AbstractGrid connected distributed generation (DG) can not

only increase reliability, but also provide additional benefits for

consumers as well as utilities. Microturbine (MT) generation
system is regarded as the best way of distributed generation for
its excellent performance. The paper introduces microturbine as
a back-up power supply during power system black-start. It
emphasizes on analyzing the characteristics of the microturbine
as a back-up power supply, simulating the inrush current of the
transformer and the load disturbance of asynchronous motor.
The results indicate that the microturbine show excellent
performance as a back-up power supply.

Index Terms-- microturbine, back-up, inrush current, load
disturbance, simulation
I. INTRODUCTION
S power grid grows to be a huge and complicated system,
more and more attention has been put on the stability of
power system. During PES General Meeting 2004, experts
discussed the causes of black-outs and how to deal with them.
Generally they agreed that the causes of blackouts were
complicated, and black-outs were impossible to completely
avoid. Measures could only narrow the range of power failure
and speed up system restoration. Almost all the papers on
blackouts emphasize the importance of system restoration
which is regarded as the last defense line of the power system
[1]. Setting down black-start project is always extremely
important before the system breaks down after major failure.
In those areas with high load density there is always no
hydropower plant, such as Pearl River Delta in China. Oil-
fired and gas-fired plant is regarded as the main generation
unit in these load centers. When power system fails down, the
oil-fired plant is the only dependable resource [2]. According
to the Eleventh Five-year Planning of Guangdong province,
small thermal power generating units with low efficiency and
high pollution will withdraw operation, and emphasis is put on

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Funds Project
(50807016) and the Guangdong Natural Science Funds Project (06300091). The
authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Hong Kong Polytechnic
University under Project G-U494.
Dr. Tao Yu is with the College of Electrical Engineering, South China
University of Technology, Guangzhou ,Guangdong 510641, China (e-mail:
taoyu1@scut.edu.cn).
Mr. Jia-peng Tong is with the College of Electrical Engineering, South
China University of Technology, Guangzhou ,Guangdong 510641, China (e-
mail: bird841011@163.com).
Dr. K. W. Chan is with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong,
China (e-mail: eekwchan@polyu.edu.hk).
developing high efficiency and huge size nuclear power units,
supercritical coal-fired units and gas-steam combined cycle
units. Because these newly developed units are generally
above 300MW, the standby diesel generator can only supply
the emergency lighting for its limit in capacity. The start-up of
these units seriously relies on power grid. These areas are
going into an embarrassing situation of losing black-start
resource.
Look back to US-Canada 8.14 blackout, one of the largest
natural gas transmission and storage corporations use
Capstone Microturbine at several of their facilities. Dominion
Transmission kept the gas flowing when they lost power for
more than a day [3]. Microturbine generation system is a new
developed thermal generator. Because it has the
characteristics of high reliability, excellent dynamic
performance, longevity of service and high efficiency, it is
regarded as one of the best promising ways of distributed
generation. Typical MT generation system is show in figure 1.
It has shown excellent performance as backup power supply
during emergency. The paper proposes a technique for
operation of MT to participate power system recovery control
as a back-up power supply in black-start. Emphasis is put on
analyzing the stand-by ability, structure and improvement of
MT in black-start. Then the paper does some research on
inrush current when energizing no-load transformer and load
disturbance of asynchronous motor. The results show that
inrush current can be restricted within a lower level, and load
disturbance will not cause too much influence to the
generation system. MT is a good choice for back-up power
supply.


