www.ietdl.
org
    Published in IET Electric Power Applications
    Received on 28th March 2012
    Revised on 7th July 2012
    doi: 10.1049/iet-epa.2012.0101
                                                                                                                ISSN 1751-8660
Performance of the brushless doubly-fed machine
under normal and fault conditions
S. Tohidi1 M.R. Zolghadri1 H. Oraee1 P. Tavner2 E. Abdi3 T. Logan3
1
  Department of Electrical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Azadi Street, Tehran 11365-8639, Iran
2
  School of Engineering and Computing Sciences, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
3
  Electrical Engineering Division, University of Cambridge, 9 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0FA, UK
E-mail: stohidi@ee.sharif.ir
Abstract: In this study, the steady-state operation of the brushless doubly-fed machine (BDFM) in various modes is physically
elaborated and the active power flow and torque analysis are presented for each operating mode alongside confirmatory
experimental results on a 4/8 pole D160 size machine. The machine behaviour in asynchronous operating modes is described
similar to the conventional induction machines with corresponding pole numbers. Moreover, its performance in synchronous
mode is shown to be similar to synchronous machines. On the basis of the above, the BDFM performance is further analysed
under two possible fault conditions: first, a controller or converter fault leading to loss of synchronism is considered, where the
asynchronous, double-cascade mode must be introduced to describe the machine performance. Second, a voltage dip at the
mains terminal is considered. The simplistic behaviour of the BDFM during this fault, including the operation of a converter
protective crowbar, is investigated using steady-state torque–speed curves to obtain a general view of the machine performance.
Nomenclature                                                       of the DFIG is its use of slip-rings and brush-gear, which
                                                                   reduces reliability and increases maintenance costs [1].
p             number of pole pairs                                 To overcome this problem, the brushless doubly-fed
Nr            number of rotor circuits (nests)                     machine (BDFM) has been proposed as an alternative to the
v             angular speed                                        DFIG. The BDFM has all the DFIG benefits, but without
                                                                   slip-rings and brush-gear. Hence, it has potential future use
R             winding resistance                                   in wind generation [2], particularly offshore and pump
L             winding inductance                                   drives [3].
n             efficient number of winding turns                        Several papers have been published recently on BDFM
                                                                   steady-state and dynamic modelling. In [4], a dq equivalent
s             rotor slip                                           circuit for a 6/2 pole BDFM is presented in the rotor
cosw          power factor                                         reference frame model. In [5], the authors develop a
Z, z          synchronous impedance amplitude and phase            steady-state rotor reference frame model. Steady-state
1, 2, r       subscripts of the PW, CW and rotor                   modelling and a brief power balance analysis are given in
                                                                   [6]. In [7], a unified reference frame dq model for the
l, m          subscripts of leakage and magnetising                BDFM is proposed and experimentally verified. Another
p             superscript of the parameters referred to the PW     steady-state model is suggested and experimentally
              side                                                 validated in [8]. Using this model, BDFM performance is
                                                                   analysed and some relations for the active and reactive
                                                                   powers of BDFM are extracted in [9].
1      Introduction                                                   The above studies investigate the modelling of the BDFM,
                                                                   but there is a need for detailed understanding of the machine’s
The penetration of wind power into electrical grids worldwide      different operating modes. This paper fills this gap
has increased significantly in the last five years. Variable         by physical explanation of machine performance in all
speed wind turbines (VSWT) are used in most large                  its different modes, especially the synchronous mode.
modern wind farms, because of their high wind energy               In addition, a new mode, called double-cascade, is
transfer characteristics. Among the various types of               introduced to account for when synchronism is lost.
