This paper deals with a fundamental aspect in the control of grid-connected power converters, i.e., the detection of the positive-sequence component at fundamental frequency of the utility voltage under unbalanced and distorted conditions. Accurate and fast detection of this voltage component under grid faults is essential to keep the control over the power exchange with the grid avoiding to trip the converter protections and allowing the ride-through of the transient fault. In this paper, the systematic use of well known techniques conducts to a new positive-sequence voltage detection system which exhibits a fast, precise, and frequency-adaptive response under faulty grid conditions. Three fundamental functional blocks make up the proposed detector, these are: i) the quadrature-signals generator (QSG), ii) the positive-sequence calculator (PSC), and iii) the phase-locked loop (PLL). A key innovation of the proposed system is the use of a dual second order generalized integrator (DSOGI) to implement the QSG. For this reason, the proposed positive-sequence detector is called DSOGI-PLL. A detailed study of the DSOGI-PLL and verification by simulation are performed in this paper. From the obtained results, it can be concluded that the DSOGI-PLL is a very suitable technique for characterizing the positive-sequence voltage under grid faults.

New positive-sequence voltage detector for grid synchronization of power converters under faulty grid conditions

During voltage dips continuous power delivery from distributed generation systems to the grid is desirable for the purpose of grid support. In order to facilitate the control of inverter-based distributed power generation adapted to the expected change of grid requirements, generalized power control strategies based on symmetric-sequence components are proposed in this paper, aiming to manipulate the delivered instantaneous power under unbalanced voltage dips. It is shown that active and reactive power can be independently controlled with two individually adaptable parameters. By changing these parameters, the relative amplitudes of oscillating power can be smoothly regulated, as well as the peak values of three-phase grid currents. As a result, the power control of grid-interactive inverters becomes quite flexible and adaptable to various grid requirements or design constraints. Furthermore, two strategies for simultaneous active and reactive power control are proposed that preserve flexible controllability; an application example is given to illustrate the simplicity and adaptability of the proposed strategies for online optimization control. Finally, experimental results are provided that verify the proposed power control.

https://pure.tue.nl/ws/files/3139169/Metis238547.pdf

Pliant Active and Reactive Power Control for Grid-Interactive Converters Under Unbalanced Voltage Dips

Utility deregulation will have tangible and intangible effects on power quality requiring industry-wide action to maintain adequate standards. These effects are discussed in the first part of the paper. The increasing trend towards more extensive use of power electronic control at the generation, transmission and utilization systems following deregulation has power quality implications that will affect the standards, system simulation and monitoring tools. The paper reviews the present methods available in these areas to achieve specified levels of power quality in the deregulated environment.

Power quality following deregulation

The actual grid code requirements for the grid connection of distributed generation systems, mainly wind and photovoltaic (PV) systems, are becoming very demanding. The transmission system operators (TSOs) are especially concerned about the low-voltage-ride-through requirements. Solutions based on the installation of STATCOMs and dynamic voltage regulators (DVRs), as well as on advanced control functionalities for the existing power converters of distributed generation plants, have contributed to enhance their response under faulty and distorted scenarios and, hence, to fulfill these requirements. In order to achieve satisfactory results with such systems, it is necessary to count on accurate and fast grid voltage synchronization algorithms, which are able to work under unbalanced and distorted conditions. This paper analyzes the synchronization capability of three advanced synchronization systems: the decoupled double synchronous reference frame phase-locked loop (PLL), the dual second order generalized integrator PLL, and the three-phase enhanced PLL, designed to work under such conditions. Although other systems based on frequency-locked loops have also been developed, PLLs have been chosen due to their link with $dq0$ controllers. In the following, the different algorithms will be presented and discretized, and their performance will be tested in an experimental setup controlled in order to evaluate their accuracy and implementation features.

/pdf/grid-voltage-synchronization-for-distributed-generation-8qc4i027u0.pdf

Grid Voltage Synchronization for Distributed Generation Systems Under Grid Fault Conditions

Accurate estimation of system frequency in real time is a prerequisite for the future smart grid, where the generation, loading, and topology will all be dynamically updated. In this article, we introduce a unified framework for the estimation of instantaneous frequency in both balanced and unbalanced conditions in a three-phase system, thus consolidating the existing approaches and providing next-generation solutions capable of joint adaptive frequency estimation and system fault identification. This is achieved by employing recent developments in the statistics of complex variables (augmented statistics) and the associated widely linear models, allowing us to benefit from a rigorous account of varying degrees of noncircularity corresponding to different sources of frequency variations. The advantages of such an approach are illustrated for both balanced and unbalanced conditions, including voltage sags, harmonics and supply-demand mismatch, all major obstacles for accurate frequency estimation in the smart grid.

/pdf/adaptive-frequency-estimation-in-smart-grid-applications-3sn3uf05u7.pdf

Adaptive Frequency Estimation in Smart Grid Applications: Exploiting Noncircularity and Widely Linear Adaptive Estimators

This paper analyzes the characteristic of voltage dips in power systems with special emphasis on unbalanced dips and electrical components analysis. A generalized dip model is built for all unbalanced dips, taking into account the fault types, transformer types and load connections. It shows the transformation for different types of unbalanced dips. The characterization results in a so-called remaining complex voltage (a generalized magnitude phase angle shift) for balanced and unbalanced dips as well as a factor, related to the rotating machine contribution to the source impedance for unbalanced dips. It is shown that the factor is close to unity, so that both balanced and unbalanced dips can be characterized with one phaser.

Lidong Zhan

Papers

Characteristic of voltage dips (sags) in power systems