UPTEC ES11 031

Examensarbete 30 hpDecember 2011

Flywheel energy storagea conceptual study

Rickard Östergård

Teknisk- naturvetenskaplig fakultet UTH-enheten Besöksadress: Ångströmlaboratoriet Lägerhyddsvägen 1 Hus 4, Plan 0 Postadress: Box 536 751 21 Uppsala Telefon: 018 – 471 30 03 Telefax: 018 – 471 30 00 Hemsida: http://www.teknat.uu.se/student

Abstract

Flywheel energy storage - a conceptual study

Rickard Östergård

This master thesis was provided by ABB Cooperate Research in Västerås. This studyhas two major purposes: (1) to identify the characteristics of a flywheel energystorage system (FESS), (2) take the first steps in the development of a simulationmodel of a FESS.

For the first part of this master thesis a literature review was conducted with focuson energy storage technologies in general and FESS in particular. The model wasdeveloped in the simulation environment PSCAD/EMTDC; with the main purpose toprovide a working model for future studies of the electrical dynamics of a FESS.

The main conclusion of the literature review was that FESS is a promising energystorage solution; up to multiple megawatt scale. However, few large-scale installationshave so far been built and FESS is not a mature technology. Therefore furtherresearch and development is needed in multiple areas, including high strengthcomposite materials, magnetic bearings and electrical machines. The model wasimplemented with the necessary control system and tested in a simulation caseshowing the operational characteristics.

Sponsor: ABBISSN: 1650-8300, UPTEC ES11 031Examinator: Kjell PernestålÄmnesgranskare: Hans BernhoffHandledare: Frans Dijkhuzien

SAMMANFATTNING Detta examensabete har två huvudsyften: (1) att identifiera och beskriva de ingående komponenterna hos ett energilagringssystem med svänghjul (Flywheel Energy Storage System, FESS), (2) ta första stegen i utvecklingen av en simuleringsmodell. Första delen av examenarbetet genomfördes genom en litteraturstudie med fokus på energilagringsteknik i allmänhet och FESS i synnerhet. Modellen är utvecklad med hjälp av simuleringsprogrammvaran PSCAD/EMTDC med huvudsyftet att uveckla en fungerande modell för framtida studier av den elektriska dynamiken hos ett FESS. Den viktigaste slutsatsen av litteraturstudien är att FESS är en lovande energilagringsteknik med kapacitet upp till flera megawatt. Hittills har endast ett fåtal storskaliga installationer byggts, vilket betyder att FESS inte är en mogen teknik. Det behövs därför vidare forskning och utveckling inom flertal områden; bland annat inom materialvetenskap, magnetiska lager och generatorer. Simuleringsmodellen har implementerats med nödvändiga styrsystem och testats i ett simuleringscase som visar de viktigaste egenskaperna hos ett FESS.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 3

1.1 BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................................ 3 1.2 SMART GRID .......................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 AIM ........................................................................................................................................ 4

2 ELECTRICAL ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS (ESS) ............................................................ 5

2.1 APPLICATION IN ELECTRICAL GRIDS ...................................................................................... 5 2.2 ENERGY STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES ........................................................................................ 6

2.2.1 Pumped hydro (PHS) ................................................................................................... 7 2.2.2 Compressed air energy storage (CAES) ................................................................... 7 2.2.3 Battery energy storage (BESS) .................................................................................. 8

2.2.3.1 Sodium Sulphurs Batteries ................................................................................... 8 2.2.3.2 Lithium-Ion Batteries .............................................................................................. 8 2.2.3.3 Lead-acid batteries ................................................................................................. 8 2.2.3.4 Flow batteries ........................................................................................................... 9

2.2.4 Super conducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) .............................................. 9 2.2.5 Supercapacitors......................................................................................................... 10

2.3 TECHNOLOGY SUMMARY ...................................................................................................... 10

3 FLYWHEEL ENERGY STORAGE ........................................................................................... 11

3.1 GENERAL ............................................................................................................................. 11 3.2 HISTORY .............................................................................................................................. 11 3.3 FLYWHEEL BASICS................................................................................................................ 11

3.3.1 Geometries and material ............................................................................................. 12 3.4 FLYWHEEL SYSTEMS COMPONENTS ...................................................................................... 14