technologies used for VSWTs, the doubly fed induction                 This detailed steady-state understanding can then be used
generator (DFIG) is the most common. With its                      to rationalise the BDFM’s behaviour under terminal voltage
fractionally-rated converter, it delivers flexible power factor     dip conditions, which leads to the operation of the converter
and rotor speed control at relatively low cost. The drawback       protection crowbar. Although steady-state models cannot
IET Electr. Power Appl., 2012, Vol. 6, Iss. 9, pp. 621– 627                                                                   621
doi: 10.1049/iet-epa.2012.0101                                               & The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2012
www.ietdl.org
predict machine’s transient behaviour precisely, they can be     loops in the nested loop rotor (Fig. 2). However, other
used to obtain a general view demonstrating results of           possible rotor arrangements are currently under investigation.
crowbar operation.                                                  In this situation, the p1 or p2 pole pair components of the
                                                                 RW MMF will rotate at identical speeds but in opposite
                                                                 directions with respect to the rotor [14]. The p1 and p2 pole
2    The BDFM                                                    pair MMFs produced in the air gap with Nr rotor circuits is
The BDFM has two, three-phase windings in its stator. Their      tabulated in Table 1.
pole numbers are arranged to be different to avoid                  Owing to its special design, the RW cannot be considered
direct-coupling [10]                                             purely sinusoidally space-distributed, and therefore contains
                                                                 high-order space harmonics. Nevertheless, as PW and CW
                                                                 are assumed to be sinusoidally space-distributed, the
                          p1 = p2                          (1)   resulting space harmonics of the air-gap flux cannot induce
                                                                 electro-motive force (EMF). However, the considerable
Furthermore, in order to reduce the asymmetrical                 harmonic content of the rotor MMF leads to increased rotor
electromagnetic force on the rotor, their pole pair difference   leakage inductance.
should be greater than one [10]
                                                                 3     Steady-state model
                         |p1 − p2 |l1                      (2)
                                                                 The PW and CW can each be modelled in a similar way to the
As can be seen in Fig. 1, the power winding (PW) is              stator winding of a conventional asynchronous machine.
connected directly to the grid and therefore works at grid       However, because of the special RW design of the BDFM,
frequency. Most of the power is transferred between the          it reacts to both p1 and p2 pole pair stator MMFs. Hence,
BDFM and grid through this winding. The PW produces an           the rotor model could be drawn as shown in Fig. 3.
magneto-motive force (MMF) in the air gap rotating at grid       Saturation has been neglected and the BDFM core loss is
frequency. The control winding (CW) is connected to the          not taken into account here.
grid through a bidirectional, fractionally-rated frequency
converter. The frequency converter usually consists of two       3.1   Simple induction mode
back-to-back voltage source inverters. The inverter
connected to the CW, the machine side inverter (MSI),            In this asynchronous mode, one of the stator windings, for
controls the rotor speed and the machine reactive power          example the CW, is opened and the other is supplied.
[11, 12]. The grid side inverter controls the DC-link voltage    The PW produces a p1 pole pair rotating field at speed
and can assist in controlling the BDFM terminal voltage by       of v1. The rotor slip due to the field, s1 , can be determined
supplying or absorbing reactive power. The CW produces           from
an MMF in the air gap rotating at MSI frequency.                                                v1 − p1 vr
   To establish cross-coupling between the PW and CW, the                                s1 =                                   (3)
rotor winding (RW) must produce both p1 and p2 pole pair                                           v1
MMFs in response to either p1 or p2 pole pair MMFs
produced by the PW and CW, respectively. To fulfil this           Owing to the special RW design, a p2 pole pair MMFr1 – 2 and
requirement, the number of sets of rotor circuits, Nr , should   consequently rotating air-gap flux component is produced, in
be equal to p1 + p2 [13], each set comprising one or more        addition to the explicit p1 pole pair MMFr1 – 1. As shown in
                                                                 Table 1, MMFr1 – 2 rotates with respect to the CW at the
                                                                 speed of v′2 (4) and induces an EMF in the CW.