Fig.1. Microturbine generation system diagram

Study on Microturbine as a Back-up Power
Supply for Power Grid Black-start
Tao YU, Jia-peng TONG, K. W. Chan
A
978-1-4244-4241-6/09/$25.00 2009 IEEE



Fig. 2. Microturbine model
II. MICROTURBINE GENERATION SYSTEM
There are two types of microturbine design. One is a high-
speed single-shaft with the compressor and turbine mounted
on the same shaft as the alternator. And the other is a split-
shaft design that uses a power turbine rotating at 3600 rpm (or
3000 rpm) and a conventional generator (usually induction
generator) connected via a gearbox [4]. This paper studies on
the former design. MT produces electric power while
operating at a high speed, generally in the range of 5,000 to
120,000 rpm. Electric power is produced in high frequency,
and converted to DC voltage, then inverted back to grid
frequency and AC voltage by the inverter [5].
If it is assumed that the microturbine is operated at all times
close to its rated speed, and the start up and shut down
processes are ignored at the same time. A simple model can
be built [6] as it is shown in figure 2. The model is made up of
speed control; accelerate control; temperature control and fuel
system. The exhaust temperature function f
1
and torque
function f
2
is given by
) 1 ( 550 ) 1 ( 700
1
+ =
f R
W T f (1)
) 1 ( 5 . 0 ) 23 . 0 ( 3 . 1
2
+ =
f
W f (2)
Where denotes turbine speed, W
f
denotes fuel flows
signal, T
R
denotes exhaust temperature. The torque function is
accurate to within 5 percent at part load, and is significantly
accurate at rated value. The exhaust temperature function is
some what less accurate at part load. But it is only active at
the design point, and the impact of the part load inaccuracy
can be ignored [7]. The detail model of MT generation system
is shown in reference [8], and reference [9] does some
research on MT control strategy. The Auto disturbance
rejection control (ADRC) can improve the stability and
robustness of MT.
A. Structure
As previously mentioned, the MT is designed integrated
with permanent magnet generator. The compressor impeller,
turbine rotor, and generator rotor are mounted on a single
shaft, which comprises the only moving part in the engine. It
needs little maintenance, usually operates above 8000h
continuously. Voltage source inverter (VSI) applied to MT
system. It can operate connected to a utility grid of provide
stand alone power to critical loads. Transition time between
these two operating modes is less than 10 seconds. Traditional
backup resource such as diesel engine just sits there as idle
asset. But MT system can serve as continuous power supply,
not only supply power during normal situation to the network
as distributed generation, but also quickly transit to serve as
emergency power supply during black-start. It can save money
for black-start ancillary service. Besides, its compact structure
can save much space.
B. Back-up ability
A MT unit can produce 25-500kW of electrical power [10],
and larger size of MT range from 600kW to 1000kW has been
developed. MT has played an important role in CERTS
microgird. The CERTS has done some research on the
behavior of two Capstone MTs [11]. A nature gas fuel pod
which is easily obtained can operate the two MTs at full load
for about 7 hours. Apparently single unit can not provide
enough back-up ability. But Capstone PowerServe CPS100
can integrate up to 100 Capstone MT into a single generation
system with one point of control and higher efficiency system
dispatching. With efficiency and reliability, the PowerSever
delivers a new level of clean, versatile Capstone power to
serve loads from a few kilowatts to a few megawatts [12]. MT
units can not only serve as auxiliary motor to start generators
of several megawatts capacity, but also have the ability to
start larger units.
C. Black-start units
Hydro power plants are always used for power system
restoration. They need very low cranking power which can be
easily supplied by auxiliary turbines, small diesel generators
or battery storage system. They have high reliability and only
need few minutes for starting. These plants are of relatively
low regulating capability due to the slow response of the
speed control system. Whats more, they are usually at remote
location [12]. Small oil-fired plant and heavy duty gas turbine
can also be used as black-start resource. But small oil-fired
plant is going out of operation, and heavy duty gas turbine
always needs more cranking power. All these units including


the supercritical coal-fired units and gas-steam combined
cycle units need cranking power to achieve the self-starting
ability. Its uneconomical to provide such a large standby
capacity, especially diesel generator. Recognizing that black-
start facilities are often not economic in normal grid operation,
the grid operator has commercial agreements in place with
some generators to provide black-start capacity. MT
generation system can solve this problem. Typical MT
efficiencies are 25% to 35%. When in a combined heat and
power cogeneration system, efficiencies of greater than 80%
are commonly achieved. And Capstone C200 can limit NO
x

