Research on the Bi-Directional AC-DC Converter for

the Large-Scale Non-Grid-Connected Wind Power

Application
Lili Huang, Xin Chen, Lan Xiao, Chunying Gong
College of Automation Engineering
Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Nanjing, 210016, China
Chen.xin@nuaa.edu.cn
AbstractIn recent years, space vector pulse-width modulation
(SVPWM) technique obtains widespread application in AC
modulation because of its high utilization of dc bus, fast dynamic
response and easier digital realization. The paper focuses on the
bi-dirction control methodology based on a 50kW three-phase
AC-DC PWM rectifier of high power factor. Active and reactive
current are controlled respectively in d-q rotating coordinatce
system and unity power factor rectifier can be achieved. First
SVPWM control principle is analyzed and the control schematic
of the entire system is provided. Next simulation model of
SVPWM is obtained using MTALAB/SIMULINK. Finally
simulation results are also provided.
KeywordsSVPWM-unity power factor; three-phase PWM
rectifier; bi-directional converter; non-grid-connected
I. INTRODUCTION
At present, many concerns have been raised over the
utilization of energy and environmental pollution all over the
world, so the demand is growing for the exploitation of
renewable energy. Wind energy is one of the new and
renewable resources that has the most favorable development
prospect and exploitation technologies are most advanced at
the present time. With the development of the exploitation and
utilization of wind energy, wind energy technology also has
marked progress, and becomes a hot study with its clean and
good economic returns of wind energy [4].
In large-scale wind power generation applications, wind
turbines are usually equipped with doubly fed induction
generator. As wind speed changes over a wide range, the
frequency of AC voltage it generated has a wide range and it
cannot meet the needs of feed-network and non-grid connected
load. In order to control the frequency of power, we need to
design a converter in a large-scale wind power generation
system. To improve the efficiency of wind power generation,
the back-to-back converter is used between the rotor and grid,
and the inductor generator is grid-connected at the stator
terminals. The above-mentioned structure is shown in fig.1.
When the system operates in normal mode, CONVERT2 works
in the mode of rectification and CONVERT1 works in the
mode of inversion. This controls three-phase current of the
rotor and so makes the output frequency and voltage of doubly
fed induction generator steady. When the wind speed is too
high, the motor speed is too high, so CONVERT1 operates in
the rectification mode, and CONVERT2 works in grid-
connected inversion mode that feeds the electrical energy to the
grid via the rotor. Compared to conventional designs in which
the power converter is connected to the stator, the back-to-back
converter that is connected to the rotor can effectively reduce
the size and capacity of the converter (about 30 ). At the
same time a power conversion device is not needed in the
stator-side, so the structure is simple.
Figure1. The variable-speed wind turbine equipped with a doubly fed
induction generator controlled by the back-to-back converter
In order to achieve the design of back-to-back inverter, the
two converters need to work bi-directionally including the PFC
rectifier and inverter. This work studies the rectifier part and
uses the traditional three-phase bridge voltage source PWM
rectifier (VSR), so it can achieve the bi-directional conversion.
The rectifier can achieve not only the sinusoidal input current,
but also the grid-side unity power factor, so it can eliminate
harmonic pollution [7].
Based on the research and analysis for grid connected wind
power applications, there are three existing high voltage
transmissions for grid connected wind power system: high
voltage AC transmission (HVAC), line-commutated converter
high voltage DC transmission (LCC-HVDC) and voltage
source converter high voltage DC transmission (VSC-HVDC).
Large-scale non-grid-connected wind power generation
systems are different from the conventional grid-connected
wind power systems. The load is mainly the high current DC
load, which has electrical characteristics is similar to the
battery. For this characteristic, the novel power transmission
system is proposed. Based on the structure of DC / DC
978-1-4244-4702-2/09/$25.00 2009 IEEE
conversion HVDC transmission (as shown in Fig. 2), this kind
of power system, has a lower cost and is suitable for large-scale
non-grid wind power generation systems.
Figure2. The variable-speed wind turbine equipped with a doubly fed
induction generator controlled by the back-to-back converter
In this DC / DC conversion HVDC transmission, the main
load is the high current DC load, so the DC bus is adopted, but
the bi-directional AC-DC converter based auxiliary power
supply system is necessary. When wind power resources are
abundant, the converter works as DCAC inverter to the grid-
connected supply reclaiming energy. When wind power
resource is lacking, the converter works as ACDC rectifier,
thus ensuring the safety of electrical equipment supplying
power when wind farm is power off. The bidirectional
converter control is also necessary in the large-scale non-grid-
connected wind power application.
Sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) is a traditional
modulation method, and it has many advantages including:
sinusoidal output current and a low harmonic component. It
has low utilization of dc bus though. SVPWM is a control
method based on space vector voltage (current) to control a
converter and it has good dynamic performance, easier digital
realization and can achieve unity power factor when it is used
in rectifier controller. SVPWM has the advantage that its
utilization of the DC-link increases by about 15.47 %
compared to conventional SPWM control. Furthermore,
switching losses have been reduced to varying degrees for
different modulation methods. Because of these advantages,
SVPWM is being widely used in rectifier controllers.
This paper studies the bi-directional converter control
method and simulation analysis for a 50kW three-phase PWM
bi-directional converter. Firstly the basic principle of SVPWM
is introduced. Finally a MATLAB model is presented and the
simulation results are provided.
II. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
A. Space Vector Pwm
A three-phase voltage source PWM rectifier topology is
shown in fig.32. Assuming: 1 implies upper switch being on
and 0 refers to the lower switch of the leg being on. The
switching function S
x
(X is A, B, C) is a two-dimensional
variable. When the upper switch of the leg is on, S
x
=1 and
when the lower switch of the leg is on, S
x
=0, there are eight
voltage space vectors: U
0
(000), U
1
(001), U
2
(010), U
3
(011),
U
4
(100), U
5
(101), U
6
(110), U
7
(111), where U
0
and are U
7
zero vectors.
L
ga
u
gb
u
gc
u
A
U
B
U
C
U
'
a
S
b
S
'
b
S
c
S
'
c
S
C
L
L
a
S
dc
U
Figure3. Three-phase PWM rectifier topology
We can get the relationship between the input phase voltage
of three-phase rectifier and the switching function:
2 1 1
1
1 2 1
3
1 1 2
A a
B dc b
C c
U s
U U s
U s
( ( (
( (
=
(
( ( (
( ( (

