Modeling And Simulation Of The Wind Turbine

Emulator Using Induction Motor Driven By Torque

Control Inverter
Hélio Voltolini, Marcelo H. Granza, Josmar Ivanqui, Renato Carlson
Federal University of Technology – Parana (UTFPR)
Av. Monteiro Lobato, Km 4, CEP: 84016-210, Ponta Grossa, Paraná, BR
E-mails: hvoltolini@utfpr.edu.br, marcelo.granza@hotmail.com, josmar@utfpr.edu.br, rcarlson@ieee.org.

Abstract - This paper presents a Wind Turbine Emulator (WTE)
with induction motor driven by scalar torque control inverter.
Additionally, the closed loop torque and rotor flux was
implemented so that the induction motor emulates the real
behavior of the wind turbine. The wind turbine model is
developed considering its aerodynamics characteristic. This
model will define the torque level in the electrical generator
shaft. The induction motor control system implemented is
capable to regulate the electromagnetic torque and rotor flux
independently. The simulated results demonstrate the
effectiveness of the induction motor system control. The strategy
control was implemented in simulation using
Matlab/Simulink/SimpowerSystems.
I. INTRODUCTION
Wind power systems have been recognized as a way to
generate environmentally friendly energy. The high level
penetration of the wind power system has motivated studies
considering its integration with power system.
The wind emulators systems allow us to develop test and
evaluate wind power system and has been an important tool
for researchers in the area. The WTE can be used for research
applications to drive an electrical generator in a similar way as
a wind turbine, by reproducing the torque developed by a
wind turbine for a given wind speed. In the laboratory, the
wind emulator systems are generally implemented with
induction motors or DC motors [1-3] and are an important tool
to support the wind power generation research. However, DC
motors are bulky, expensive and require frequent
maintenance. An alternative to overcome this drawback is the
use of induction motor as prime mover in the WTE.
The torque and flux control systems of the squirrel cage
induction motor and the dynamic characteristics of the wind
turbine were simulated in Matlab/Simulink/SymPower
Systems.
II. MODELING OF WIND POWER SYSTEM
The Fig. 1 shows the basic structure of the wind power
system with a gearbox between the wind turbine and electrical
generator. The physical model considered for the
representation of the drive system dynamics includes the wind
turbine, low speed shaft gearbox, high speed shaft gearbox
and the electrical generator connected to the grid.
The WTE shown in Fig. 2 should accurately produce
expected shaft torque when the wind velocity changes. The
key to emulate real wind turbine is that the reproduced torque
and speed of the induction motor should accord with the wind
turbine characteristics. The WTE described in this paper aims
to reproduce the mechanical behavior of the wind turbine and
gearbox under dynamic conditions.
Wind turbine
Gearbox
Squirrel Cage
induction Generator
ZT TT
Grid

The fundamental aspect of the WTE modeling system is ZG TG

the aerodynamic wind turbine characteristic and couplings
between wind turbine, gearbox and electrical generator.
In this paper, the WTE uses a squirrel cage induction Capacitive
motor with torque and flux control instead of a DC motor. The bank
torque and flux are controlled with closed-loop stator current Figure 1. Wind power geared system.
in the two phase reference frame (DE) fixed with the stator.
 Induction Squirrel Cage
Motor induction Generator
VDC
Grid

ZG TG

Torque Control
system
Capacitive
Tref.=TG bank

Wind Turbine and

Gearbox
Model

Wind Speed

Wind Turbine Emulator

Figure 3. Block diagram of the wind turbine
Figure 2. Wind turbine emulator with induction motor.

A. Wind Turbine Model d ZT

The turbine output mechanical power Pmec is a function of JT  BT ZT  Tgear _ L TT 
the wind speed Vw, air density ρ, turbine radius Rt, power  dT  
coefficient Cp which depend on the pitch angle β and tip speed
ratio λ = ωt Rt / Vw, where ωt is the wind turbine speed. where:
Tgear_L is the gearbox input torque of the low speed
1  side;
Pmec U S Rt2 C p (O , E ) Vw3 
2 TT is the torque of wind turbine.