emissions under 9ppmV [12].
D. Black-start strategy
There are two basic strategies have been adopted
worldwide for defining the procedures for system restoration:
restoration by zones and by paths. The criteria for choosing an
approach are strongly affected by the generation mix and by
the number of black-start units. The restoration by zones
better fits to systems with several black-start resources, while
restoration by paths fits to the cases where black-start
capacity is small or clustered in restricted areas [13].
As mentioned in the introduction, there are not enough
black-start resources. The first strategy is not suitable.
Sometimes the black-start paths are very long, and there are
no generators along the path to sustain voltage. Whats more,
the path may be cut off for some reasons. The second strategy
is difficult to accomplish. By applying MT to modify some
plants, more black-start resources are obtained. Not only
restoration by zones can be realized, but also restoration by
paths is suitable.
III. CASE STUDY AND SIMULATION
There are four important issues need to be solved during
black-start: inrush current when energizing no-load
transformer; no-load closing over voltage; generator self-
excitation and load disturbance of asynchronous motor.
Inrush current will gradually reduces to the steady condition
through a few periods. With permanent magnet generator
there is no risk of self-excitation. Switching over-voltage is
caused by breaker operation and various faults, and power
frequency over-voltage is caused by capacitive effect.
Inrush current will not bring deadly damage to the
transformer, because it will not last long. But during black-
start process it must be safe enough to keep stable. The DC
system of MT can eliminate the influence of inrush current to
some extent. In order to start the large capacity unit without
self-starting ability, power plant load should be start first,
usually accompany with large starting current. MT system can
withstand the disturbance for its excellent dynamic
performance.
A. Sequence of Action for Black-start with MT
During the process of black-start, a set of rules and action
needs to be followed, which can be identified in [14].
Reference [15] provides a project on how to use a 250kW
diesel generator to start a 38MW gas turbine, and then use the
gas turbine to start two larger generators with capacity
130MW and 300MW. With the participation of MT the
250kW diesel generator can be replaced, and the operation
sequence can be established through the following three major
stages: building low voltage network; forming island and re-
synchronous.
The paper concentrates on the first stage. Considering the
most serious situation, all the power supplies including MT
are cut off. Firstly, the MT can be started with the help of its
own permanent magnet generator which is used as starter
motor during start-up. The starting power is provided by its
own battery. The complete start sequence from front panel
initiation to full power output is about 2 minutes. The current
MT units is able to ramp from 0 to full load in about 20
seconds when in stand-alone mode, while in grid-connect
mode it need another 10 seconds [16]. The battery can
provide power during load changes, load disturbance can be
restrained to some extant to achieve a good dynamic
performance. Secondly, the MT is used as auxiliary motor to
start larger generators (of several megawatts to several tens
megawatts capacity). Finally, the started generator can be
used to start the main power station generators or other
station generators which is not far away. During this stage, the
above three important issues should be paid high attention to.
As more power plants are started, an island is formed. Several
islands need to be resynchronized with the upper-stream
network by following the conditions of synchronization.
B. Practical Cases Study
During early stages of power system restoration, over-
voltage and self-excitation usually makes it impossible to
energize long transmission line. As the oil-fired units
withdraw operating, there are not enough black-start resources
that can depend on. Take DongGuan for example, there is
only one plant have the ability of self-starting in northwest. It
is impossible to energize such long transmission line to start
middle and east network [17]. In order to accomplish power
system restoration, more black-start resources are required.
MT can be applied to modify those units without self-starting
ability in the middle and east of DongGuan. It is possible to
sectionalize a system into subsystems to allow parallel
restoration of islands, and thus reduce restoration duration
[18]. On December 26, 2005, large portions of Hainan
province, China, experienced an electric power blackout as a
result of Damery typhoon. As main power plants, Haikou
plant did not equip with emergency power supply. Hainan
power grid temporarily changed path to supply power to
Haikou plant from other successfully starting plants [19]. This
always causes failure. But MT system can improve the
situation.
According to the cases above, two solutions can be made.
Firstly, if the MT units locate a distance away from the plant,
electrical power can be transmitted to the 10kV bus of the
plant through 10kV transmission line after voltage
transformation, as it is shown in figure 3. The MT units can
be some large enterprises owned power supply. The power
grid company can make commercial agreements with them to


provide black-start ancillary service. Secondly, the plant and
power grid company can reach some agreements to install MT
units in the plant. The MT units can not only serve as a
standby power supply, but also play an important role in
power supply to some critical plant load.

