Title: MPPT control in wind energy conversion systems and the application of fractional control (PIα) in pitch wind turbine

Authors: Sihem Ghoudelbourk; Djalel Dib; Amar Omeiri; Ahmad Taher Azar

Addresses: Department of Electrical Engineering, University Badji Mokhtar Annaba, Algeria ' Department of Electrical Engineering, University Larbi Tebessi, Tebessa 12002, Algeria ' Department of Electrical Engineering, University Badji Mokhtar Annaba, Algeria ' Faculty of Computers and Information, Benha University, Egypt

Abstract: Wind power generation has grown at an alarming rate in the past decade and will continue to do so as power electronic technology continues to advance. In this article, this study proposes to ensure an optimal mechanical power generated by a wind turbine in a chain for a wide range of winds. The amount of power output from a wind energy conversion system depends upon the accuracy with which the peak power points are tracked by the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method searches an optimal operating point from the slope of the power rotational. This can be achieved by implementing a pitch control in order to tap maximum energy at wind speeds lower than rated wind speed, since the proposed method selects the operating mode according to the wind speed. If the wind speed exceeds its rated value, blades are controlled to limit the electrical power to its nominal value. Pitch angle control is the most common means for adjusting the aerodynamic torque of the wind turbine. A fractional pitch angle controller is developed in this paper. The fractional control strategy may reach the potential when the system contains strong non-linearity, especially when the wind turbulence is strong. The controller PI classical and PIα fractional in pitch angle control are compared with the wind gust disturbance. The simulation tests were conducted using MATLAB/Simulink.

Keywords: maximum power point tracking; MPPT control; pitch control; wind turbines; modelling; PI fractional control; power control; wind energy conversion; wind power; wind speed; aerodynamic torque; wind turbulence; wind gusts; simulation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMIC.2016.078329

International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control, 2016 Vol.26 No.2, pp.140 - 151

Received: 27 Aug 2015
Accepted: 13 Oct 2015

Published online: 15 Aug 2016 *

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