Experience in Using Real Time Simulators in Variable-Frequency Drives

Abstract

This paper reports the experiences obtained in using real time simulators in electric drives systems. Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) and Power-Hardware-in-the Loop (PHiL) are powerful techniques that are successively used for verification, validation and experimentation of electrical drive systems. A HiL simulator based on Nexys 4 DDR board with kernel FPGA Artix 7 real time simulator has been used to test scalar control method controlling induction motor. In addition, this work presents detailed modelling of sucker rod pump, and discusses implementation approach and challenges to test the sucker rod pump in PHiL platform. Experimental results on induction motor validate the effectiveness of the HiL approach and PHiL simulation results indicate the applicability of PHiL approach for testing diagnostic methods for sucker rod pumps.