1
Three-phase input voltage is transformed from three
dimensions ABC to two dimensions
o |
and the
transformation matrix is as follows:
1 1/ 2 1/ 2
2
3
0 3 / 2 3 / 2
A
B
C
U
U
U
U
U
o
|
(
( (
(
=
( (
(

(

2
Fig.4 gives the distributing of base voltage space vectors:
o
|
0
V
7
V
6
V
2
V
3
V
1
V
4
V
5
V
ref
V
u
Figure4. Voltage space vectors
From Fig. 3 we can see the entire plane is divided into six
sectors by six non-zero vectors. Take sector I as an example to
calculate the dwelling time of different voltage vectors.
Synthesized voltage vector V
ref
can be obtained through
adjacent effective vectors of V
4
and V
6
:
6 4
4 ref
s s
T T
V V
T T
= +
6
V
0
3
And
4 6 s
T T T T = + + 4
WhereT
4
and T
6
are separately the dwelling time of V
4
and
V
6
during each control period (T
s
). From sine theorem we can
derive:
6 4
6 4
2
sin
sin sin( )
3 3
ref
s s
T T
V V
V
T T
t
u
t
u
= =

5
Where
4 6
2
3
ref
V V V = = , applying (4) and (5) to (3), the
dwelling time calculation can be modified:

4
3 sin(
3
ref s
d
U T
T
U
)
t
u
= 6

6
3 si
ref s
d
U T
T
U
nu
= 7
Where u is the angle between V
ref
and V
4
. In SVPWM,
the dwelling time of non-zero vectors decides the duty cycle
and output voltage, so different distribution ways of the
application time of zero vectors can form different control
ways. The paper adopts the modulation type of seven
segments, as shown in fig.5. Two zero vectors are inserted in
one sampling cycle and each leg should change its sate only
once, so it has low harmonic content, but SVM performance
can not be separated from high-speed processors.
0
/ 4 T
4
/ 2 T
6
/ 2 T
0
/ 4 T
0
/ 4 T
6
/ 2 T
4
/ 2 T
0
/ 4 T
0
V

