The McTronX research group, at the Potchefstroom campus of the North–West University, has been researching Active Magnetic Bearings (AMBs). A fully suspended, flywheel energy storage system (FESS) has been developed. Due to excessive unbalance on the rotor, the motor drive could not be tested up to its rated speed. In the interim, until the rotor can be balanced and other rotor dynamic effects have been investigated, the group decided that the existing drive control should be improved and tested on a high–speed permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM), using normal roller element bearings. In order to test the motor control a second (identical) PMSM, mechanically coupled to the former, operates in generator mode which serves as the torque load. Two different control algorithms, namely V/f and vector control, are designed and implemented on a rapid control prototyping system, i.e. dSPACE®. The V/f control is an open–loop, position sensorless technique, whilst the vector controller makes use of a position sensor. From the design and implementation it became clear that the vector control is more robust, in the sense that it is less sensitive on parameter variations and disturbances. It can start up reliably even under full load conditions. The V/f control is an attractive alternative to the vector control, especially in AMB systems, where it may be difficult to mount the position sensor, has to operate in a hazardous environment not suited to the sensor or could degrade the reliability of the AMB system. The cost of the position sensor is not really a concern compared to the cost of an AMB system. The V/f control is more suited to fan and pump applications, which has a low dynamic requirement. The V/f control has high startup currents and is not recommended for applications requiring a high starting torque or fast acceleration during operation. The inverter, which drives the PMSM, also had to be developed. With regard to the motor control, the effects of inverter non–idealities had to be accounted, especially for the V/f control. The implemented control algorithms were tested up to 20 krpm. Discrepancies between the expected and actual results are discussed. Overall, the controllers performed as desired. Generally, the project goals have been reached satisfactorily. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Computer and Electronic Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Τα τελευταία χρόνια έχει αρχίσει να διαδίδεται με γρήγορους ρυθμούς η μέθοδος μεταφοράς ισχύος μέσω συνεχούς ρεύματος. Προς αυτή την κατεύθυνση ώθηση έδωσε η ανάπτυξη νέων ημιαγωγικών διακοπτικών στοιχείων οδηγώντας σε περεταίρω ανάπτυξη και χρήση των συστημάτων μεταφοράς με συνεχές ρεύμα. Σε αυτή τη διπλωματική εργασία μελετάται ένα σύστημα μεταφοράς ισχύος με διασύνδεση συνεχούς ρεύματος (HVDC), που συνδέεται ανάμεσα σε δυο εναλλασσόμενα ηλεκτρικά δίκτυα με και χωρίς φορτίο. Την διασύνδεση συνεχούς ρέματος πραγματοποιούν δυο back-to-back AC/DC μετατροπείς VSC, που αναλαμβάνουν τους ρόλους του ανορθωτή και του αντίστροφα ισχύος. Οι μετατροπείς χρησιμοποιούν την διαμόρφωση πλάτους παλμού PWM. Αρχικά μελετάται θεωρητικά το μοντέλο των μετατροπέων και του back-to-back HVDC συστήματος και στην συνέχεια σχεδιάζεται και αναλύεται η λειτουργία του ανάμεσα σε δυο δίκτυα εναλλασσομένου ρεύματος με ή χωρίς την ταυτόχρονη παρουσία φορτίου. Τέλος προσομοιώνεται το σύστημα μέσω του λογισμικού Matlab και συγκεκριμένα της εφαρμογής Simulink για την εξαγωγή συμπερασμάτων. / In the past few years the method of power transmission by means of direct current has expanded rapidly. To this direction a push forward has been given by the development of new semi-conductive switching valves leading to a further development of transmission systems by direct current. In this thesis what is considered is a power transmission system via direct current HVDC connected between two AC electric networks with or without load. The direct current connection is achieved through back-to-back AC/DC converters VSC which undertake the role of rectifier and that of inverter of power. The converters use the Pulse Width Modulation (PWM). At first the converter model and the back-to-back HVDC system is theoretically approached and in the process what is designed and analyzed is its function between two networks of AC current with or without the simultaneous presence of load. Finally the system is simulated through software Matlab and specifically the application of simulink in order to draw conclusions.