                                                                                        v′2 = Nr vr − v1                        (4)
                                                                 Now, the rotor slip because of this field can be calculated, that
                                                                 is
                                                                                                v1 − p1 vr
                                                                                        s′2 =                                   (5)
                                                                                                v1 − Nr vr
Fig. 1 BDFM structure                                            The machine model in the simple induction mode can
                                                                 therefore be drawn as Fig. 4a. The parameters of the CW
                                                                 and the rotor are divided by s1 /s′2 ( = −v′2 /v1 ) and s1 ,
                                                                 respectively, to translate them to the PW frequency. In this
                                                                 way, the amplitudes and phases of the CW and rotor
                                                                 currents remain unchanged. If all the parameters are referred
                                                                 to the PW side and the Thevenin equivalent circuit of the
                                                                 PW is used, the equivalent circuit can be transformed to
                                                                 Fig. 4b.
                                                                    The p2 pole pair component of flux produced by the RW
                                                                 can be considered as a flux leakage. Hence, as shown in
                                                                 Fig. 4b, there is a high RW leakage reactance that decreases
                                                                 the currents. Consequently, the BDFM active power will be
                                                                 significantly lower than that of a similar conventional
Fig. 2 Nested loop rotor of the prototype D160 BDFM              induction machines. Thus, the active power flow can be
622                                                                      IET Electr. Power Appl., 2012, Vol. 6, Iss. 9, pp. 621 –627
& The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2012                                                doi: 10.1049/iet-epa.2012.0101
                                                                                                                  www.ietdl.org
Table 1    MMFs in the BDFM air gap
                              Produced by                     Number of               Electrical speed with                 Electrical speed with
                                                              pole pairs                 respect to rotor                     respect to stator
MMF1                             PW                               p1                        v1 2 p1vr                               v1
MMFr121                RW in response to MMF1                     p1                        v1 2 p1vr                               v1
MMFr122                RW in response to MMF1                     p2                      2(v1 2 p1vr)                       −v1 + p1 vr + p2 vr
                                                                                                                              = −v1 + Nr vr
MMF2                               CW                             p2                        v2 2 p2vr                               v2
MMFr221                RW in response to MMF2                     p1                      2(v2 2 p2vr)                       −v2 + p2 vr + p1 vr
                                                                                                                               = −v2 + Nr vr
MMFr222                RW in response to MMF2                     p2                        v2 2 p2vr                              v2
                                                                           Table 2   Active power in the simple asynchronous mode
                                                                           Voltage source power          Copper loss          Mechanical power
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             p1 vr
                                                                           3V1thI1cosw1                 3(R1th + RrP )I12     3              RPI2
                                                                                                                                 v1 − p1 vr r 1
Fig. 3 Rotor model                                                         induces an EMF in the rotor with the slip s1 . The rotor
                                                                           produces an MMF, which contains both p1 and p2 order
                                                                           harmonics, similar to the simple asynchronous mode.
calculated, as illustrated in Table 2. As observed, the                    Repeating the procedure of the previous section and also,
mechanical power has the same form as an induction                         replacing the CW circuit by its Thevenin equivalent circuit
machine with p1 pole pairs.                                                leads to the equivalent circuit shown in Fig. 6.
  Then, the electromagnetic torque produced in the simple                     It is noteworthy that this mode of operation was the
asynchronous mode can be obtained as                                       intended mode of the self-cascaded machine [14 – 16].
                                                                         The mechanical power generated by the machine is divided
                                 p1                                        into two terms as shown in Table 3. The first term (Pm21)
                     T =3                 RP I 2                (6)
                              v1 − p1 vr r 1                               is similar to the mechanical power of an asynchronous
                                                                           machine with p1 pole pairs. It is similar to the mechanical
Using this relationship, the torque – speed curve for the D160             power in the simple asynchronous mode, but much greater
BDFM with a 400 V, 50 Hz supply for the PW and opened                      because of the higher currents in the windings. The second
CW are plotted in Fig. 5 alongside the experimental results.               term (Pm22) in the cascade mode is similar to
As predicted, the machine torque is small in this mode. The                the mechanical power of an asynchronous machine with Nr
parameters of machine are included in Table 5 in Appendix 1.               pole pairs.
