Fault Diagnosis for Open-Circuited Faults in 3-Phase Uncontrolled Rectifier of Wind Energy Power Conversion Systems

This paper proposes an open-circuited (OC) fault diagnosis methodology for 3-phase uncontrolled rectifier used in wind energy power conversion systems. We have developed the fault diagnosis algorithm using a signal based method, where the magnitude and phase of fundamental and other harmonic components of the rectified DC voltage play a major role. The novelty of the proposed scheme lies in identification of exact location of OC diode(s), which is established by introducing a specifically designed resistance. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is demonstrated on a variable power fed 3-φ uncontrolled rectifier connected to the boost converter.

I. Introduction

The renewable energy resources are of paramount importance while setting up the power generation policies. Among all the non-conventional energy resources, wind power is recognized as one of the valuable resource [1]. Compared with steam/hydro/gas turbines used in traditional power plants, wind turbines (WTs) are usually operated in the harsher environment and therefore, have relatively higher failure rates [2]. A typical wind energy power conversion system (WECS) is composed of wind turbine structure, generator and power conditioning system (i.e power converters namely- AC-DC rectifier, buck/boost converter, and inverter-) as shown in Figure 1. Fig. 1.

Sub systems of wind energy conversion system