Fabrication and Mathematical Modeling of the Brushless Doubly Fed Induction Generator-Based Wind Electric Conversion System

Electricity generation with minimal environmental pollution is required for the world’s sustainable future, and wind electric generation is one of them. Brushless doubly fed induction generator (BDFIG), which derives from cascade induction machine technology, has grown in popularity as a wind electric generator due to advantages over doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) and permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) such as the absence of slip rings and brushes and high-cost permanent magnets. Wind energy research is critical for any country’s economic development and long-term sustainability. As a result, an experimental setup in a laboratory is required to replicate the behaviour of a wind turbine in the steady state. This study discusses the emulation of wind turbine characteristics in the laboratory using a prototype of a separately excited DC motor mechanically coupled to a brushless doubly fed induction generator (BDFIG). The wind turbine emulator-brushless doubly fed induction machine (WTE-BDFIM) prototype was tested in the laboratory under high power and low wind speed conditions. As a result, the simulation of the same hardware configuration in MATLAB was performed to investigate the overall performance of the BDFIM-based WECS. To determine the equivalent circuit parameters of the BDFIM, which are required for simulation, tests were performed on a prototype of 3.5 kW, 2/6 pole, 400 V, star/delta-star, and BDFIM in two modes, namely, the simple induction mode and the cascade induction mode. Based on the BDFIM parameters, a MATLAB Simulink model of a BDFIG-based wind electric conversion system (WECS) is created and its performance is investigated. Results of both hardware and simulation show that BDFIG can be used as the wind electric generator over a wider speed range compared to that of DFIG, an important feature that is required to get maximum power extraction from the wind turbine.