                                                                              Considering Pm21 and Pm22 , the electromagnetic torque
                                                                           produced in the cascade mode is obtained as (7).
3.2    Cascade induction mode
In this further asynchronous mode, one of the stator windings,                                                            
                                                                                             p1                       Nr
for example the PW, is supplied and the other is shorted.                        T =3                  RPr I12 + 3            RP I 2           (7)
The PW produces MMF1 and its corresponding flux                                            v1 − p1 vr               v1 − Nr vr 2th 1
Fig. 4 BDFM model in the simple induction mode
a Detailed model
b Simplified model referred to the PW side
IET Electr. Power Appl., 2012, Vol. 6, Iss. 9, pp. 621– 627                                                                                    623
doi: 10.1049/iet-epa.2012.0101                                                       & The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2012
www.ietdl.org
Fig. 5 Torque– speed curve of the BDFM in the simple induction         Fig. 7 Torque– speed curve of the BDFM in the cascade induction
mode when CW is opened; 2 steady-state model, +++                      mode when CW is shorted; 2 steady-state model, +++
experimental                                                           experimental
                                                                          The synchronous mode of operation can be considered to
                                                                       be the truly attractive BDFM mode. In this mode, in
                                                                       addition to the couplings described in the previous section,
                                                                       there are cross-couplings between MMFr1 – 2 and MMF2 as
                                                                       well as between MMFr2 – 1 and MMF1 , because of their
                                                                       identical rotational speeds. In this mode, the frequencies of
Fig. 6 BDFM model in the cascade induction mode referred to the        EMFs induced in the rotor, because of the p1 and p2 pole
PW side                                                                pair components of its flux linkage, are equal. Therefore the
                                                                       frequency of EMFs induced in the PW because of the CW
                                                                       equals the frequency of the PW voltage source and vice
Using (7), the predicted and experimental torque – speed               versa. This necessitates the production of two fields by the
curves of the D160 BDFM in the cascade mode with                       PW and CW rotating at the same electrical speed but in
50 Hz, 400 V supply for the PW are illustrated in Fig. 7.              opposite directions with respect to the rotor. In this
  As can be observed in Fig. 7, the BDFM has two stable                situation, the synchronous rotor speed is
operating regions in the cascade mode
                                                                                                                            v1 + v2
† Around the synchronous speed of the PW (1500 rpm),                               v1 − p1 vr = −(v2 − p2 vr ) ⇒ vr =                     (8)
                                                                                                                            p1 + p2
corresponding to Pm21;
† Around the natural speed (500 rpm), corresponding to
Pm22 .                                                                 Indeed, the CW frequency v2 should be regulated so that (8)
                                                                       is fulfilled. Therefore the rotor slips for the p1 and p2 pole pair
   In fact, the BDFM in cascade mode can be considered as              air-gap flux components are equal to s1 and s2 , respectively,
two induction machines, the first explicit, because of                  as (9).
the energised stator winding and rotor as mentioned before,                              ⎧      v1 − p 1 vr
the second implicit, because of the rotor and shorted stator                             ⎪
                                                                                         ⎨ s1 =
winding.                                                                                           v1
                                                                                                v2 − p2 vr v1 − p1 vr                     (9)
   For instance, in the case of cascade BDFM with shorted                                ⎪
                                                                                         ⎩ s2 =             =
CW, the rotor produces MMFr1 – 2 , which rotates at                                                v2         v1 − Nr vr
2(v1 2 p1vr) with respect to the rotor. On the other hand,
the CW rotates with respect to the rotor at 2p2vr . Hence,             In this mode, the p1 (or p2) pole pair MMFs produced by the
the synchronous speed of this machine will be equal to                 PW (or CW) and RW have the same electrical speed and
natural speed (v1/( p1 + p2)).                                         direction, therefore they can establish a non-zero-mean
                                                                       electromagnetic torque. The machine equivalent circuit can
                                                                       then be drawn including both the voltage sources
3.3   Synchronous mode                                                 simultaneously, as shown in Fig. 8a. It should be noted that
                                                                       from (9), s2/s1 is equal to 2 v1/v2 .