Fig. 3. Using MT units to start a plant
C. Simulation of Inrush Current
The rated capacity of MT system is 30kW. The MT
generation system first operates at one third of its capacity,
then a 50kW 380V/10.5kV transformer is energized at t=10
seconds. Figure 4 shows the simulation results.

(a) Inrush current

(b) Speed

(c) Torque

(d) Load voltage
Fig. 4. Simulation results of inrush current

The results show that the inrush current will not cause
commutation failure if MT system energizes the transformer
with its capacity no more than two times of generation
capacity. The DC system made up of rectifier and inverter can
well isolate inrush current from affecting MT system. The
inrush current will completely attenuate in 10 periods. MT
units can resist more serious disturbance of inrush current
than single MT unit. MT units have the ability to energize the
10kV/380V station service transformer, but dont have the
ability to energize 10kV/110kV or higher level voltage
transformer.
D. Load disturbance of asynchronous motor
The rated capacity of MT system is 30kW. The MT
generation system first operates one third of the capacity, then
a 15kW asynchronous is energized at t=15 seconds.
Simulation results are shown in figure 5.

(a) Torque



(b) Speed


(c) Direct current


(d) Load voltage
Fig. 5. Load disturbance of asynchronous motor

Simulation results indicated that MT system based on
voltage source inverter can withstand asynchronous motor
load disturbance. A relatively long oscillation happens to the
speed because of the transit plus current. Because the
asynchronous motor absorbs plenty of reactive power, and the
load voltage decreases. However, the speed will not go
instable, and the load voltage goes back to its rated value after
a relatively long oscillation process.
IV. CONCLUSION
The paper does some analysis on the MT system structure
and performance. Emphasis is put on how to apply MT
system to black-start process. The second half part does some
validation. It includes:
The capacity of single MT generation system is small, but
up to 100 microturbines can be integrated into a single
generation system. And more effective control strategy can be
applied to it to obtain better performance. It can not only meet
the demand for emergency power supply during black-start,
but also provide a safe and reliably station power supply.
Voltage source inverter is applied to MT system. In can
control both active power and reactive power simultaneously
and separately. With good regulation performance it can
withstand various kinds of disturbances during black-start,
especially asynchronous motor load disturbance.
Inrush current caused by energizing no-load transformer
can be well inhibited by the voltage source inverter. The load
voltage can be well regulated at rated value. The DC system
can isolate inrush current from impacting on the microturbine.
MT can be applied to modify the plants without self-
starting ability. More black-start sources are obtained. It can
not only speed up the black-start process, but also sectionalize
a system into subsystems to allow parallel restoration of
islands.
But the paper does not find a good solution on simulating a
group of MT units. Further research should focus on
researching on MT units performance.
V. REFERENCES
[1] FU Shu-ti, Summary on power system security problems on 2004 IEEE
PES meeting and recommendation for developing defense measures,
Automation of Electric Power Systems, vol. 29, pp. 1-4, Apr. 2005.
[2] YU Tao, WEI Man-fang, and CHANG Ka-wing, Simulation and
experimental study on transformer excitation inrush current in black-start
of oil-fired thermal plants, RELAY, vol. 34, pp. 32-36, May. 2006.
[3] D. Engle, The benefits of onsite power, Distributed Energy [Online],
Nov. 2003, pp. 47-50. Available: http://www.DistributedNRG.com.
[4] Y. Zhu, K. Tomsovic, Development of models for analyzing the load-
following performance of microturbines and fuel cells, Electric Power
System Research, vol. 62, pp. 1-11, Dec. 2002.
[5] Amer Al-Hinai and Ali Feliachi, Dynamic model of a microturbine used
as a distributed generator, in Proceedings of the Thirty-Fourth
Southeastern Symposium on System Theory, pp. 209-213.
[6] Rowen W. J., Simplified mathematical representation of heavy duty gas
turbines, ASME Journal of Engineering for Power, vol. 105, pp. 865-
869, Jul. 1983.
[7] F. Jurado, Modeling micro-turbines using Hammerstein Models,
International Journal of Energy Research, vol. 29, pp. 841-85, Otc. 2005.
[8] Tao YU, Jia-peng TONG, Modeling and simulation of the microturbine
generation system, Power System Protection and Control, to be
published.
[9] Tao YU, Jia-peng TONG, Auto disturbance rejection control of
microturbine system, in Proceedings of IEEE/PES 2008 General
Meeting: Conversion and Delivery of Electrical Energy in the 21st
Century, pp. 1-6.
[10] Amer Al-Hinai, Ali Feliachi, Dynamic model of a microturbine used as a
distributed generator, in Proceedings of the Thirty-Fourth Southeastern
Symposium on System Theory, pp. 209-213.
[11] Robert J. Yinger, Behavior of two capstone 30kW microturbines
operating in parallel with impedance between them, California Energy
Commission, California. [Online]. Available:
http://certs.lbl.gov/pdf/55907.pdf
[12] www.microturbine.com.
[13] S. Barsali, D. Poli, A. Pratico, et al, Restoration islands supplied by gas
turbines, Electric Power Systems Research, vol. 78, pp. 2004-2010, Aug.
2008.
[14] J. J. Ancona, A framework for power system restoration following a
major power failure, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, vol. 10, pp.
1480-1458, Aug. 1995.