4
V

6
V

7
V

7
V

6
V

4
V

0
V

S
T
bon
t
aon
t
con
t
Figure5. Carrier timer and three-phase PWM generation at sector I
In most applications, the control circuit is accomplished
with DSP or other microcontroller. In this work, the control
part is realized by TMS320F2812 of TI DSP. TMS320F2812
is a chip for motor control, and its Event Manager (EV) has a
hardware generated SVPWM circuit and its work frequency
is 150MHz. So the SVPWM control system based on
TMS320F2812 has advantages including simple hardware
structure, high control accuracy, hard real-time, and it is easy
to program.
B. System Diagram
The vector control method based on the d-q coordinate
system is used in this work. In the d-q synchronous rotating
coordinate system, the controlled variable that is transformed
from AC variable into DC variable can eliminate steady-state
tracking error of the current, and it is easy to introduce current
state feedback to achieve decoupling control of d-q axis.
From [7] the voltage equation of the PWM rectifier based
on the d-q rotating coordinate system is:
d
d s gd s
q
q s gq s d
di
u L u L i
dt
di
u L u L i
dt
e
e
= +
= + +
q
8
where u
d
u
q
is separate grid voltage in d-axis and q-axis, u
gd
(k=d,q) is the input voltage of rectifier, i
d
i
q
are separately the
input current of d-q coordinate.
The d-axis and q-axis component of vector control of PWM
rectifier is as follows:
gd d s q d
gq q s d q
u u L i u
u u L i u
e
e
= + + A
= + A
9
Where u
d
and u
q
are separately the output of the d- and q-
axis PI current regulator,
* *
* *
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
d p d d i d d
q p q q i q q
u k i i k i i d
u k i i k i i dt
A = +
A = +
}
}
t
10
o |
d q
abc
d q
*
d
u
*
q
i
d
i
q
i
d
u
u
R
C
L
a
u
b
u
c
u
O
+
+ +

a
s
b
s
c
s
a
i
b
i
c
i
abc
d q
gd
u
gq
u
+
+

gq
u
gd
u
q
u A
d
u A
L e
L e
Figure6. The block diagram of the SVPWM control for rectifier mode
+
-
-
o
a
i
b
i
c
i
ga
u
gb
u
gc
u
*
d
i
*
q
i
q
i
d
i
+
PI
PI
o|
dq
abc
dq
L
u
D
V
u
o
u
|
abc
dq
PLL
SVPWM
gd
u
gq
u
L e
L e
gd
u
gq
u
+
+
+
+
-
+
d
u A
q
u A
Figure7. The block diagram of the SVPWM control system for inverter mode
Fig. 6 is the diagram of the current decoupling controller.
The system controller adopts double closed-loop control
structure of current and voltage loops, and the voltage loop
makes the DC voltage stable, and the current loop makes the
AC input current to track the sinusoidal input voltage. The
transformation block transforms the three-phase currents from
the static coordinate system to the d-q rotating coordinate
system and the d-axis coincides with the a-axis, and the q-axis
is 90 degrees ahead of the d-axis, so we can derive active
current i
d
and reactive current i
q
; Synchronous reference-frame
proportional integral (PI) current regulators regulate the d and q
current components. The active current i
d
reference value i
d
*
is
generated by the PI voltage regulator, which regulates the dc
bus voltage. For the unity power factor, the reactive current i
q
reference value i
q
*
is set to zero. The output signals from the
current r gulators are transformed by PARK
-1
and get the
voltage
e
u
o
and
u
|
.
u
o
and
u
|
are input to the SVPWM
block and so the control signals of the rectifier are obtained.
In the mode of grid-connected inverter, the voltage loop is
bypassed, because the grid voltage control is not needed. Only
grid-connected current control is needed. Fig 7 is the diagram
of the SVPWM control system for the inverter work mode.
When in the mode of unit power factor inverter, iq is set zero
and id is set given quality according to output grid connected
current. It can be seen that the current loop structure and space
vector modulation methods are the same in both rectifier and
inverter work mode. It also provides the basis and premise for
the bi-directional converter control.
III. SIMULATIONRESULTS
To verify the feasibility of the control algorithms, a model
of the three-phase rectifier is developed based on the Matlab
7.1, and the simulation block diagram is shown in fig.8.
The simulation parameters are listed as follows:
Input AC voltage: 220V/50Hz;
Output power: 50KW;
Output DC voltage: 720V;
Input inductance: 1.5mH;
Output filtering capacitance: 17mF;
Switching frequency: 5KHz;
Continuous
powergui
i
+
-
i LA3
i
+
-
iLA2
i
+
-
i LA1
c1
b1
alf a
beta
atan
atan
a9
a6
a4
a3
a2
a11
a10
a1
v
+
-
Va4
v
+
-
Va3
v
+
-
Va2
v
+
-
Va1
1 Ud
I
To Workspace2
outputV
To Workspace1
t
To Workspace
N
A
B
C
Three-Phase
Programmabl e
Vol tage Source1
SVPWM
Scope4
Scope3
Scope2
Scope1
wL
S-Functi on1
wL
S-Functi on
R
I
U
Out1
PF
a
b
c
theta
dq0
PARK2
d
q
theta
af a
beta
PARK-I a
b
c
theta
dq0
PARK
Non4
Non2
Non1
A
B
C
A
B
C
L
0 Iq
g
A
B
C
+
-
IGBT Bri dge
-K-
Gai n5
-K-
Gai n3
-K-
Gai n2
-K-
Gai n1
PI
PI
PI
Cl ock
a
b
c
alf a_beta_0
CLARKE
C1
Figure8. Matlab/Simulink model of three-phase rectifier
0.95 0.96 0.97 0.98 0.99 1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
x 10
-5
A. SVPWM Modulation Waveform
Fig.9 shows the A, B, C three-phase saddle-shaped output
waveforms of the SVPWM control block. The above two plans
are drive pulses of the upper switch of the leg of A phase and B
phase, and they are saddle-shaped waves. The third wave is the
difference between the top two waveforms, and it is a sine
wave. This confirms that SVPWM can actually be equivalent
to the fundamental wave that is inserted into the three harmonic,
so over-modulation cannot occur even tough modulation ratio
is up to 1.15 times standard. So we can see SVPWM is a good
modulation method to restrain the harmonic and it has a high
utilization of DC voltage.
Figure9. Output modulation wave of SVPWM
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05
0
1
x 10
-4
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05
0
1
x 10
-4
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05
-1
0
1
x 10
-4
Figure10. A phase and B phase modulation waves
B. Steady-State Waveforms For ACDC Rectifier Mode
Fig.11 is the waveforms of input current and voltage, and
the upper one is the voltage waveform. We can see that the
phase of input voltage is the same with input current, and the
PF value is 1, so the system can achieve the unity power factor.
Three-phase input current waveform is shown in fig.12. Three-
phase is symmetrical and the amplitude is 107A, so the current
loop is effective. Fig.13 is the waveform of output DC voltage
and it is 720V in a steady-state, so the voltage control loop is
also effective.
0.95 0.96 0.97 0.98 0.99 1
-400
-300
-200
-100
0
100
200
300
400
Figure11. Simulation waveforms of input voltage and current
0.8 0.82 0.84 0.86 0.88 0.9
-150
-100
-50
0
50
100
150