The BDFM performance in the asynchronous modes is                         Now, if the machine Thevenin equivalent circuit seen from
weaker than the conventional asynchronous machines with                the PW side is replaced in Fig. 8a, the simpler model of
similar pole numbers, because of higher flux leakage arising            Fig. 8b will be obtained. It can be observed that the BDFM
from special rotor form.                                               model is quite similar to that for a synchronous machine,
              Table 3   Active powers in the cascade mode
              Voltage source power              Copper loss                                   Mechanical power
                                                                                    Pm21                          Pm22
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                 p1 vr                          Nr vr
              3V1thI1cosw1                  3(R1th + RrP + R2th
                                                            P
                                                                )I12       3                 RrP I12      3              RP I2
                                                                               v1 − p1 vr                     v1 − Nr vr 2th 1
624                                                                                IET Electr. Power Appl., 2012, Vol. 6, Iss. 9, pp. 621 –627
& The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2012                                                          doi: 10.1049/iet-epa.2012.0101
                                                                                                         www.ietdl.org
Fig. 8 BDFM model in the synchronous mode referred to the PW side
a detailed model
b simplified model
but its internal voltage and synchronous impedance depend               frequency does not fulfil (8), synchronism may be lost and
upon rotor speed. In fact, the BDFM in this mode acts as a              consequently, ‘double-cascade mode’ can take place. In this
synchronous machine and its speed can be controlled at the              situation, the fields produced by the PW and CW will rotate
grid frequency without using brushes and slip-rings.                    at different electrical speeds with respect to the rotor.
   Regarding Fig. 8b, the PW active power, reactive power               Thereupon, MMFr1 – 2 and MMF2 as well as MMFr2 – 1 and
and electromagnetic torque are obtained as (10) – (12),                 MMF1 , which have the same pole pairs, will rotate at
respectively.                                                           unequal speeds, hence generating oscillatory torques about
                                                                        a zero mean.
                       V12           V E                                   In this asynchronous mode, the cross-coupling between the
             P1 = 3        cos(z) − 3 1 cos (z − d)              (10)   two stator windings cannot exist. Therefore in the double-
                       Z              Z
                                                                        cascade mode, the BDFM can be modelled as two separate
                        V12           V E                               cascade machines with coupled rotors, one with a shorted
             Q1 = 3         sin(z) − 3 1 sin (z − d)             (11)   CW and the other with a shorted PW. Hence, two
                        Z              Z
                                                                        equivalent circuits may be drawn, one from the PW and
                     3 V1 E              3 E2                           another from the CW side. The machine’s performance
            Te =            cos(z + d) −      cos (z)            (12)   would then be the result of the superposition of these two
                     vr Z                vr Z
                                                                        circuits. For instance, if both stator windings are supplied
However, because of different PW and CW frequencies, it is
hard to find an analytical relationship for d. Hence, the PW
active and reactive power can be regulated by closed-loop
control of the CW voltage amplitude and phase. To validate
(10) – (12), tests have been performed on D160 BDFM in
synchronous mode. The active power at three rotor speeds
and different CW voltages is measured and using (10), its
corresponding d is obtained. As can be observed in Table 4,
the calculated and measured values show good agreement.
