Inverter-Based Diesel Generator Emulator for the Study of Frequency Variations in a Laboratory-Scale Autonomous Power System

Miguel Torres, Luiz A. C. Lopes

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.

DOI: 10.4236/epe.2013.53027                

Abstract

This paper presents the modeling, simulation and practical implementation of an inverter-based diesel generator emulator. The main purpose of this emulator is for the study of frequency variations in diesel-based autonomous power systems in a laboratory environment where the operation of a real diesel generator is not possible. The emulator basically consists in a voltage source inverter with a second order output filter which voltage references are given by the model of the diesel generator. The control of the emulator is based on the digital signal processor TMS320F2812, where the mathematical models of the diesel generator and the control of the inverter are computed in real-time. Parameters for the model were obtained from commercially available components. Experimental results for different values of speed droop showed that the emulator achieves a satisfactory performance in the transient and stationary response. For the stationary response, the measured frequency deviates from theoretical values with a mean absolute error of: 0.06 Hz for 0% droop, 0.037 Hz for 3% droop, and 0.087 Hz for 5% droop. For the transient response, the measured frequency nadir deviates from simulations in: 0.05 Hz for 0% droop, 0.02 Hz for 3% droop, and 0.1 Hz for 5% droop.

Keywords

Diesel Generator; Emulator; Inverter; Frequency Control; Mini-Grid

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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