ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
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- Creators: Ayyanar, Raja
Description
Traditional approaches to modeling microgrids include the behavior of each inverter operating in a particular network configuration and at a particular operating point. Such models quickly become computationally intensive for large systems. Similarly, traditional approaches to control do not use advanced methodologies and suffer from poor performance and limited operating range. In this document a linear model is derived for an inverter connected to the Thevenin equivalent of a microgrid. This model is then compared to a nonlinear simulation model and analyzed using the open and closed loop systems in both the time and frequency domains. The modeling error is quantified with emphasis on its use for controller design purposes. Control design examples are given using a Glover McFarlane controller, gain sched- uled Glover McFarlane controller, and bumpless transfer controller which are compared to the standard droop control approach. These examples serve as a guide to illustrate the use of multi-variable modeling techniques in the context of robust controller design and show that gain scheduled MIMO control techniques can extend the operating range of a microgrid. A hardware implementation is used to compare constant gain droop controllers with Glover McFarlane controllers and shows a clear advantage of the Glover McFarlane approach.
ContributorsSteenis, Joel (Author) / Ayyanar, Raja (Thesis advisor) / Mittelmann, Hans (Committee member) / Tsakalis, Konstantinos (Committee member) / Tylavsky, Daniel (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
A new photovoltaic (PV) array power converter circuit is presented. The salient features of this inverter are: transformerless topology, grounded PV array, and only film capacitors. The motivations are to reduce cost, eliminate leakage ground currents, and improve reliability. The use of Silicon Carbide (SiC) transistors is the key enabling technology for this particular circuit to attain good efficiency.
Traditionally, grid connected PV inverters required a transformer for isolation and safety. The disadvantage of high frequency transformer based inverters is complexity and cost. Transformerless inverters have become more popular recently, although they can be challenging to implement because of possible high frequency currents through the PV array's stay capacitance to earth ground. Conventional PV inverters also typically utilize electrolytic capacitors for bulk power buffering. However such capacitors can be prone to decreased reliability.
The solution proposed here to solve these problems is a bi directional buck boost converter combined with half bridge inverters. This configuration enables grounding of the array's negative terminal and passive power decoupling with only film capacitors.
Several aspects of the proposed converter are discussed. First a literature review is presented on the issues to be addressed. The proposed circuit is then presented and examined in detail. This includes theory of operation, component selection, and control systems. An efficiency analysis is also conducted. Simulation results are then presented that show correct functionality. A hardware prototype is built and experiment results also prove the concept. Finally some further developments are mentioned.
As a summary of the research a new topology and control technique were developed. The resultant circuit is a high performance transformerless PV inverter with upwards of 97% efficiency.
Traditionally, grid connected PV inverters required a transformer for isolation and safety. The disadvantage of high frequency transformer based inverters is complexity and cost. Transformerless inverters have become more popular recently, although they can be challenging to implement because of possible high frequency currents through the PV array's stay capacitance to earth ground. Conventional PV inverters also typically utilize electrolytic capacitors for bulk power buffering. However such capacitors can be prone to decreased reliability.
The solution proposed here to solve these problems is a bi directional buck boost converter combined with half bridge inverters. This configuration enables grounding of the array's negative terminal and passive power decoupling with only film capacitors.
Several aspects of the proposed converter are discussed. First a literature review is presented on the issues to be addressed. The proposed circuit is then presented and examined in detail. This includes theory of operation, component selection, and control systems. An efficiency analysis is also conducted. Simulation results are then presented that show correct functionality. A hardware prototype is built and experiment results also prove the concept. Finally some further developments are mentioned.
As a summary of the research a new topology and control technique were developed. The resultant circuit is a high performance transformerless PV inverter with upwards of 97% efficiency.
