single bearing design for a direct-drive wind turbine is proposed and compared with a conventional two-bearing design. The results show that the Iron-cored PM direct-drive generator supported by two main bearings design and airgap winding PM direct-drive generator supported by a single main bearing design have advantages over the other two designs in this study.

Sustainable energy solutions are aimed to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels by using renewable energy sources and energy efficiency techniques. This thesis presents two new sustainable energy applications in the field of electrical machines.Polyphase induction motors dominate the energy usage spectrum for industrial and commercial applications. The conventional winding structure used in both synchronous and induction machines has a basic unit of the winding with a 60 degree phase belt and a three phase connection either in star or delta. A new winding structure using an innovative Star-Delta Series Connection (SDSC) which has a high winding coefficient and low harmonic content is presented in this thesis. The principle of the SDSC winding is described. The Electro-Magnetic Belt and Electro-Magnetic Space diagram are two important means to be used for optimization of the new winding. Experimental results from two prototypes confirm the theoretical analysis. The efficiency of the new machine at rated load increased by about 3.8% as compared to the standard machine with a conventional winding structure.Wind energy is one of the most attractive renewable energy options. Wind turbines are designed to couple either synchronous or asynchronous generators with various forms of direct or indirect connection with grid or diesel generators. Permanent magnet (PM) generators using high energy Neodymium- Iron-Boron magnets offer advantages such as direct coupling without gear box, absence of excitation winding and slip rings, light weight and smaller size. This thesis presents the design and development of an outer-rotor PM generator suitable for wind energy conversion. The initial electromagnetic design followed by a Finite Element Analysis is presented in detail. A 20 kW prototype machine was built and extensively tested. It was found that the machine could maintain an ++ / efficiency of about 85% for a wide operating range. Equivalent circuit models were developed. The results of the Finite Element analysis matches closely with the experimental and the designed values.

This dissertation aims to present detailed analysis of the small scale wind energy conversion system (WECS) design and implementation. The dissertation will focus on implementing a hardware prototype to be used for testing different control strategies applied to small scale WECSs. Novel control algorithms will be proposed to the WECS and will be verified experimentally in details. The wind turbine aerodynamics are presented and mathematical modeling is derived which is used then to build wind simulator using motor generator (MG) set. The motor is torque controlled based on the turbine mathematical model and the generator is controlled using the power electronic conversion circuits. The power converter consists of a three phase diode bridge followed by a boost converter. The small signal modeling for the motor, generator, and power converter are presented in details to help building the needed controllers. The main objectives of the small scale WECS controller are discussed. This dissertation focuses on two main regions of wind turbine operation: the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) region operation and the stall region operation. In this dissertation, the concept of MPPT is investigated, and a review of the most common MPPT algorithms is presented. The advantages and disadvantaged of each method will be clearly outlined. The practical implementation limitation will be also considered. Then, a MPPT algorithm for small scale wind energy conversion systems will be proposed to solve the common drawback of the conventional methods. The proposed algorithm uses the dc current as the perturbing variable and the dc link voltage is considered as a degree of freedom that will be utilized to enhance the performance of the proposed algorithm. The algorithm detects sudden wind speed changes indirectly through the dc link voltage slope. The voltage slope is also used to enhance the tracking speed of the algorithm and to prevent the generator from stalling under rapid wind speed slow down conditions. The proposed method uses two modes of operation: A perturb and observe (PandO) mode with adaptive step size under slow wind speed fluctuation conditions, and a prediction mode employed under fast wind speed change conditions. The dc link capacitor voltage slope reflects the acceleration information of the generator which is then used to predict the next step size and direction of the current command. The proposed algorithm shows enhanced stability and fast tracking capability under both high and low rate of change wind speed conditions and is verified using a 1.5-kW prototype hardware setup. This dissertation deals also with the WECS control design under over power and over speed conditions. The main job of the controller is to maintain MPPT while the wind speed is below rated value and to limit the electrical power and mechanical speed to be within the system ratings when the wind speed is above the rated value. The concept of stall region and stall control is introduced and a stability analysis for the overall system is derived and presented. Various stall region control techniques are investigated and a new stall controller is proposed and implemented. Two main stall control strategies are discussed in details and implemented: the constant power stall control and the constant speed stall control. The WECS is expected to work optimally under different wind speed conditions. The system should be designed to handle both MPPT control and stall region control at the same time. Thus, the control transition between the two modes of operation is of vital interest. In this dissertation, the light will be shed on the control transition optimization and stabilization between different operating modes. All controllers under different wind speed conditions and the transition controller are designed to be blind to the system parameters pre knowledge and all are mechanical sensorless, which highlight the advantage and cost effectiveness of the proposed control strategy. The proposed control method is experimentally validated using the WECS prototype developed. Finally, the proposed control strategies in different regions of operation will be successfully applied to a battery charger application, where the constraints of the wind energy battery charger control system will be analyzed and a stable and robust control law will be proposed to deal with different operating scenarios. / Ph. D.