[15] LI Su-ning, Operation mode arrangement of generator during black-start
experiment, Automation of Electric Power Systems, vol. 31, pp. 104-107,
Sep. 2007.
[16] Robert J. Yinger, Behavior of Capstone and Honeywell microturbine
generators during load changes, California Energy Commission,
California. [Online]. Available: http://certs.lbl.gov/pdf/49095.pdf
[17] Dongguan Electricity Supply Branch Company, "Black-start project
revision 2008," Otc. 2008.
[18] M. M. Adibi and L. H. Fink, Power system restoration planning, IEEE
Trans. On Power Systems, vol. 9, pp.22-28, Feb. 1994.
[19] TANG Si-qing, ZHANG Mi, LI Jian-she, et al, Review of blackout in
Hainan on September 26th---causes and recommendations, Automation of
Electric Power Systems, vol. 30, pp. 1-8, Jan. 2006.
VI. BIOGRAPHIES
YU Tao was born in Kunming, China, on January
11, 1974. He received the bachelors degree from
Electrical Power System from Zhejiang University,
China. He received the M.S. degree in Hydroelectric
Engineering from Yunnan Polytechnic University,
China, in 1999, and received the Ph.D degree in
Electrical Engineering from Tsinghua University,
China, in 1999. Now, he is an associate professor in
the electrical power college, South China University
of Technology, China. His special fields of interest
include artificial intelligence techniques in planning and operation of power and
industrial systems.
TONG Jia-peng was born in Longyan, China, on
October 11, 1984. He has received the bachelors
degree from College of Electrical Engineering and
continues his master program at South China
University of Technology in 2007. His research
interests are power system control and distributed
generation technology.



K.W. Chan received his BSc and PhD Degrees in
Electronic and Electrical Engineering from the
University of Bath (UK) in 1988 and 1992,
respectively. His doctoral research study was in the
area of real-time power system simulation using
parallel processing techniques. From 1993 to 1997
Dr Chan was with the Power System and Energy
Group at the University of Bath as a research officer.
During this period, he successfully completed two
EPSRC/ERCOS co-funded research
projects. Extensive works has been done in the area
of on-line dynamic security assessment of large complex power systems. A
scalable distributed security assessor, which ran on a network of heterogeneous
computers, was developed as a product of this work.Dr Chan joined the
department of Electrical Engineering of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University
in 1998 as a lecturer and promoted to Assistant Professor in 2005. His general
research interests include power system stability, analysis, control, security and
optimization, real-time simulation of power system transients, distributed and
parallel processing, artificial intelligence techniques.