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work presents a contribution to the study of AC Power Sources, where a prototype s development is presented. The stages that compose the system, including converter topology, filter, instrumentation and controller, are presented. The developed prototype is a three-phase four-wire source, which uses a four-leg voltage source inverter. This topology increases the flexibility for unbalanced waveforms generation or unbalanced load conditions, also simplifying the control problem of the process. This work first looks for justifying the use and the study of AC Power Sources, in this sense, some examples of tests and norms, whose tests demand its use, are given. The applications are in general related to electrical and electronic equipments and for driving electromechanical plants such as shakers. In this sense, AC Power Sources are equipment that can be used both in industry applications and didactic or research laboratories. In practically all applications, it is shown that good performance in waveforms generation is necessary. This performance is related to the ability for waveforms generation with low harmonic distortion even in conditions of variable frequency or amplitude and with nonlinear loads behavior. In this way, the use of an adequate converter topology is not enough, are too necessary controllers to guarantee performance for the system, even in adverse load conditions or in presence of unmodeled dynamics. The unmodeled dynamics are derived from some stages that compose the system, but they are generally related to the uncertainties on the model of the plant and load. Then, this work not only describes the implemented prototype and topological relative questions but also applies a Robust Model Reference Adaptive Control (RMRAC) for the plant control. This technique improves the robustness in the closed loop system even under presence of unmodeled dynamics and disturbances. The controller makes use of a Gradient type algorithm for parametric adaptation with four adapted parameters, which leads to a new error equation that is used for the controller s implementation / Este trabalho apresenta uma contribuição ao estudo de Fontes de Potência CA onde é apresentado o desenvolvimento de um protótipo. Os diversos estágios que compõem o sistema, desde a topologia do conversor, do filtro, da instrumentação e do controlador são apresentados e analisados. O protótipo desenvolvido é uma fonte trifásica a quatro fios, que utiliza um inversor de tensão de quatro braços. Esta topologia permite uma maior flexibilidade na geração de formas de onda desbalanceadas ou em condições de cargas desequilibradas, simplificando também o problema de controle do sistema. Este trabalho procura primeiramente justificar a utilização e o estudo de Fontes de Potência CA, neste sentido são dados alguns exemplos de ensaios e normas, cujos testes demandam a sua utilização. As aplicações são em geral relacionadas a equipamentos eletroeletrônicos e acionamento de outras plantas como vibradores eletromecânicos. Deste modo, as Fontes de Potência CA são equipamentos que podem ser utilizados tanto na indústria quanto em laboratórios didáticos e de pesquisa. Em praticamente todas as aplicações, é mostrado que um bom desempenho na geração de formas de onda é necessário. Este desempenho está relacionado à capacidade de geração de formas de onda com baixa distorção harmônica, não raro, em condições de freqüência e amplitude variáveis e com cargas de comportamento não-linear. Deste modo, a seleção de uma topologia de conversor adequado não basta, são também necessários controladores que garantam um bom desempenho do sistema, mesmo em condições adversas de carga e em presença de dinâmicas não-modeladas. As dinâmicas não-modeladas são oriundas das várias etapas que compõem o sistema, mas geralmente são relacionadas às incertezas sobre o modelo da planta e da carga. Neste sentido, este trabalho descreve não apenas o protótipo implementado e questões topológicas relativas a ele, mas também aplica um Controle Robusto por Modelo de Referência ou RMRAC (Robust Model Reference Adaptive Control) para o controle da planta. Esta técnica garante robustez do sistema em malha fechada mesmo na presença de dinâmicas não modeladas e distúrbios. O controlador utilizado faz uso de um algoritmo de adaptação paramétrica do tipo Gradiente, no qual quatro parâmetros são adaptados. Este fato leva a uma nova equação do erro, que é utilizada para a implementação do controlador.

