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Impact of wind conditions on thermal loading of PMSG wind turbine power converters

Smith, C.J.; Crabtree, C.J.; Matthews, P.C.

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Authors

C.J. Smith



Abstract

Power converter reliability is critical for permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) wind turbines. Converter failures are linked to power module thermal loading but studies often neglect turbine dynamics, control and the impact of wind speed sampling rate on lifetime estimation. This paper addresses this using a 2MW direct-drive PMSG wind turbine model with a 2-level converter, and simulating junction temperatures (Tj) using a power module thermal equivalent circuit under various synthetic wind speed conditions. These synthetic wind conditions include constant and square wave profiles representing stable and gusty wind conditions. Responses to square wave wind speeds showed that the lower the gust frequency, the higher ∆Tj becomes, demonstrating that low turbulence sites have greater thermal variation in the converter. In contrast, wind speed variations with frequencies greater than 0.25Hz deliver only small increases in ∆Tj . It is concluded that reasonable approximations of Tj profiles can be made with 0.25Hz wind speed data, but that lower data rate wind measurements miss essential, damaging characteristics.

Citation

Smith, C., Crabtree, C., & Matthews, P. (2017). Impact of wind conditions on thermal loading of PMSG wind turbine power converters. IET Power Electronics, 10(11), 1268-1278. https://doi.org/10.1049/iet-pel.2016.0802

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 24, 2017
Online Publication Date Jul 10, 2017
Publication Date Sep 9, 2017
Deposit Date Aug 12, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal IET Power Electronics
Print ISSN 1755-4535
Electronic ISSN 1755-4543
Publisher Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 10
Issue 11
Pages 1268-1278
DOI https://doi.org/10.1049/iet-pel.2016.0802

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