Interfacing technique and hardware-in-loop simulation of real-time co-simulation platform for wind energy conversion system

What is it about?

A reasonable simplified WECS model is helpful for controller design and synthesis, but some coupling dynamics are inevitably neglected. Some of the neglected dynamics maybe harmful to the whole system and thus a quite optimistic result may be derived for controller evaluation. The wind energy conversion system is a complex dynamic system which contains of multi coupling and multi time scales, this make the refined modeling of WECS hard. The real-time co-simulation platform based on RTDS and GH Bladed is built with controller hardware-in-loop, in which the kinematics equation of generator rotor is used as the interface to decouple the different time scales, and a specified PLC is used to build the two-way communication. The effect of signal delay between two simulation platforms is discussed and the stability of the system is analysed. The proposed co-simulation platform is able to show detailed dynamics of the whole turbine as well as the comprehensive effects of the controllers.

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Why is it important?

This platform can be used to test the control performance more sufficiently, and even replace the field tests. For example, the grid fault is harmful to the drive train and the fatigue damage caused by it needs to be evaluated. This work relies on the field tests, which need a fault producer, load transducers and may damage the real drive train. As an engineering application of the co-simulation, different types of grid fault can be simulated in the RTDS and the fatigue load spectrum can be obtained with the aid of Bladed post-process. Thus the fatigue damage can be evaluated without the costly field tests.

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