D.C. Motor-Based Wind Turbine Emulator Using LabVIEW for Wind Energy Conversion System Laboratory Setup

Abstract

This paper describes the development and implementation of a wind turbine emulator (WTE), based on a d.c. motor, using LabVIEW. The emulator imitates both static and dynamic characteristics of a typical wind turbine (WT) of a wind energy conversion system (WECS). The setup can be used for development and testing of real-time control algorithms. The laboratory setup consists of a d.c. motor coupled to a three-phase self-excited induction generator (SEIG). The mathematical model of WT, designed in LabVIEW, is interfaced with the d.c. motor control circuit by the compact real-time I/O module (cRIO). The armature current is regulated by armature voltage control with appropriate switching signals for a power MOSFET-based control circuit. The simulation and experimental results under different scenarios prove the effectiveness of this LabVIEW-based WTE. This WTE can be effectively used as a laboratory-based teaching tool for electrical engineering students. The learning objective of this simple yet efficient laboratory setup is to study the WT characteristics in the absence of a real WT. A manual and a list of questions have been prepared related to the experiment and have been used at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (India). The learning performances of the students have been evaluated based on a questionnaire.