Este trabalho, constitui-se em uma contribuição para o estudo das estratégias de mo-dulação direta baseadas em histerese e que funcionam em frequência fixa de comutação. Tem como objetivo principal propor a estratégia delta modificada, que diferencia-se na forma de ajuste da largura de banda de histerese, alterando-se seus limites e em como executa o comando de bloqueio das chaves de potência, para que a corrente de saída se mantenha em frequência fixa de operação e apresente rápida resposta dinâmica no sistema controlado. Para tanto, não necessita da utilização de derivadas, nem de uma corrente média de referência, tão pouco, se utiliza dos tempos de comutação. A estratégia proposta, comprova que é possível produzir os adequados pulsos de comando para o processamento da energia proveniente de célula combustível, através do conversor estático de potência, utilizando-se, principalmente, dos valores de ultrapassagem nos limites estabelecidos de histerese. Como objetivo secundário desta pesquisa, desenvolve-se um conversor CC/CC auxiliar para adaptar e estabilizar a energia proveniente da CAC, compondo-se um sistema útil que serve de base para fornecer energia, aos mais diversos tipos de cargas em CC. Além disso, apresenta-se uma revisão das estratégias de modulação em modo direto para o controle da corrente de saída no conversor estático, tendo como base a tensão nos terminais de um indutor. Contudo, outras estratégias são naturalmente citadas, no transcorrer deste trabalho, devido haver combinações entre as diferentes estratégias moduladoras e controladoras comentadas. / This work, is a contribution to the study of direct modulation strategies based on hysteresis and that operate at fixed switching frequency. Its main objective is to propose the modified delta strategy, which differentiates from the others strategies in the form of adjustment of hysteresis bandwidth, changing its limits and in executing the locking command of the power keys, so that the output current is maintain at fixed frequency of operation and a rapid dynamic response in the controlled system. In order to do so, it does not require the use of derivatives or a reference average current and also the switching times are not used. This strategy shows that it is possible to produce the appropriate command pulses for the processing of fuel cell energy by the static power converter using mainly the exceedance limit values. As a secondary objective of this research, an auxiliary DC/DC converter is developed to adapt and stabilize the energy coming from the fuel cell, forming a useful system that serves as a base to supply power to the most diverse types of DC loads. In addition, we present a review of the direct-mode modulation strategies for the control of the output current in the static converter, updating data, and based on the voltage at the terminals of an inductor; how-ever, others strategies are naturally cited because there are combinations between the different modulating strategies and controllers commented on in the course of this work.

Current-Controlled Pulse Width Modulated (CC-PWM) Voltage Source Inverters (VSIs) are extensively employed in high performance drives (HPD) because of the considerable advantages offered by them, such as, excellent dynamic response and inherent over-current protection, as compared to the voltage-controlled PWM (VC-PWM) VSIs. Amongst the different types of CC-PWM techniques, hysteresis current controllers offer significant simplicity in implementation. However, conventional type of hysteresis controllers (with independent comparators) suffers from some well-known drawbacks, such as, limit cycle oscillations (especially at lower speeds of operation of machine), overshoot in current error, generation of sub-harmonic components in the current, and random (non-optimum) switching of inverter voltage vectors. Common problems associated with the conventional, as well as current error space phasor based hysteresis controllers with fixed bands (boundary), are the wide variation of switching frequency in the fundamental output cycle and variation of switching frequency with the change in speed of the load motor. These problems cause increased switching losses in the inverter, non-optimum current ripple, excess harmonics in the load current and subsequent additional machine heating. A continuously varying parabolic boundary for the current error space phasor is proposed previously to get the switching frequency variation pattern of the output voltage of the hysteresis controller based PWM inverter similar to that of voltage controlled space vector PWM (VC SVPWM) based VSI. But the major problem associated with this technique is the