Abstract
In this paper, the practical impedance approach steady-state analysis in the frequency domain of the three-phase self-excited induction generator (SEIG) with a squirrel cage rotor is presented, along with its operating performance evaluations. The three-phase SEIG is driven by a variable-speed prime mover (VSPM) in addition to a constant-speed prime mover (CSPM) such as a wind turbine and a micro gas turbine for the clean alternative renewable energy in rural areas. The basic steady-state characteristics of the VSPM are considered in the three-phase SEIG approximate electro-mechanical equivalent circuit and the operating performances of the three-phase SEIG coupled by a VSPM and/or a CSPM in the steady-state analysis are evaluated and discussed on line under the conditions related to the speed changes of the prime mover and the electrical inductive load power variations with simple computation processing procedures. A three-phase SEIG prototype setup with a VSPM as well as a CSPM is implemented for the small-scale clean renewable and alternative energy utilizations. The experimental performance results give good agreements with those ones obtained from the simulation results. Furthermore, a PI controlled feedback closed-loop voltage regulation of the three-phase SEIG driven by the VSPM on the basis of the static VAR compensator (SVC) composed of the thyristor phase controlled reactor (TCR) in parallel with the thyristor switched capacitor (TSC) and the fixed excitation capacitor bank (FC) is designed and considered for the wind generation as a renewable power conditioner. The simulation analysis and experimental results obtained from the three-phase SEIG with the SVC for its voltage regulation prove the practical effectiveness of the additional SVC with the PI controller-based feedback loop in the steady-state operations in terms of the fast response and the high performances.