ALBERT

Description: Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) deals with the analysis of electrically conducting fluids. The study of nanofluids by considering the influence of MHD phenomena is a topic of great interest from an industrial and technological point of view. Thus, the modified MHD mixed convective, nonlinear, radiative and dissipative problem was modelled over an arc-shaped geometry for Al2O3 + H2O nanofluid at 310 K and the freezing temperature of 273.15 K. Firstly, the model was reduced into a coupled set of ordinary differential equations using similarity transformations. The impact of the freezing temperature and the molecular diameter were incorporated in the energy equation. Then, the Runge–Kutta scheme, along with the shooting technique, was adopted for the mathematical computations and code was written in Mathematica 10.0. Further, a comprehensive discussion of the flow characteristics is provided. The results for the dynamic viscosity, heat capacity and effective density of the nanoparticles were examined for various nanoparticle diameters and volume fractions.

Description: The modular multilevel converter (MMC) has significant applications in power systems due to its promising features, such as modularity, reliability, scalability, and low harmonic distortion. One of the challenges in the operation of MMC is to regulate the circulating current in its phase leg and sub module (SM) capacitor voltage. This paper presents the control of internal dynamics, i.e., circulating current and submodule capacitor voltage, of the MMC using an integral backstepping algorithm. The design of the controller is based on Lyapunov stability function. The backstepping control ensures the convergence of the error signal to zero. Additionally, the integral action in the control law increases the robustness and reliability of the system against the external disturbances and model uncertainties. Moreover, the integral term in the controller eliminates the residual steady-state error. The Lyapunov function-based design of the backstepping controller guarantees the convergence of circulating current as well as submodule capacitor voltage for any possible initial condition. Moreover, the performance of the proposed integral backstepping controller is compared with the proportional resonant (PR) controller. The proposed backstepping control scheme for three-phase MMC has been implemented in MATLAB/Simulink.

Description: Conventional Energy Resources (CER) are being rapidly replaced by Renewable Energy Resources (RER) due to their abundant, environmentally friendly, clean, and inexhaustible nature. In recent years, Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) energy installation is booming at a rapid rate among various RER. Grid-Connected PVS required advance DC-link controllers to overcome second harmonic ripple and current controllers to feed-in high-quality current to the grid. This paper successfully presents the design of a Fuzzy-Logic Based PI (F-PI) and Fuzzy-Logic based Sliding Mode Controller (F-SMC) for the DC-link voltage controller and Proportional Resonant (PR) with Resonant Harmonic Compensator (RHC) as a current controller for a Single-Phase Two-Stages Grid-connected Transformerless (STGT) Photovoltaic (PV) Inverter. The current controller is designed with and without a feedforward PV power loop to improve dynamics and control. A Second Order General Integral (SOGI)-based Phase Lock Loop (PLL) is also designed that has a fast-dynamic response, fast-tracking accuracy, and harmonic immunity. A 3 kW STGT-PV system is used for simulation in Matlab/Simulink. A comparative assessment of designed controllers is carried out with a conventionally well-tuned PI controller. The designed controllers improve the steady-state and dynamic performance of the grid-connected PV system. In addition, the results, performance measure analysis, and harmonics contents authenticate the robustness, fastness, and effectiveness of the designed controllers, related to former works.

Description: This paper presents the design and analysis of a proportional resonant controller with a resonant harmonic compensator and switch-type fault current limiter, as a fault-ride through strategy for a three-phase, grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) system under normal conditions and asymmetrical faults. The switch-type fault limiter comprised of current-limiting inductors, a bridge rectifier, a snubber capacitor, linear transformers, and energy absorption bypass. Furthermore, a critical and analytical comparison of switch-type fault limiters is carried out, with the conventional crowbar as the fault-ride through strategy, in combination with a conventionally tuned proportional integrator controller. The designed fault-ride through strategies with proportional integrator and proportional resonant controllers with resonant harmonic compensators are tested at the point of common coupling of the photovoltaic system and at a distance of 19 km from the point of common coupling, in order to analyze the impacts of fault parameter with respect to location. A MATLAB/Simulink model of a 100 kW three-phase grid-connected photovoltaic system is used for analysis. The simulation results of the proposed switch-type fault limiter with proportional resonant controller effectively validate the stable, ripple-free, and robust response compared to all other configurations. In addition, it is also verified that the grid faults on the PV system have a significant impact on fault type, and less impact on fault location.

Description: High penetration of large capacity wind turbines into power grid has led to serious concern about its influence on the dynamic behaviors of the power system. Unbalanced grid voltage causing DC-voltage fluctuations and DC-link capacitor large harmonic current which results in degrading reliability and lifespan of capacitor used in voltage source converter. Furthermore, due to magnetic saturation in the generator and non-linear loads distorted active and reactive power delivered to the grid, violating grid code. This paper provides a detailed investigation of dynamic behavior and transient characteristics of Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) during grid faults and voltage sags. It also presents novel grid side controllers, Adaptive Proportional Integral Controller (API) and Proportional Resonant with Resonant Harmonic Compensator (PR+RHC) which eliminate the negative impact of unbalanced grid voltage on the DC-capacitor as well as achieving harmonic filtering by compensating harmonics which improve power quality. Proposed algorithm focuses on mitigation of harmonic currents and voltage fluctuation in DC-capacitor making capacitor more reliable under transient grid conditions as well as distorted active and reactive power delivered to the electric grid. MATLAB/Simulink simulation of 2 MW DFIG model with 1150 V DC-linked voltage has been considered for validating the effectiveness of proposed control algorithms. The proposed controllers performance authenticates robust, ripples free, and fault-tolerant capability. In addition, performance indices and Total Harmonic Distortions (THD) are also calculated to verify the robustness of the designed controller.

Description: Recently, the Indirect Field Oriented Control (IFOC) scheme for Induction Motors (IM) has gained wide acceptance in high performance applications. The IFOC has remarkable characteristics of decoupling torque and flux along with an easy hardware implementation. However, the detuning limits the performance of drives due to uncertainties of parameters. Conventionally, the use of a Proportional Integral Differential (PID) controller has been very frequent in variable speed drive applications. However, it does not allow for the operation of an IM in a wide range of speeds. In order to tackle these problems, optimal, robust, and adaptive control algorithms are mostly in use. The work presented in this paper is based on new optimal, robust, and adaptive control strategies, including an Adaptive Proportional Integral (PI) controller, sliding mode control, Fuzzy Logic (FL) control based on Steepest Descent (SD), Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) algorithms, and Hybrid Control (HC) or adaptive sliding mode controller to overcome the deficiency of conventional control strategies. The main theme is to design a robust control scheme having faster dynamic response, reliable operation for parameter uncertainties and speed variation, and maximized torque and efficiency of the IM. The test bench of the IM control has three main parts: IM model, Inverter Model, and control structure. The IM is modelled in synchronous frame using d q modelling while the Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation (SVPWM) technique is used for modulation of the inverter. Our proposed controllers are critically analyzed and compared with the PI controller considering different conditions: parameter uncertainties, speed variation, load disturbances, and under electrical faults. In addition, the results validate the effectiveness of the designed controllers and are then related to former works.