Over the last few
decades, there has been a substantial drive towards the reconfiguration of
conventional power systems to accommodate a greater number of Distributed
Generation (DG) units that harness renewable or non-polluting resources. This
shift is attributed, in part, to the depletion of conventional energy sources
and the growing public demand for environmental conservation. Most nations have
acknowledged this trend and are investing heavily in exploring the potential of
Distributed Energy Resources (DER). The increase in demand for energy, driven by
technological advancements and the constant growth of the world's population,
coupled with the need for reliable and safe power supplies, has prompted
specialists to explore alternatives to the traditional power systems model.
Moreover, the widespread energy crisis and frequent large-scale power outages
have exposed the limitations of central power generation. As a result, there is
a need to invest more in developing a reliable DG system that is financially
viable, has a lesser environmental impact, and provides flexible power
generation methods. The future of power systems appears to be a combination of
distributed generation and centralized power generation methods.
The smart grid
paradigm consists of a combination of conventional centralized generation and
newer and more varied distributed generation. Due to the complex and dynamic
nature of the DERs, the current control techniques have proven to be incapable
of coping with the ever changing nature of the diversified loads and renewable
energy resources such as Photo Voltaic (PV), Wind Turbines, Electric Vehicles
(EV), and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). Therefore, a revolutionizing
and paradigm shifting control technique called Synchronized and Democratized
(SYNDEM) soft architecture is introduced to address the challenges brought on
by an ever more interdependent grid.
The SYNDEM grid architecture seeks to harmonize the integration of energy
sources, storage systems, and flexible loads in a synchronized and democratized
manner. This is achieved by operating power electronic converters in these
sources and loads as Virtual Synchronous Machines (VSM). VSMs can be used to provide the necessary inertia and damping to power
systems that conventional
generators provide, thereby making them more resilient.
The proposed method internalizes
the model of a Synchronous Machine (SM), to virtually achieve the behavior of machine
inertia, damping, and self-synchronizing in a way that is simpler to tune and
customize. The resulting system, comprising the
inverter/rectifier, filter inductors and capacitors, and the associated controller, is
referred to as a synchronverter. By adopting the synchronverter concept, the
inverter can provide the same level of stability and performance as a
synchronous generator while leveraging the benefits of power electronics, such
as flexible operation and high efficiency. The goal
of this project is to construct, simulate, and comprehend a SYNDEM smart grid.
The project
successfully designed and modeled the SYNDEM smart grid using Matlab/Simulink
and presented the simulation results, including successes like the
implementation of MPPT for solar, and challenges encountered like the
incomplete integration of a realistic wind turbine. Through the application of
VSMs to three different DERs and a flexible load, the SYNDEM paradigm has been
explored, and the benefits of VSMs have been showcased. The simulation scenarios analyzed
demonstrated the behavior of the systems under different conditions and loads,
providing insight into real and reactive power flows, frequency response via
droop modes, and regulation of DC bus voltages. The results showed that the
frequency oscillation was inherent to the single-phase VSM designs used, and
the inertia of the DERs was tuned to reduce this oscillation. In the
simulations, the VSMs have been shown to operate in tandem on the microgrid
scale, while participating in grid reliability through droop response and
providing virtual inertia. Autonomous
operation was demonstrated as well, as the VSMs did not require
inter-communication to achieve stability.
The VSMs also properly self-synchronized, without the need for an
external PLL. Overall, the project
demonstrated the successful implementation and operation of a variety of
devices via the synchronverter concept.
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