The efficiency of a wind turbine is strongly influenced by

the power coefficient Cp, whose value can vary from 0 to 0.59. B. Coupling System and Transmission
The upper limit of 0.59 is known as Betz limit. Between the In this case, for the electrical generator operating at
minimum (zero) and maximum (0.59), the power coefficient nominal speed is necessary to use a gearbox, which adjusts the
Cp varies with O and E according to: speed and torque between turbine and generator.
c The Fig. 4 shows the block diagram of the turbine-gearbox
§c · -5
Cp O, E  c1 ¨ 2 - c3 E - c4 ¸ e Oi  c6O  coupling. This block provides the input torque to the gearbox
 based on the difference between angular wind turbine speed
 © Oi ¹  and angular gearbox low speed side. In this work the stiffness
and damping coefficient values are equal to 17.000Nm/rad
where: and 600Nm.s/rad, respectively.

 
1 1 0.035
- 3  K Ts
17000
Oi O  0.08E E  1 z-1
stiffness
The parameters c1, c2, c3, c4 and c5 depend on the
aerodynamic characteristics of the turbine. For a modern
600
turbine these parameters are obtained empirically: c1=0.5176,
c2=116, c3=0.4, c4=5, c5=21, c6=0.0068. These values are damping
given for a three-bladed wind turbine, with similar
aerodynamic characteristics to the wind turbine model used in
this system. The value of value of β chosen for simulation is Figure 4. Block diagram for gearbox input torque.
0º.
The intern system of gearbox is represented by the Fig.5.
The model of wind turbine simulated in Matlab/Simulink It is observed the efficiency and ratio speed of gearbox of the
considering its inertia (JT) e friction coefficient (BT) is shown 0.95 and 1:6, respectively.
in Fig. 3. The power of the wind turbine is calculated using the
expression (1) and its speed (Zt) is obtained considering the
parameters JT and BT.
 For torque and rotor flux calculation, stator current in 3-
6 phase system (a,b,c) is decomposed in two dimension
orthogonal system (DE) [4]. This change of variables is well
known as Clarke transformation and can be used to reduce the
complexity of the system control implementation.
K Ts
1/J_gear After the acquisition, the stator abc voltage and current are
z-1
transformed into a stationary αβ coordinate system. The
voltage Vαs is aligned with the voltage Vas. Then, the αβ stator
voltages are calculated as:
1/0.95 6
1
vD s Vab  Vca 
Figure 5. Intern system of the gearbox
3
  
3
The input torque generator is defined similarly as shown in vE s Vbc
the Fig. 4. 3
Fig. 6 shows the block diagram of the WTE. The dynamic The currents in DE axes are calculated as:
WTE system is composed of a wind turbine, a gearbox, an
induction motor and an electrical generator. This model can
represent the actual wind power system wind bi-directional iD s ias
power flow between wind turbine and electrical generator.
 3  
iE s  ias  2ibs 
III. INDUCTION MOTOR TORQUE AND FLUX 3
CONTROL
With the stator voltages and currents, the stator flux is
The strategy implemented can be considered as a simple calculated in the stationary αβ axes:
and low cost for torque control induction motor drive system.
In wind turbine emulator system, the induction motor must
operate with closed loop torque. In such system drive, the
induction motor imposes torque in electrical generator shaft
\ Ds ³ VDs  rsiDs  dt
  
according to a reference torque signal generated by wind
turbine model from a reference wind speed. \E s ³ VE s  rs iE s  dt
The whole motor induction torque and rotor flux control
system is shown in Fig. 3. The system includes closed loop The rotor flux in the stationary αβ axes can be calculated
stator current control with PI regulators with outer loop torque according to following equations:
and rotor flux control.
Lr
The torque control is realized by acting over the amplitude
of the stator current and its frequency command is generated
\ dr \ ds  V Ls ids 
Lm
by the rotor flux control loop. Instead of constant rated flux,   
Lr
\ qs  V Lsiqs 
the reference rotor flux control loop can be programmed with
the speed motor operation for efficient improvement \ qr
Lm

Tgear _ L Tm _ ref

Wind
Speed ZT Low Zgear _ H High Induction Zm
Wind Induction
speed Gearbox speed Motor control Grid
Turbine Generator
shaft Tgear _ L shaft Tm _ ref Torque

