Modeling and control of small-scale wind turbine systems with reluctance synchronous generator (RSG)

Wind turbine system emulator in the Laboratory of mechatronic and renewable energy systems.

This project is conducted in collaboration with Prof. Maarten Kamper, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

Project description

During this preliminary study the potential(s) of reluctance synchronous machines (RSM) used as generators for small-scale wind turbine systems (<= 50 kW) shall be examined.

Based on a RSM prototype the research tasks are (i) the design of adequate control and operation management methods and (ii) the evaluation of these developed methods at a Hardware-in-the-Loop system. The evaluation will focus on the comparison of the generator performances of RSM and permanent-magnet synchronous machine with respect to power density, efficiency, dynamics and torque ripple. In parallel these experimental results will be used for a further optimization of the machine design of the RSM prototype.