Development of a Hardware-in-the-Loop Platform for the Validation of a Small-Scale Wind System Control Strategy

Juan Martínez-Nolasco, Víctor Sámano-Ortega (), José Botello-Álvarez, José Padilla-Medina, Coral Martínez-Nolasco and Micael Bravo-Sánchez
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Juan Martínez-Nolasco: Departamento de Ingeniería Mecatrónica, Tecnológico Nacional de México, Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya, Celaya 38010, Mexico
Víctor Sámano-Ortega: Doctorado en Ciencias de la Ingeniería, Tecnológico Nacional de México, Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya, Celaya 38010, Mexico
José Botello-Álvarez: Doctorado en Ciencias de la Ingeniería, Tecnológico Nacional de México, Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya, Celaya 38010, Mexico
José Padilla-Medina: Departamento de Ingeniería Electrónica, Tecnológico Nacional de México, Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya, Celaya 38010, Mexico
Coral Martínez-Nolasco: Departamento de Ingeniería Mecatrónica, Tecnológico Nacional de México, Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya, Celaya 38010, Mexico
Micael Bravo-Sánchez: Doctorado en Ciencias de la Ingeniería, Tecnológico Nacional de México, Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya, Celaya 38010, Mexico

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-19

Abstract: The use of renewable energies contributes to the goal of mitigating climate change by 2030. One of the fastest-growing renewable energy sources in recent years is wind power. Large wind generation systems have drawbacks that can be minimized using small wind systems and DC microgrids (DC-µGs). A wind system requires a control system to function correctly in different regions of its operating range. However, real-time analysis of a physical wind system may not be feasible. An alternative to counteract this disadvantage is using real-time hardware in the loop (HIL) simulation. This article describes the implementation of an HIL platform in an NI myRIO 1900 to evaluate the performance of control algorithms in a small wind system (SWS) that serves as a distributed generator for a DC-µG. In the case of an SWS, its implementation implies nonlinear behaviors and, therefore, nonlinear equations, and this paper shows a way to do it by distributing the computational work, using a high-level description language, and achieving good accuracy and latency with a student-oriented development kit. The platform reproduces, with an integration time of 10 µs, the response of the SWS composed of a 3.5 kW turbine with a fixed blade pitch angle and no gear transmission, a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG), and a three-phase full-bridge AC/DC electronic power converter. The platform accuracy was validated by comparing its results against a software simulation. The compared variables were the PMSG currents in dq directions, the turbine’s angular speed, and the DC bus’s voltage. These comparisons showed mean absolute errors of 0.04 A, 1.9 A, 0.7 rad/s, and 9.5 V, respectively. The platform proved useful for validating the control algorithm, exhibiting the expected results in comparison with a lab-scale prototype using the same well-known control strategy. Using a well-known control strategy provides a solid reference to validate the platform.

Keywords: controller; DC microgrid; hardware in the loop; wind system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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