requirement of two outer parabolas outside the current error space phasor boundary for the identification of sector change which gives rise to some switching frequency variations in one fundamental cycle and over the entire operating speed range. It also introduces 5th and 7th harmonic components in the voltage causing 5th and 7th harmonic currents in the induction motor. These harmonic currents causes 6th harmonic torque pulsations in the machine. This thesis proposes a new technique which replaces the outer parabolas and uses current errors along orthogonal axes for detecting the sector change, so that a fast and accurate detection of sector change is possible. This makes the voltage harmonic spectrum of the proposed hysteresis controller based inverter exactly matching with that of a constant switching frequency SVPWM based inverter. This technique uses the property that the current error along one of the orthogonal axis changes its direction during sector change. So the current error never goes outside the parabolic boundary as in the case of outer parabolas based sector change technique. So the proposed new technique for sector change eliminates the 5th and 7th harmonic components from the applied voltage and thus eliminates the 5th and 7th harmonic currents in the motor. So there will be no introduction of 6th harmonic torque pulsations in the motor. Using the proposed scheme for sector change and parabolic boundary for current error space phasor, simulation study was carried out using Matlab-Simulink. Simulation study showed that the switching frequency variations in a fundamental cycle and over the entire speed range of the machine upto six step mode operation is similar to that of a VC-SVPWM based VSI. The proposed hysteresis controller is experimentally verified on a 3.7 kW IM drive fed with a two-level VSI using vector control. The proposed current error space phasor based hysteresis controller providing constant switching frequency is completely implemented on the TI TMS320LF2812 DSP controller platform. The three-phase reference currents are generated depending on the frequency command and the controller is tested with drive for the entire operating speed range of the machine in forward and reverse directions. Steady state and transient results of the proposed drive are presented in this thesis. This thesis also proposes a new hysteresis controller which eliminates parabolic boundary and replaces it with a simple online computation of the boundary. In this proposed new hysteresis controller the boundary computed in the present sampling interval is used for identifying next vector to be switched. This thesis gives a detailed mathematical explanation of how the boundary is computed and how it is used for selecting vector to be switched in a sector. It also explains how the sector in which stator voltage vector is present is determined. The most important part of this proposed hysteresis controller is the estimation of stator voltages along alpha and beta axes during active and zero vector periods. Estimation of stator voltages are carried out using current errors along alpha and beta axes and steady state equivalent circuit of induction motor. Using this estimated stator voltages along alpha and beta axes, instantaneous phase voltages are computed and used for finding individual voltage vector switching times. These switching times are used for the computation of hysteresis boundary for individual vectors. So the hysteresis boundary for individual vectors are exactly calculated and used for vector change detection, making phase voltage harmonic spectrum exactly similar to that of constant switching frequency VC SVPWM inverter. Sector change detection is very simple, since we have the estimated stator voltages along alpha and beta axes to give exact position of stator voltage vector. Simulation study to verify the steady state as well as transient performance of the proposed controller based VSI fed IM drive is carried out using Simulink tool box of Matlab Simulation Software. The proposed hysteresis controller is experimentally verified on a 3.7 kW IM drive fed with a two-level VSI using vector control. The proposed current error space phasor based hysteresis controller providing constant switching frequency profile for phase voltage is implemented on the TI TMS320LF2812 DSP controller platform. The three-phase reference currents are generated depending on the frequency command and the proposed hysteresis controller is tested with drive for the entire operating speed range of the machine in forward and reverse directions. Steady state and transient results of the proposed drive are presented for different operating conditions.