3.4   Double-cascade mode
As stated earlier, if both stator windings are supplied, MMF1
and MMFr1 – 1 with p1 pole pairs and also, MMF2 and
MMFr2 – 2 with p2 pole pairs will produce direct-coupling,
similar to two asynchronous machines in tandem. However,                Fig. 9 Torque– speed curve of the BDFM in the double-cascade
if the CW converter or controller fails and the CW                      mode
Table 4    Calculated and experimental results for synchronous operation of D160 BDFM
N,          V1 , V       V2 , V   measured            d, electrical       measured         calculated     measured       calculated
rpm                                P1 , W                degree            cosw1             cosw1         Te , Nm        Te , Nm
650          400         137         4731                 17.4               0.881           0.911            67            66.9
698          400         159         4736                217.8               0.907             1              69            63.7
745          400         182         4774                218.9               0.949           0.984            64            59.1
IET Electr. Power Appl., 2012, Vol. 6, Iss. 9, pp. 621– 627                                                                        625
doi: 10.1049/iet-epa.2012.0101                                                   & The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2012
www.ietdl.org
                                                                  Fig. 12 Wind turbine load and electromagnetic torques for a
Fig. 10 Torque– d curve of the BDFM in the synchronous mode
                                                                  BDFIG during a voltage dip and recovery
when both the PW and CW are supplied with 400 V, 50 Hz
with 400 V, +50 Hz, the BDFM torque – speed curve in              and temperature damaging the converter power electronic
double-cascade mode will be obtained, as shown in Fig. 9.         switches or its DC-link capacitor. To protect the converter
  From this figure, there are three stable operating regions:      against this current, the CW could be shorted, through a
                                                                  series of parallel resistors, named crowbar, as shown in
† Around natural speed (500 rpm);                                 Fig. 11 and in the mean time, the converter is turned off.
† Around synchronous speed of the CW (750 rpm);                   This has been the approach extensively adopted to protect
† Around synchronous speed of the PW (1500 rpm).                  DFIG converters [18]. However, when the crowbar is
                                                                  active, the BDFM operates in the cascade mode.
   In order to further investigate the impact of cross-coupling      Obviously, a terminal voltage dip leads to a reduction of
between the PW and CW, the BDFM torque is plotted in              torque, proportional to the square of voltage, but adding
Fig. 10 against d in the synchronous mode. Both stator            crowbar resistance does not affect the maximum torque and
windings are supplied with 400 V, +50 Hz and hence the            only shifts its corresponding speed.
rotor speed is 1000 rpm. As observed, the BDFM can                   For instance, the performance of a BDFM fitted to a VSWT
develop any desirable torque between 2197 to +87 Nm by            during and after a 70% grid voltage dip is now investigated
regulating the CW voltage phase. Whereas, according to            using the torque– speed curves shown in Fig. 12 as follows:
Fig. 9, the machine in double-cascade mode is unstable at
1000 rpm. Its operating point will be determined by               † Curves 1A and 1B, the input mechanical torque captured
torque –speed curve of the mechanical load or prime mover.        through turbine in two different wind speeds;
Another problem associated with this mode is that it              † Curve 2, the during-fault cascade-mode torque, at reduced
produces oscillatory torques that can damage the rotating         terminal voltage;
parts or reduce their life. As mentioned earlier, these           † Curve 3, the post-fault cascade-mode torque, at full
torques arise because of the different speeds of MMFr1 – 2        terminal voltage.
and MMF2 as well as MMFr2 – 1and MMF1 .
                                                                     The initial pre-fault operating point is considered at A1 or
4    Voltage dip analysis                                         A2 in Curve 1A or Curve 1B, respectively. When a 70%
The principles developed in the previous sections are used to     voltage dip occurs and crowbar acts, the machine torque
understand the BDFM behaviour during grid faults, which           shifts instantaneously from point A1 or A2 to the during-
result in voltage dips at the BDFM terminals.                     fault Curve 2. In this situation, because of a mismatch
   When the terminal voltage dips, a high EMF is induced in       between mechanical and electrical torques, rotor starts to
the RW because of the p1 pole pair flux linkage variations,        accelerate on Curve 2 towards point B1 or B2 at which the
and as a result of coupling between the RW and CW, an             terminal voltage recovers to its pre-fault value.
