Reliability comparison of multilevel converters for wind turbine systems

Title

Reliability comparison of multilevel converters for wind turbine systems

 Author

Lyrakis, E.

Contributor

Polinder, H. (mentor)

Faculty

Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

 Department

Electrical Sustainable Energy (ESE)

 Date

2016-08-26

 Abstract

The extension of the reliability and hence the lifetime of the power converters used in wind turbine systems gains growing interest given the potential to drive the costs further down. This study conducts a detailed comparison among several suggested multilevel converter topologies so as to investigate which converters achieve a more even distribution of the load among their electronic components and consequently achieve an extended lifetime expectancy. Additionally it analyzes a lot of factors that play a deteriorating or favorable role in the fatigue of a multilevel power converter. The relevant research is being conducted through simulations conducted with the help of Matlab and Simulink. The course of this thesis consists of several processing steps: (a) the mechanical modelling of the wind turbine (b) the electrical modelling of the generator and the converter (c) the detailed analysis of the switching methods (d) the power loss analysis of the individual components of each topology according to operation (e) the thermal modelling of these components and (f) the lifetime estimation. The concept of the model relies on the analytical approximation of the dynamic response of all the aforementioned parts to random generated wind profiles. By utilizing the above tools a gradual transition is achieved from the initial wind speed input to the electrical parameters of the generator and the converters, to the power losses of the power semiconductors of each topology, to the temperature profile of the devices and finally to the estimated consumed lifetime. At the end, provided the fatigue estimations but also with the help of the data collected from the intermediate steps an integrated comparison is performed regarding the reliability of the examined converter types.

 To reference this document use:

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5b213614-b723-49f7-a557-9c02b06c19ef

 Part of collection

Student theses

 Document type

master thesis

 Rights

(c) 2016 Lyrakis, E.
Files
PDF Lyrakis2016.pdf 3.58 MB
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