Multilevel voltage source inverters have been receiving more and more attention from the industry and academia as a choice for high voltage and high power applications. The high voltage multilevel inverters can be constructed with existing low voltage semiconductor switches, which already have a mature technology for handling low voltages, thus improving the reliability of the overall inverter system. These multilevel inverters generate the output voltage in the form of multi-stepped waveform with smaller amplitude. This will result in less dv/dt at the motor inputs and electromagnetic interference (EMI) caused by switching is considerably less. Because of the multi-stepped waveform, the instantaneous error in the output voltage will be always less compared to the conventional two-level inverter output voltage. It will reduce the unwanted harmonic content in the output voltage, which will enable to switch the inverter at lower frequencies. Many interesting multi level inverter topologies are proposed by various research groups across the world from industry and academic institutions. But apart from the conventional 3-level NPC and H-bridge topology, others are not yet highly preferred for general high power drives applications. In this respect, two different five-level inverter topologies and one three-level inverter topology for high power induction motor drive applications are proposed in this work. Existing knowledge from published literature shows that, the three-level voltage space vector diagram can be generated for an open-end winding induction motor by feeding the motor phase windings with two two-level inverters from both sides. In such a configuration, each inverter is capable of assuming 8 switching states independent of the other. Therefore a total of 64 switching combinations are possible, whereas the conventional NPC inverter have 27 possible switching combinations. The main drawback for this configuration is that, it requires a harmonic filter or isolated voltage source to suppress the common mode currents through the motor phase winding. In general, the harmonic filters are not desirable because, it is expensive and bulky in nature. Some topologies have been presented, in the past, to suppress the common mode voltage on the motor phase windings when the both inverters are fed with a single voltage source. But these schemes under utilize the dc-link voltage or use the extra power circuit. The scheme presented in chapter-3 eliminates the requirement of harmonic filter or isolated voltage source to block the common mode current in the motor phase windings. Both the two-level inverters, in this scheme, are fed with the same voltage source with a magnitude of Vdc/2 where Vdc is the voltage magnitude requires for the NPC three-level inverter. In this scheme, the identical voltage profile winding coils (pole pair winding coils), in the four pole induction motor, are disconnected electrically and reconnected in two star groups. The isolated neutrals, provided by the two star groups, will not allow the triplen currents to flow in the motor phase windings. To apply identical fundamental voltage on disconnected pole pair winding, decoupled space vector PWM is used. This PWM technique eliminates the first center band harmonics thereby it will allow the inverters to operate at lower switching frequency. This scheme doesn’t require any additional power circuit to block the triplen currents and also it will not underutilize the dc-bus voltage. A five-level inverter topology for four pole induction motor is presented in chapter-3. In this topology, the disconnected pole pair winding coils are effectively utilized to generate a five-level voltage space vector diagram for a four pole induction motor. The disconnected pole pair winding coils are fed from both sides with conventional two-level inverters. Thereby the problems like capacitor voltage balancing issues are completely eliminated. Three isolated voltage sources, with a voltage magnitude of Vdc/4, are used to block the triplen current in the motor phase windings. This scheme is also capable of generating 61 space vector locations similar to conventional NPC five-level inverter. However, this scheme has 1000 switching combinations to realize 61 space vector locations whereas the NPC five-level inverter has 125 switching combinations. In case of any switch failure, using the switching state redundancy, the proposed topology can be operated as a three-level inverter in lower modulation index. But this topology requires six additional bi-directional switches with a maximum voltage blocking capacity of Vdc/8. However, it doesn’t require any complicated control algorithm to generate the gating pulses for bidirectional switches. The above presented two schemes don’t require any special design modification for the induction machine. Although the schemes are presented for four pole induction motor, this technique can be easily extend to the induction motor with more than four poles and thereby the number of voltage levels on the phase winding can be further increased. An alternate five-level inverter topology for an open-end winding induction motor is presented in chapter-4. This topology doesn’t require to disconnect the pole pair winding coils like in the previous propositions. The open-end winding induction motor is fed from one end with a two-level inverter in series with a capacitor fed H-bridge cell, while the other end is connected to a conventional two-level inverter to get a five voltage levels on the motor phase windings. This scheme is also capable of generating a voltage space vector diagram identical to that of a conventional five-level inverter. A total of 2744 switching combinations are possible to generate the 61 space vector locations. With such huge number switching state redundancies, it is possible to balance the H-bridge capacitor voltage for full modulation range. In addition to that, the proposed topology eliminates eighteen clamping diode having different voltage ratings compared to the NPC inverter. The proposed topology can be operated as a three-level inverter for full modulation range, in case of any switch failure in the capacitor fed H-bridge cell. All the proposed topologies are experimentally verified on a 5 h.p. four pole induction motor using V/f control. The PWM signals for the inverters are generated using the TMS320F2812 and GAL22V10B/SPARTAN XC3S200 FPGA platforms. Though the proposed inverter topologies are suggested for high-voltage and high-power industrial IM drive applications, due to laboratory constraints the experimental results are taken on the 5h.p prototypes. But all the proposed schemes are general in nature and can be easily implemented for high-voltage high-power drive applications with appropriate device ratings.