Figure12. Three-phase input current waveforms
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
Figure13. DC side output voltage waveform
C. Load Disturbance Waveforms
Fig.14 and fig.15 show the dynamic response waveforms of
output voltage and input current in the case of sudden loading
and unloading when the AC phase voltage is 220V and DC
voltage is 720V. Fig.14 is the waveform of the output voltage
and input current from half load 25kW to full load 50kW and
we can see that DC voltage drops about 130V in steady-state
and the regulation time span is about 0.7s. Fig.15 is the
waveform of output voltage and input current from full load
50kW to half load 25kW, and we can see that DC voltage
changes about 160V in steady-state and the regulation time
loss is about 1.4s. Grid current changes with the output power
and regulation direction is right, but as the DC side
capacitance is larger, the dynamic response time is longer.
1.7 1.8 1.9 2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6
550
600
650
700
750
1.7 1.8 1.9 2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6
-200
-100
0
100
200
Figure14. Dynamic response waveform from 25kW to 50kW
1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8
500
600
700
800
900
1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8
-100
0
100
Figure15. Dynamic response waveform from 50kW to 25kW
D. Steady-state waveforms for DCAC inverter mode
0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1
-500
0
500
0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.
Grid Voltage
Figure16. The waveform of SVPWM control based three phase inverter
1
-20
0
Grid connected current
20
Fig.16 is the waveforms of input current and voltage in the
inverter work mode, from the simulation waveform. We can
see that the converter with SVPWM control realizes the grid
connected inverter work mode.
IV. CONCLUSION
This paper analyzes the principles of the SVPWM and
presents the system diagram of the PWM rectifier based on the
SVPWM control. Matlab is used to simulate the entire system.
From the simulation results we can see the control method of
dual closed-loops, for the system can achieve a high power
factor of three-phase rectifiers and verify the feasibility of the
control algorithm. This is conducive to set control parameters
and research control algorithm of digital control systems.
ACKOWLEDGMENT
Project partly supported by the National Basic Research
Program of China (973 Program) (No. 2007CB210303).
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