Enhanced Fault Diagnosis of DFIG Converter Systems

Abstract

The converter is a crucial part of the doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) wind energy conversion system (WECS). Breakdown of the converter will lead to huge economic loss; this is relating to the downtime of the converter that will shut down the whole turbine-generator system and curtail the energy production. Fault diagnosis is considered a preliminary tool that is used to tackle the possibilities of converter downtime. There are varieties of fault diagnosis techniques and algorithms for different faults types and location. This paper is presenting an enhanced technique based on the possibility of combining the DFIG current-measurements and torque to develop a robust FD technique for DFIG converter systems. The results obtained from the simulation phase is encouraging to merge fault indicators from current and torque to identify the fault location and nature at either side of the DFIG converters.