Voltage source inverter (VSI) is used to control the speed of an induction motor by applying AC voltage of variable amplitude and frequency. The semiconductor switches in a VSI are turned on and off in an appropriate fashion to vary the output voltage of the VSI. Various pulse width modulation (PWM) methods are available to generate the gating signals for the switches. The process of PWM ensures proper fundamental voltage, but introduces harmonics at the output of the VSI. Ripple in the developed torque of the induction motor, also known as pulsating torque, is a prominent consequence of the harmonic content. The harmonic voltages, impressed by the VSI on the motor, differ from one PWM method to another. Space-vector-based approach to PWM facilitates a large number of switching patterns or switching sequences to operate the switches in a VSI. The switching sequences can be classified as conventional, bus-clamping and advanced bus-clamping sequences. The conventional sequence switches each phase once in a half-carrier cycle or sub-cycle, as in case of sine-triangle PWM, third harmonic injection PWM and conventional space vector PWM (CSVPWM). The bus-clamping sequences clamp a phase to one of the DC terminals of the VSI in certain regions of the fundamental cycle; these are employed by discontinuous PWM (DPWM) methods. Popular DPWM methods include 30 degree clamp PWM, wherein a phase is clamped during the middle 30 degree duration of each quarter cycle, and 60 degree clamp PWM which clamps a phase in the middle 60 degree duration of each half cycle. Advanced bus-clamping PWM (ABCPWM) involves switching sequences that switch a phase twice in a sub-cycle besides clamping another phase. Unlike CSVPWM and BCPWM, the PWM waveforms corresponding to ABCPWM methods cannot be generated by comparison of three modulating signals against a common carrier. The process of modulation in ABCPWM is analyzed from a per-phase perspective, and a computationally efficient methodology to realize the sequences is derived. This methodology simplifies simulation and digital implementation of ABCPWM techniques. Further, a quick-simulation tool is developed to simulate motor drives, operated with a wide range of PWM methods. This tool is used for validation of various analytical results before experimental investigations. The switching sequences differ in terms of the harmonic voltages applied on the machine. The harmonic currents and, in turn, the torque ripple are different for different switching sequences. Analytical expression for the instantaneous torque ripple is derived for the various switching sequences. These analytical expressions are used to predict the torque ripple, corresponding to different switching sequences, at various operating conditions. These are verified through numerical simulations and experiments. Further, the spectral properties are studied for the torque ripple waveforms, pertaining to conventional space vector PWM (CSVPWM), 30 degree clamp PWM, 60 degree clamp PWM and ABCPWM methods. Based on analytical, simulation and experimental results, the magnitude of the dominant torque harmonic with an ABCPWM method is shown to be significantly lower than that with CSVPWM. Also, this ABCPWM method results in lower RMS torque ripple than the BCPWM methods at any speed and CSVPWM at high speeds of the motor. Design of hybrid PWM methods to reduce the RMS torque ripple is described. A hybrid PWM method to reduce the RMS torque ripple is proposed. The proposed method results in a dominant torque harmonic of magnitude lower than those due to CSVPWM and ABCPWM. The peak-to-peak torque in each sub-cycle is analyzed for different switching sequences. Another hybrid PWM is proposed to reduce the peak-to-peak torque ripple in each sub-cycle. Both the proposed hybrid PWM methods reduce the torque ripple, without increasing the total harmonic distortion (THD) in line current, compared to CSVPWM. CSVPWM divides the zero vector time equally between the two zero states of a VSI. The zero vector time can optimally be divided to minimize the RMS torque ripple in each sub-cycle. It is shown that such an optimal division of zero vector time is the same as addition of third harmonic of magnitude 0.25 times the fundamental magnitude to the three-phase sinusoidal