ContributorsBreazeale, Lloyd C (Author) / Ayyanar, Raja (Thesis advisor) / Karady, George G. (Committee member) / Tylavsky, Daniel (Committee member) / Tsakalis, Konstantinos (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Due to restructuring and open access to the transmission system, modern electric power systems are being operated closer to their operational limits. Additionally, the secure operational limits of modern power systems have become increasingly difficult to evaluate as the scale of the network and the number of transactions between utilities increase. To account for these challenges associated with the rapid expansion of electric power systems, dynamic equivalents have been widely applied for the purpose of reducing the computational effort of simulation-based transient security assessment. Dynamic equivalents are commonly developed using a coherency-based approach in which a retained area and an external area are first demarcated. Then the coherent generators in the external area are aggregated and replaced by equivalenced models, followed by network reduction and load aggregation. In this process, an improperly defined retained area can result in detrimental impacts on the effectiveness of the equivalents in preserving the dynamic characteristics of the original unreduced system. In this dissertation, a comprehensive approach has been proposed to determine an appropriate retained area boundary by including the critical generators in the external area that are tightly coupled with the initial retained area. Further-more, a systematic approach has also been investigated to efficiently predict the variation in generator slow coherency behavior when the system operating condition is subject to change. Based on this determination, the critical generators in the external area that are tightly coherent with the generators in the initial retained area are retained, resulting in a new retained area boundary. Finally, a novel hybrid dynamic equivalent, consisting of both a coherency-based equivalent and an artificial neural network (ANN)-based equivalent, has been proposed and analyzed. The ANN-based equivalent complements the coherency-based equivalent at all the retained area boundary buses, and it is designed to compensate for the discrepancy between the full system and the conventional coherency-based equivalent. The approaches developed have been validated on a large portion of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) system and on a test case including a significant portion of the eastern interconnection.
ContributorsMa, Feng (Author) / Vittal, Vijay (Thesis advisor) / Tylavsky, Daniel (Committee member) / Heydt, Gerald (Committee member) / Si, Jennie (Committee member) / Ayyanar, Raja (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The reliability assessment of future distribution networks is an important issue in power engineering for both utilities and customers. This is due to the increasing demand for more reliable service with less interruption frequency and duration. This research consists of two main parts related to the evaluation of the future distribution system reliability. An innovative algorithm named the encoded Markov cut set (EMCS) is proposed to evaluate the reliability of the networked power distribution system. The proposed algorithm is based on the identification of circuit minimal tie sets using the concept of Petri nets. Prime number encoding and unique prime factorization are then utilized to add more flexibility in communicating between the systems states, and to classify the states as tie sets, cut sets, or minimal cut sets. Different reduction and truncation techniques are proposed to reduce the size of the state space. The Markov model is used to compute the availability, mean time to failure, and failure frequency of the network. A well-known Test Bed is used to illustrate the analysis (the Roy Billinton test system (RBTS)), and different load and system reliability indices are calculated. The method shown is algorithmic and appears suitable for off-line comparison of alternative secondary distribution system designs on the basis of their reliability. The second part assesses the impact of the conventional and renewable distributed generation (DG) on the reliability of the future distribution system. This takes into account the variability of the power output of the renewable DG, such as wind and solar DGs, and the chronological nature of the load demand. The stochastic nature of the renewable resources and its influence on the reliability of the system are modeled and studied by computing the adequacy transition rate. Then, an integrated Markov model that incorporates the DG adequacy transition rate, DG mechanical failure, and starting and switching probability is proposed and utilized to give accurate results for the DG reliability impact. The main focus in this research is the conventional, solar, and wind DG units. However, the technique used appears to be applicable to any renewable energy source.
ContributorsAlmuhaini, Mohammad (Author) / Heydt, Gerald (Thesis advisor) / Ayyanar, Raja (Committee member) / Gel, Esma (Committee member) / Tylavsky, Daniel (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The development of a Solid State Transformer (SST) that incorporates a DC-DC multiport converter to integrate both photovoltaic (PV) power generation and battery energy storage is presented in this dissertation. The DC-DC stage is based on a quad-active-bridge (QAB) converter which not only provides isolation for the load, but also for the PV and storage. The AC-DC stage is implemented with a pulse-width-modulated (PWM) single phase rectifier. A unified gyrator-based average model is developed for a general multi-active-bridge (MAB) converter controlled through phase-shift modulation (PSM). Expressions to determine the power rating of the MAB ports are also derived. The developed gyrator-based average model is applied to the QAB converter for faster simulations of the proposed SST during the control design process as well for deriving the state-space representation of the plant. Both linear quadratic regulator (LQR) and single-input-single-output (SISO) types of controllers are designed for the DC-DC stage. A novel technique that complements the SISO controller by taking into account the cross-coupling characteristics of the QAB converter is also presented herein. Cascaded SISO controllers are designed for the AC-DC stage. The QAB demanded power is calculated at the QAB controls and then fed into the rectifier controls in order to minimize the effect of the interaction between the two SST stages. The dynamic performance of the designed control loops based on the proposed control strategies are verified through extensive simulation of the SST average and switching models. The experimental results presented herein show that the transient responses for each control strategy match those from the simulations results thus validating them.
ContributorsFalcones, Sixifo Daniel (Author) / Ayyanar, Raja (Thesis advisor) / Karady, George G. (Committee member) / Tylavsky, Daniel (Committee member) / Tsakalis, Konstantinos (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011