Small wind turbines, and especially urban-mounted turbines which require no dedicated pole, have garnered great public enthusiasm in recent years. This enthusiasm has fueled widespread growth among energy conservationists, and estimates predict that the power produced nationally by small wind will increase thirty-fold by 2013. Unfortunately, most of the wind resources currently available have been designed for larger, rural-mounted turbines; thus, they are not well suited for this nascent market. A consequence of this is that many potential urban small wind turbine owners over-predict their local wind resource, which is both costly and inefficient. According to a recent study published by Encraft Ltd., small wind turbines mounted to buildings far underperformed their rural pole mounted counterparts. As a proposed solution to this problem, this project introduces the concept of a Web-based Wind Assessment System (WWAS). This system combines all the necessary resources for potential urban small wind turbine customers into a single web-based tool. The system also presents the concept of a modular wind measurement system, which couples with the WWAS to provide real-time wind data measurements. The benefits of the system include its ease of use, flexibility of installation, data accessibility from any web browser, and expert advice. The WWAS prevents potential clients from investing in a system that may not be viable for their location. In addition, a small wind turbine is designed in this project, which has a unique modular mounting system, allowing the same baseline wind turbine to attach to various structures using interchangeable mounting hardware. This includes such accessible urban structures as street lights, building corners, flag poles, and building walls, among others. This design also utilizes concepts that address some of the challenges associated with mounting small wind turbines to existing urban structures. These concepts include: swept tip blades and lower RPM to reduce noise; vibration suppression using rubber shims; a netted duct to protect wildlife; and a direct-drive permanent magnet generator to ensure low starting torque. Finally, the cost of this system is calculated using off-the-shelf components, which minimize testing and certification expense. This small wind turbine system is designed to be grid-connected, has a 6 foot diameter rotor, and is rated at 1 kW. This design features a unique modular interchangeable mounting system. The cost for this complete system is estimated to be $2,050. If a users' site has an average wind speed of 14 mph (6.5 m/s), this system will generate a return on investment in 8.5 years, leaving over 10 years of profit. The profit for this system, at this sample average wind speed, yields over $4,000 during its 20-year design life, which is a two-fold return on investment. This project has implications for various stakeholders in the small wind turbine market, including designers, engineers, manufacturers, and potential customers. Equally important is its potential role in guiding our future national--even global--energy agenda.

L'amélioration des performances des chaînes de conversion dédiées à la récupération d'énergie par les hydroliennes est un point particulièrement important pour rendre cette ressource économiquement attractive. La minimisation du coût de l'énergie produite passe nécessairement par une amélioration des performances de la chaîne de conversion électromécanique et une réduction des coûts de maintenance et de production des éléments la constituant. Dans ce contexte particulier, les génératrices à aimants permanents apparaissent particulièrement intéressantes dans la mesure où elles sont bien adaptées à un fonctionnement à basse vitesse et à fort couple. Ceci permet d'éliminer des systèmes mécaniques très complexes, encombrants et exigeants en maintenance, tels que le multiplicateur de vitesse et/ou le système d'orientation des pales. L'objectif de cette thèse est d’explorer un certain nombre de pistes concernant les outils, les concepts et les règles de conception à mettre en oeuvre pour dimensionner une génératrice associée en entraînement direct à une turbine hydrolienne à pas fixe. Les outils mis au point dans ces travaux englobent des modèles multi-physiques intégrés dans une démarche de conception qui se veut la plus globale possible. Cette méthodologie tient compte de la caractéristique de la ressource (courants de marées), de celle de la turbine (hélice), des spécifications de la génératrice à aimants permanents, de la mise en oeuvre d’une stratégie de pilotage associant MPPT et limitation de puissance par défluxage à fort courants de marées, en plus des contraintes liées au convertisseur. L'environnement de conception développé est basé sur un couplage des modèles dans une procédure d'optimisation. Les résultats obtenus mettent en lumière les points clés associés au développement d’une telle génératrice pour un contexte hydrolien. / The improvements of marine current turbines drive train are key features to ensure safe operation and to make tidal energy resource cost-attractive. In this context, eliminating mechanical systems that demand high-level of maintenance can be an interesting way to improve the global behavior of tidal turbines. For that purposes, the presented studies focus on design methodologies and concepts of direct-driven generators associated with fixed-pitch turbines. The proposed designs are based on multiphysics models of the generator that are integrated in an optimization process taking into account the drive train environment. For these reasons, several models have been integrated into a global design strategy in order to find solutions that improve marine current turbines performances. This strategy is based on the use of an optimization process that combines electromagnetic model, thermal model, turbine performances model, and tidal resource velocity profile. This methodology integrates also an efficient control strategy based on a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) approach at low tidal speed and a flux-weakening power limitation control at high tidal speed. This control at high tidal velocities is in this work achieved by considering only the generator electrical control without using blade pitching systems. The obtained results highlight trends that could lead to an improvement of the design and they help designers to set relevant technological choices in order to ensure significant cost reduction and highly improve the reliability of marine current turbines.