Z gear _ L Zm

Figure 6. Block diagram of the WTE

 SQUIRREL
CAGE
INDUCTION INDUCTION
MOTOR GENERATOR

VDC
GRID

ias ibs vas vbs vcs ZG TG

abc
abc
DE
DE Voltage
SVPWM aquisition
iD s iE s vab vbc vca CAPACITIVE
vD s vE s abc
BANK
abc
DE
DE
PI PI
iD s vD s vE s
+ - iE s
+ - Torque and
iD* s iE* s iD s Flux
calculation

iD* s I s sin Zet  \ r Te

*
iE s I s cos Zet 

Is Ze
PI PI

+ -

+ -

Te* \ r*

Figure 7. Induction motor torque and rotor flux control system.

where:
IV. SIMULATIONS RESULTS
Lm – Magnetizing inductance;
The WTE presented in the block diagram of Fig. 6 was
Lr – Rotor inductance; implemented and simulated in Matlab/Simulink/SimPower
Ls – Stator inductance; Systems and the results are shown considering variable wind
speed. The goal of the software simulation is to calculate the
V 1  L2m Lr Ls power grid taking into account wind speed step and
mechanical parameters of the wind turbine and gearbox.
Fig. 8 shows the dynamic behavior of the wind speed,
With \Dr, \Er, the module of rotor flux is calculated: wind turbine mechanical power and wind turbine speed. The
wind speed steps varies from 8 to 10 m/s at t = 4 s, from 10 to
\r \ D2r \ E2r   12 m/s at t = 5 s and from 12 to 9 Nm at t = 6 s. The
 mechanical power and the speed of the wind turbine are
shown in the same figure. As shown, the wind turbine speed is
The electromagnetic torque is calculated using the stator practically constant during the steps in the wind speed.
current e rotor flux in DE system as: Fig. 9 shows the electromagnetic torque, rotor flux and
synchronous and electrical rotor speed. The good performance
3§ P·
 
of the induction motor control system can be verified in this
  Te ¨ ¸ \ D r iE s \ E r iD s  
2© 2 ¹
where:
\Dr, \Er - Rotor flux in the stationary DE axes;
iDs, iEs - Stator current in the stationary DE axes;
P - Number of poles of the induction motor.
 figure. This figure shows the reference signal and measured
signal of the rotor flux during the whole test realized. Can be
observed the good performance of the torque and rotor flux
control loop implemented. The rotor flux measured remains
almost constant, around de reference (0.7 Wb), with small
variations when the reference torque step occurs.
As shown in Fig. 9, the different of rotor speed and
synchronous speed, which is slip speed. They are different
approximately 3% of synchronous speed all the time.
 Wind speed (m/s)

Stator current (A)

Time (s)
Wind Turbine Power (W)

Time (s)

Stator current (A)

Time (s)
Wind Turbine Speed

Time (s)

Figure 10. Induction motor stator current.

Generator speed (rad/s)

Time (s)

Figure 8. Dynamic behavior of the wind speed, wind turbine power and
wind turbine speed;
Te (Nm)

Time (s)

Time (s)
Pgrid (W)
Rotor Flux (Wb)

Time (s)
Time (s)

Figure 11. Generator speed and power in the grid

we,wr (rad/s)

Time (s)
Figure 9. Electromagnetic torque; rotor flux; synchronous speed (Ze) and
electrical rotor speed (Zr) of the induction motor.
The induction motor stator currents are presented in Fig.
10 with the performance detail at t = 5.5 s. The amplitude of
the stator current of the induction motor follows the reference
torque signal generated by the wind turbine model.
Fig. 11 shows the measured generator speed and grid
power. The generator speed can be considered almost constant
around the synchronous speed dictated by the frequency of the
grid. As can be seen in this figure, the power generated is
directly proportional to the signal of the reference torque
generated by the model of wind turbine.
V. CONCLUSION
In this paper the wind turbine emulator (WTE) with
induction motor driven by scalar torque control inverter was
implemented in Matlab/Simulink/SymPowerSystems.
The induction motor drive control system showed to be
fast and smooth in static and dynamic conditions. The
electromagnetic torque and rotor flux control loop presents a
good performance during variations step in the reference
electromagnetic torque. In this strategy, amplitudes and
frequencies of the stator currents are constantly adjusted so
that both the torque and rotor flux are controlled.
A squirrel cage induction machine connected to the grid
was utilized as an electrical generator for the wind system
considered in the simulation. This system essentially will
operate at a constant speed and the very low rotor speed
variation will set the amount of power generated to the grid.
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