EMF is also induced in the CW. Depending on the voltage              After voltage recovery, the crowbar remains closed for a
dip level, this EMF can be very high and lead to high CW          short time, to ensure converter safety. Hence, the rotor
current [17] with consequent high electromagnetic forces          accelerates or decelerates along Curve 3 until point C1 or
                                                                  C2, where the crowbar turns off and MSI becomes active.
                                                                  Then, the machine can produce the required active power
                                                                  and the MSI controls the rotor speed down to its initial value.
                                                                     As can be seen from Fig. 12, at sub-natural speeds
                                                                  the BDFM operates as motor while the crowbar is on. On
                                                                  the other hand, at super-natural speeds, the machine always
                                                                  is in the generating mode. The machine may even
                                                                  decelerate after voltage recovery and before crowbar
                                                                  deactivation, for example, between B2 and C2. It is
                                                                  noteworthy that the BDFM absorbs reactive power when
                                                                  crowbar is on and the machine is in cascade induction
                                                                  mode. Either active power consumption in sub-natural
                                                                  speeds or reactive power absorption is against the most grid
                                                                  codes, such as the German Transpower [19]. In [17], the
Fig. 11 Proposed crowbar in BDFM                                  use of dynamic resistors in series with the CW has been
626                                                                       IET Electr. Power Appl., 2012, Vol. 6, Iss. 9, pp. 621 –627
& The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2012                                                 doi: 10.1049/iet-epa.2012.0101
                                                                                                                       www.ietdl.org
proposed under voltage dip conditions. They demonstrate                        7 Poza, J., Oyarbide, E., Roye, D., Rodriguez, M.: ‘Unified reference
better performance towards satisfying low-voltage ride-                          frame dq model of the brushless doubly fed machine’, IEE Proc. –
                                                                                 Electr. Power Appl., 2006, 153, (5), pp. 726–734
through requirements of grid codes.                                            8 Roberts, P.C., McMahon, R.A., Tavner, P.J., Maciejowski, J.M.,
                                                                                 Flack, T.J.: ‘Equivalent circuit for the brushless doubly fed machine
5     Conclusions                                                                (BDFM) including parameter estimation and experimental
                                                                                 verification’, IEE Proc. – Electr. Power Appl., 2005, 152, (4),
                                                                                 pp. 933– 942
The steady-state performance of the BDFM has been                              9 McMahon, R.A., Roberts, P.C., Wang, X., Tavner, P.J.: ‘Performance of
elaborated for asynchronous and synchronous modes of                             BDFM as generator and motor’, IEE Proc. – Electr. Power Appl., 2006,
operation. Active power analysis has been performed for                          153, (2), pp. 289–299
the asynchronous modes and their corresponding torque –                       10 Roberts, P.C.: ‘A study of brushless doubly fed (induction) machines’.
speed curves, obtained from theory and experiment, are                           PhD thesis, Emanuel College, University of Cambridge, 2004
                                                                              11 Poza, J., Oyarbide, E., Sarasola, I., Rodriguez, M.: ‘Vector control
physically justified. Moreover, straightforward relationships                     design and experimental evaluation for the brushless doubly fed
for the active and reactive power of the machine in                              machine’, IET Electr. Power Appl., 2009, 3, (4), pp. 247– 256
synchronous mode have also been proposed, showing that                        12 Shao, S., Abdi, E., Barati, F., McMahon, R.: ‘Stator-flux-oriented vector
although its speed can be variable at constant grid                              control for brushless doubly fed induction generator’, IEEE Trans. Ind.
frequency, but its active and reactive powers can be                             Electron., 2009, 56, (10), pp. 4220– 4228
                                                                              13 Williamson, S., Ferreira, A.C., Wallace, A.K.: ‘Generalized theory of the
controlled independently – considering the machine                               brushless doubly-fed machine. part 1: analysis’, IEE Proc. – Electr.
