# US 11,114,963 B2 · Method and system for enhancing electrical power production by a power generation system by controlling switches to place a rotor-side converter in parallel with a line-side converter

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- Number: US 11,114,963 B2
- Document ID: US11114963B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/608,949
- Filed: 2018-04-09
- Published: 2020-02-20
- Granted: 2021-09-07
- Earliest claimed: 2017-04-28
- Assignees: General Electric Company
- Applicants: General Electric Company
- Inventors: Govardhan Ganireddy; Arvind Kumar Tiwari; Yashomani Y Kolhatkar; Anthony Michael Klodowski; John Leo Bollenbecker; Harold Robert Schnetzka; Robert Gregory Wagoner; Veena Padmarao
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11114963B2

## CPC

- H02P 9/008: {wherein the generator is controlled by the requirements of the prime mover}
- F03D 9/25: the apparatus being an electrical generator (F03D9/22 takes precedence)
- H02J 3/003: {Load forecast, e.g. methods or systems for forecasting future load demand}
- H02J 3/38: Arrangements for feeding a single network from two or more generators or sources in parallel; Arrangements for feeding already energised networks from additional generators or sources in parallel
- H02P 9/007: {Control circuits for doubly fed generators}
- H02S 10/12: Hybrid wind-PV energy systems
- H02S 10/20: Systems characterised by their energy storage means (H02S40/38 takes precedence)
- H02J 2101/40: Hybrid power plants, i.e. a plurality of different generation technologies being operated at one power plant
- H02P 2101/15: for wind-driven turbines
- Y02E 10/50: Photovoltaic [PV] energy
- Y02E 10/56: Power conversion systems, e.g. maximum power point trackers
- Y02E 10/72: Wind turbines with rotation axis in wind direction
- Y02E 70/30: Systems combining energy storage with energy generation of non-fossil origin
- Y04S 10/50: Systems or methods supporting the power network operation or management, involving a certain degree of interaction with the load-side end user applications
- H02P: CONTROL OR REGULATION OF ELECTRIC MOTORS, ELECTRIC GENERATORS OR DYNAMO-ELECTRIC CONVERTERS; CONTROLLING TRANSFORMERS, REACTORS OR CHOKE COILS
- F03D: WIND MOTORS
- H02J: ELECTRIC POWER NETWORKS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
- H02S: GENERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER BY CONVERSION OF INFRARED RADIATION, VISIBLE LIGHT OR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT, e.g. USING PHOTOVOLTAIC [PV] MODULES (obtaining electrical energy from radioactive sources G21H1/12; light sensitive inorganic semiconductor devices H10F; light sensitive organic semiconductor devices H10K30/00; thermoelectric devices H10N10/00; pyroelectric devices H10N15/00)
- Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
- Y04S: SYSTEMS INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO POWER NETWORK OPERATION, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING THE ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT OR USAGE, i.e. SMART GRIDS

## Abstract

A power generation system (100, 200, 300, 400) is presented. The power generation system includes a prime mover (102), a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) (104) having a rotor winding (126) and a stator winding (122), a rotor-side converter (106), a line-side converter (108), and a secondary power source (110, 401) electrically coupled to a DC-link (128). Additionally, the power generation system includes a control sub-system (112, 212, 312) having a controller, and a plurality of switching elements (130, and 132 or 201). The controller is configured to selectively control switching of one or more switching elements (130, and 132 or 201) based on a value of an operating parameter corresponding to at least one of the prime mover, the DFIG, or the secondary power source to connect the rotor-side converter in parallel to the line-side converter to increase an electrical power production by the power generation system.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A power generation system (100, 200, 300, 400), comprising:
a prime mover (102);
a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) (104) operatively coupled to the prime mover (102), wherein the DFIG (104) comprises a rotor winding (126) and a stator winding (122);
a rotor-side converter (106) electrically connectible to the rotor winding (126);
a line-side converter (108) elect: deafly connectible to a point of common coupling (PCC) (114), wherein the line-side converter (108) and the rotor-side converter (106) are coupled to each other via a direct current (DC) link;
a secondary power source (110, 401) electrically coupled to the DC-link; and
a control sub-system comprising:
a plurality of switching elements (130, and 132 or 201); and
a controller (136) operatively coupled to the plurality of switching elements (130, and 132 or 201) and configured to selectively control switching of one or more switching elements of the plurality of switching elements (130, and 132 or 201) based on a value of an operating parameter corresponding to at least one of the prime mover (102), the DIEM (104), or the secondary power source (110, 401) to disconnect the rotor winding from the rotor-side converter and connect the rotor-side converter (106) in parallel with the line-side converter (108) at the PCC to increase an electrical power production by the power generation system (100, 200, 300, 400).

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The power generation system (100, 200, 300, 400) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the prime mover comprises a wind turbine and the operating parameter comprises a wind speed, an operating speed of the prime mover (102), an operating speed of a rotor (124) of the DFIG (104), an electrical power at the rotor winding (126), an electrical power at the stator winding (122), or combinations thereof.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The power generation system (100, 200, 300, 400) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of switching elements (130, and 132 or 201) comprises a first switching element (130) and a second switching element (132, 201), wherein:
the first switching element (130) is coupled between an interconnection terminal (138) and the PCC (114) and is switched to a conducting state by the controller to connect the rotor-side converter in parallel with the line-side converter at the PCC, and wherein the interconnection terminal (138) is located between the rotor-side converter (106) and the rotor winding (126); and
the second switching element (132, 201) is coupled between the interconnection terminal (138) and the rotor winding (126) of the DFIG (104) and is switched to a non-conducting state by the controller to disconnect the rotor winding from the rotor-side converter.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The power generation system (200) as claimed in claim 3, further comprising:
an energy storage device (202); and
an inverter (204) coupled to the energy storage device (202), wherein an input port (208) of the inverter (204) is coupled to the energy storage device (202) to receive a DC power from the energy storage device (202), and an output port (210) of the inverter (204) is coupled to the second switching element (132, 201), wherein the second switching element (132, 201) is a two-way switch.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The power generation system (200) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the controller (136) is configured to facilitate electrical excitation of the rotor winding (126) from the energy storage device (202) by disconnecting the rotor-side converter (106) from the rotor winding (126) and connecting the rotor winding (126) to the output port (210) of the inverter (204) when the rotor-side converter (106) is connected in parallel with the line-side converter (108).

### Claim 6 (depends on 3)

The power generation system (300) as claimed in claim 3, further comprising an inverter (204), wherein an input port (208) of the inverter (204) is coupled to the DC-link (128) and an output port (210) of the inverter (204) is coupled to the second switching element (201), wherein the second switching element (201) is a two-way switch.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The power generation system (300) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the controller (136) is configured to facilitate electrical excitation to the rotor winding (126) from the DC-link (128) by disconnecting the rotor-side converter (106) from the rotor winding (126) and connecting the rotor winding (126) to the output port (210) of the inverter (204) when the rotor-side converter (106) is connected in parallel to the line-side converter (108).

### Claim 8 (depends on 3)

The power generation system (100, 400) as claimed in claim 3, further comprising a third switching element (134) coupled between the stator winding (122) of the DFIG (104) and the PCC (114),
wherein the controller (136) is configured to selectively control switching of the third switching element (134) to connect or disconnect the stator winding (122) from the PCC (114) based at least on the value of the operating parameter.