modulating signals. ABCPWM applies an active state twice in a sub-cycle, with the active vector time divided equally. Optimal division of active vector time in ABCPWM to minimize the RMS torque ripple is evaluated, both theoretically and experimentally. Compared to CSVPWM, this optimal PWM is shown to reduce the RMS torque ripple significantly over a wide range of speed. The various PWM schemes are implemented on ALTERA CycloneII field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based digital control platform along with sensorless vector control and torque estimation algorithms. The controller generates the gating signals for a 10kVA IGBT-based two-level VSI connected to a 5hp, 400V, 4-pole, 50Hz squirrel-cage induction motor. The induction motor is coupled to a 230V, 3kW separately-excited DC generator.

The Diploma thesis deals with control of three-phase active rectifier and a three-phase DC/AC converter. It also explains phase-locked loop principle. The theoretical part including first three chapters lists several control approaches to three phase active rectifier and three phase DC/AC converter. Described control approaches to the active rectifier are control in dq frame and control in dq UVW frame. Listed control approaches to the DC/AC converter include cascaded control structure and a full state feedback control. The practical part is divided into last three chapters and includes mathematical description of phase-locked loop principle, model of active rectifier controlled in dq frame and a model of DC/AC converter controlled both by a cascaded control and a full¬ state feedback. The models are created in Matlab Simulink.

Variable renewable energy sources are today increasingly integrated in the power system as a step towards the renewable society. The large-scale introduction of converter-based energy sources brings challenges in terms of reduced damping to the power system due to the reduced number of synchronous generators. This can be manifested as high rate-of-change-of-frequency and decreased grid stability. To forestall this reduced performance, it is suggested that the grid-following control of today’s converters are restructured to a grid-forming control, enabling the converter to behave closer to a synchronous machine.   This thesis compares grid-following and grid-forming control and seeks to further describe this grid-forming behavior by applying a grid-forming control method on an energy storage enhanced STATCOM-system. A continuous time model and a linearized model based on state space representations are constructed in order to investigate the grid-forming behavior but also how the converter stability is affected by a restructure from grid-following to grid-forming control.   The results indicate that the investigated grid-forming control method displays a behavior similar to synchronous machines and incorporates the ability to provide frequency response services and so called “synthetic inertia” to the grid.  The results also show that the stability of the converter (the ability to provide a bounded output when the system is perturbed) is ensured when the control method is restructured from grid-following to grid-forming and that the investigated grid-forming method is stable also in weak grid situations.

This Master of Science thesis was written based on the shipbuilder Kockums AB feasibility study regarding the development of an All- Electric Ship for the Swedish Navy. The thesis was aiming at addressing voltage stability issues in a dc system fed by PWM rectifiers operating in parallel when supplying constant power loads. A basic computer model was developed for investigating the influence from various parameters on the system. It was shown that the voltage stability is dependent upon the ability to store energy in large capacitors. It was also shown that a voltage droop must be implemented maintaining load sharing within acceptable limits. Different cases of operation were modelled, faults were discussed, and the principal behaviour of the system during a short-circuit was investigated. It was shown that the short-circuit current is much more limited in this type of system in comparison to an ac system. It was concluded that more research and development regarding the components of the system must be performed.