limitations – at every desirable speed by injecting                              Power Appl., 1997, 144, (2), pp. 111– 122
appropriate CW voltage.                                                       14 Broadway, A.R.W., Burbridge, L.: ‘Self-cascaded machine: a low-speed
   This steady-state performance of the BDFM has then been                       motor or high-frequency brushless alternator’, Proc. IEE, 1970, 117, (2),
                                                                                 pp. 1277– 1290
used to obtain a better understanding of the machine                          15 Hunt, L.J.: ‘A new type of induction motor’, Inst. Electr. Eng. J., 1907,
performance under fault conditions. A new operating mode,                        39, (186), pp. 648– 667
double-cascade mode, is introduced to describe the machine                    16 Hunt, L.J.: ‘The ‘cascade’ induction motor’, Inst. Electr. Eng. J., 1914,
operation during loss of synchronism following a controller                      52, (230), pp. 406– 426
or converter fault.                                                           17 Tohidi, S., Oraee, H., Zolghadri, M., Shao, S., Tavner, P.: ‘Analysis and
                                                                                 enhancement of low voltage ride-through capability of brushless doubly
   Furthermore, the operation of a converter protective crowbar                  fed induction generator’, IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., 2012 (early access
in a VSWT BDFM during voltage dips is explained.                                 articles)
The results show that although the crowbar protects the                       18 Morren, J., de Haan, S.W.H.: ‘Ride-through of wind turbines with
converter against high CW currents during voltage dips, it                       doubly-fed induction generator during a voltage dip’, IEEE Trans.
cannot fulfil the active and reactive power requirements of                       Energy Conv., 2005, 20, (2), pp. 435– 441
                                                                              19 Grid Connection Code – extra high voltage – Transpower
grid codes and hence, other approaches are needed to ensure                      stromübertragungs gmbh, April 2009, http: //www.tennettso.de
BDFM low voltage ride-through capability.
6     References                                                              7     Appendix
 1 Arabian-Hoseynabadi, H., Oraee, H., Tavner, P.J.: ‘Failure modes and
   effects analysis (FMEA) for wind turbines’, Int. J. Electr. Power          See Table 5
   Energy Syst., 2010, 32, (7), pp. 817–824
 2 Wallace, A.K., Spee, R., Alexander, G.C.: ‘The brushless doubly-fed
   machine: its advantages, applications and design methods’. Sixth Int.      Table 5     Prototype D-160 BDFM specifications
   Conf. on Electrical Machines and Drives (Conf. Publ. no. 376),
   Oxford, UK, September 1993, pp. 511–517                                    Parameter                       Value          Parameter            Value
 3 Boger, M.S., Wallace, A.K., Spee, R.: ‘Investigation of appropriate pole   p1                                2                Lm1             1.125 H
   number combinations for brushless doubly fed machines applied to
   pump drives’, IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., 1996, 32, (1), pp. 189 –194          p2                                4                Lpm2            0.461 H
 4 Li, R., Wallance, A., Spee, R., Wang, Y.: ‘Two-axis model development      Nr                                6                Ll1             0.017 H
   of cage-rotor brushless doubly-fed machines’, IEEE Trans. Energy           stator slots                     36                Lpl2            0.021 H
   Conv., 1991, 6, (3), pp. 453– 460                                          rotor slots                      24                 Lplr           0.067 H
 5 Boger, M.S., Wallace, A.K., Spee, R., Li, R.: ‘General pole number
                                                                              PW nominal voltage              400 V               R1             7.28 V
   model of the brushless doubly-fed machine’, IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl.,
   1995, 31, (5), pp. 1022– 1028                                              CW nominal voltage              400 V              R2p              6.65V
 6 Gorti, B.V., Alexander, G.C., Spee, R.: ‘Power balance considerations      PW nominal current              14 A               Rrp               4V
   for brushless doubly-fed machines’, IEEE Trans. Energy Conv., 1996,        CW nominal current               7A               n1/n2             1.176
   11, (4), pp. 687–692
IET Electr. Power Appl., 2012, Vol. 6, Iss. 9, pp. 621– 627                                                                                          627
doi: 10.1049/iet-epa.2012.0101                                                           & The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2012