Laboratory Emulation of Wind Turbine Operations

Muhittin Yilmaz; Naren Reddy Dhansri

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Conference: 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Publication Date: June 15, 2014
Start Date: June 15, 2014
End Date: June 18, 2014
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Renewable Energy in Classroom
Tagged Division: Energy Conversion and Conservation
Page Count: 12
Page Numbers: 24.840.1 - 24.840.12
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--20731
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/20731
Download Count: 648

Paper Authors

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Muhittin Yilmaz Texas A&M University, Kingsville

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Dr. Muhittin Yilmaz received the B.S. degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey, and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. He has been an Associate Professor with the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) since 2013. His research interests include robust and intelligent control systems, convex optimization, robotics, computer architecture, electric drives, and power electronics. He also focuses on engineering education research and engineering outreach activities. Dr. Yilmaz is a Member of the Eta Kappa Nu Electrical Engineering Honor Society as well as IEEE and ASEE.

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Naren Reddy Dhansri TAMUK

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Naren Reddy Dhansri was born in the city of Hyderabad, India. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University-Hyderabad, India, in the year 2010. He is currently a MSc. student in Electrical Engineering at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
His research interests include but are not limited to, Smart Grid-Control and Optimization, Robust and Convex Systems, Intelligent Control.

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Abstract

LABORATORY EMULATION OF WIND TURBINE OPERATIONS Wind turbines offer exciting potential benefits as part of renewable energy resources.However, wind turbine studies require large components and field implementations, resulting inmostly infeasible requirements in terms of laboratory resources such as space, setup andmaintenance costs, etc. As real wind turbines, even the smaller types, seem to be too large andvery dangerous for typical laboratory space, setting a make-shift lab at wind turbines may alsobecome very impractical and unsafe, with a number of logistical issues and associated liabilities.A feasible and practical solution could be proposed by utilizing an existing experimental motor-generator set to emulate a wind turbine operation in terms of power generation principles andassociated output characteristics. This study investigates a laboratory experiment closely related to energy conversion andpresents a horizontal-axis wind turbine emulation experiment by using frequently used electricdrives laboratory components, including Matlab, DSpace, Permanent Magnet DC machines, aswell as associated pre-lab analysis and post-lab evaluations. The participating studentsinvestigated different wind turbine structures in terms of both electrical and mechanicalperspectives, studied wind turbine implementations around the world, developed the theoreticalanalysis of a wind power source and partial software code for the experiment during the pre-labanalysis. The laboratory DC motor model is used to simulate and to study the wind powercharacteristics. The controlled Permanent Magnet DC (PMDC) motor generated the simulatedwind power on the coupled PMDC Generator. Due to the facility limitations, actual wind turbineoperations have been modified for practical laboratory experiments. For example, the laboratoryDC motors can handle up to 42V and 4000 rpm with MOSFET-based electric drive circuitrywhile the real turbines likely use Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)-based drivecircuitries and synchronous/induction generators to handle very high power levels. Theexperimental procedure was enhanced with many strategically-positioned subject contentverification questions to monitor and enforce superior student educational experience. The participating student pre-lab performance and laboratory report content presentationas well as data interpretation qualities indicated a successful implementation and illustration ofwind turbine operations by utilizing the existing electric drives laboratory components. 1

Citation
Format

Yilmaz, M., & Dhansri, N. R. (2014, June), Laboratory Emulation of Wind Turbine Operations Paper presented at 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Indianapolis, Indiana. 10.18260/1-2--20731

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -            LABORATORY EMULATION OF WIND TURBINE OPERATIONS       Wind turbines offer exciting potential benefits as part of renewable energy resources.However, wind turbine studies require large components and field implementations, resulting inmostly infeasible requirements in terms of laboratory resources such as space, setup andmaintenance costs, etc. As real wind turbines, even the smaller types, seem to be too large andvery dangerous for typical laboratory space, setting a make-shift lab at wind turbines may alsobecome very impractical and unsafe, with a number of logistical issues and associated liabilities.A feasible and practical solution could be proposed by utilizing an existing experimental motor-generator set to emulate a wind turbine operation in terms of power generation principles andassociated output characteristics.        This study investigates a laboratory experiment closely related to energy conversion andpresents a horizontal-axis wind turbine emulation experiment by using frequently used electricdrives laboratory components, including Matlab, DSpace, Permanent Magnet DC machines, aswell as associated pre-lab analysis and post-lab evaluations. The participating studentsinvestigated different wind turbine structures in terms of both electrical and mechanicalperspectives, studied wind turbine implementations around the world, developed the theoreticalanalysis of a wind power source and partial software code for the experiment during the pre-labanalysis. The laboratory DC motor model is used to simulate and to study the wind powercharacteristics. The controlled Permanent Magnet DC (PMDC) motor generated the simulatedwind power on the coupled PMDC Generator. Due to the facility limitations, actual wind turbineoperations have been modified for practical laboratory experiments. For example, the laboratoryDC motors can handle up to 42V and 4000 rpm with MOSFET-based electric drive circuitrywhile the real turbines likely use Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)-based drivecircuitries and synchronous/induction generators to handle very high power levels. Theexperimental procedure was enhanced with many strategically-positioned subject contentverification questions to monitor and enforce superior student educational experience.       The participating student pre-lab performance and laboratory report content presentationas well as data interpretation qualities indicated a successful implementation and illustration ofwind turbine operations by utilizing the existing electric drives laboratory components.                                                                                                1
AU  - Muhittin Yilmaz
AU  - Naren Reddy Dhansri
CY  - Indianapolis, Indiana
DA  - 2014/06/15
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Laboratory Emulation of Wind Turbine Operations
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/20731
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--20731
ER  -