Cluster-Based Wind Farm Control Architecture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wind turbine systems rely on expensive three-winding transformers for reactive power control, which increases management complexity and costs, particularly due to variations in wind power output.
Innovation Solution
The system eliminates the three-winding transformer by organizing wind turbines into clusters connected via a cluster transformer, using partial power transformers and cluster-level controllers to regulate active and reactive power, allowing for independent cluster control and reducing network traffic.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If three-winding transformers are used for reactive power control in each wind turbine, then reactive power management is achieved, but device complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the reactive power control function from individual three-winding transformers and relocates it to a centralized farm-level controller. This eliminates the need for expensive three-winding transformers at each turbine while maintaining reactive power management capability through centralized measurement and control of power factor at the point of interconnection.
Solution Approach 2:
The farm-level controller serves multiple functions: it manages active power output, controls reactive power through power factor regulation, and coordinates cluster-level operations. This multi-functional approach replaces the specialized three-winding transformer configuration with a versatile control system that handles both active and reactive power management.
2Reliability
If centralized farm-level control is implemented, then overall power regulation is improved, but communication latency and network traffic increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the wind farm into multiple clusters, each with its own cluster-level controller that operates autonomously. This segmentation reduces communication latency by localizing control decisions at the cluster level, while the farm-level controller provides high-level coordination. The hierarchical structure allows faster local responses without sacrificing overall system regulation stability.
Solution Approach 2:
Cluster-level controllers serve as intermediaries between individual wind turbines and the farm-level controller. They aggregate data from turbines within their cluster and execute localized control actions, reducing the communication burden on the central farm-level controller and minimizing network traffic while maintaining coordinated power regulation.
3Productivity
If more wind turbines are added to increase power output, then energy production increases, but management complexity and communication burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
By organizing turbines into clusters with dedicated cluster-level controllers, the system can scale to accommodate more turbines without proportionally increasing management complexity. Each cluster operates semi-independently, allowing the farm to expand by adding complete cluster modules rather than individually managing each turbine at the central level.
Solution Approach 2:
Cluster-level controllers act as intermediaries that aggregate and process data from multiple turbines, reducing the communication burden on the farm-level controller. This hierarchical structure allows the system to manage larger numbers of turbines efficiently by processing information in stages rather than requiring direct central control of every turbine.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration enhances control response, reduces communication latency, and improves reliability, enabling more efficient active power regulation and reactive power management without the need for costly transformers, allowing for larger wind farms and better frequency response.
Implementation Method 1
The rotor blades capture kinetic energy of wind using known airfoil principles. For example, rotor blades typically have the cross-sectional profile of an airfoil such that, during operation, air flows over the blade producing a pressure difference between the sides. Consequently, a lift force, which is directed from a pressure side towards a suction side, acts on the blade.
Implementation Method 2
The high-speed shaft 26 is generally rotatably coupled to a generator 28 (such as a doubly-fed induction generator or DFIG) so as to rotatably drive a generator rotor 30. As such, a rotating magnetic field may be induced by the generator rotor 30 and a voltage may be induced within a generator stator 32 that is magnetically coupled to the generator rotor 30.
Data Source
AI summary
An electrical power system includes a system-level controller and a plurality of clusters of subsystems defining a stator power path and a converter power path for providing power to the power grid. The converter power path includes a partial power transformer. The system further includes a cluster transformer connecting each cluster to the power grid and a plurality of cluster-level controllers communicatively coupled with the system-level controller. Each of the clusters is communicatively coupled with one of the cluster-level controllers. Thus, the system-level controller regulates system-level active and/or reactive power based on required active or reactive power for the system, respectively, and compares the system-level active or reactive power with preferred values thereof. Further, the system-level controller receives feedback signal(s) from the cluster-level controllers, generates cluster-level power command(s) based on the comparison and the feedback signal(s), and sends the cluster-level power commands to the cluster-level controllers.