3.4.1 Electrical machine........................................................................................................ 14 3.4.2 Bearings ....................................................................................................................... 14 3.4.3 Housing ........................................................................................................................ 15 3.4.4 Power electronic interface ........................................................................................... 16

3.5 RANGE OF CAPACITIES ......................................................................................................... 16 3.6 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES ...................................................................................................... 16 3.7 COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE FLYWHEEL SYSTEMS .................................................................. 16

3.7.1 Beacon Power ............................................................................................................. 17 3.7.2 Vycon Energy .............................................................................................................. 18 3.7.3 Piller ............................................................................................................................. 18 3.7.4 Active Power ................................................................................................................ 19 3.7.5 Market summary .......................................................................................................... 19

3.8 SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................ 20

4 MODEL DESIGN ...................................................................................................................... 21

4.1 SCOPE ............................................................................................................................... 21 4.2 MODEL DESCRIPTION ........................................................................................................... 21 4.3 SINUSOIDAL PULSE WIDTH MODULATION ............................................................................... 21 4.4 D-Q-0 TRANSFORMATION .................................................................................................... 22 4.5 MOTOR/GENERATOR ............................................................................................................ 23

4.5.1 Machine-side VSC control strategy ............................................................................. 24 4.5.2 Grid connected VSC Model ......................................................................................... 26 4.5.3 Grid-side VSC control strategy .................................................................................... 27

4.6 FLYWHEEL ........................................................................................................................... 28

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5 SIMULATION ............................................................................................................................ 29

5.1 CASE STUDY ........................................................................................................................ 29 5.2 SIMULATION RESULTS .......................................................................................................... 31

6 CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION ....................................................................................... 32

7 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK ....................................................................... 33

8 ACKNOWLEDAGEMETS ........................................................................................................ 34

9 REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................... 35

10 APPENDICES ....................................................................................................................... 37

3

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

Renewable energy technologies are an effective answer in the effort to reduce CO2 emissions. In an

electrical system the supply and demand must be in balance to keep the electrical grid stable. Since most

renewable energy, for example wind and solar power, are of intermittent nature the production cannot be

controlled. The supply varies with season, time and weather conditions. The ever-increasing demand and

need for renewable energy sources, dictates new requirements for the electrical grid. Important aspects as

power system stability, reliability and power quality must be ensured when more intermittent energy

sources are being installed. These requirements can be met by upgrading the grid to be more dynamic and

intelligent, a so called smart grid, where energy storage devices are an important part of the solution.

Unlike other forms of energy, electric energy is difficult to store in any useful quantity. Under somewhat

rare circumstances, electricity can be transformed into potential energy in reversed hydro power plants.

Some attempts (less than 1% of the total available storage worldwide) have been done with chemical,

kinetic and thermal energy. While transmission lines and distribution grids transport electricity over land to

end users, energy storage systems can move electricity through time. This ensures constant electricity

supply when and where it is most needed. Energy storage systems, at the right place and properly designed

can help improve electric grid reliability and efficiency.

1.2 Smart Grid

The existing electric grid systems are not designed to meet requirements of the modern society, including

small scale independent generation units, increasing use of digital equipment, installations of renewable

energy and introduction of a fleet of electrical vehicles. The traditional electric grid consists of large

generation units far form end users and power is transferred in a main high voltage transmission grid to

local low voltage distribution grids. In today’s grid topology the electricity flows mainly in one direction,

as illustrated in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1 Today's grid topology. The power flow is mainly one-way [39].

In order to meet the demands described above todays grid topology must change into a two-way flow of

both electricity and information to form a automated, widely distributed transmission grid, as illustrated in

Figure 1.2. This vision for the future grid is called Smart Grid [1].

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Figure 1.2 The future Smart Grid. The power flow is two-way [39].

The vision of the smart grid still depends on support of large-scale generation units, but it includes a

considerable quantity of electric energy storage and renewable energy, both at large scale power system

level and in local distribution grids. The main benefits of a future Smart Grid will include: large scale use

of renewable energy source, reduction of peaks in electricity demand, more active consumers and increased

efficiency in use of electrical energy. The EU’s Technology Platform for Smart grid summarizes the central

objectives as follows [2]:

- Better facilitate the connection and operation of generators of all sizes and technologies.

- Allow consumers to play a part in optimizing the operation of the system.

- Provide consumers with greater information and choice of supply.

- Significantly reduce the environmental impact of the whole electricity supply system.

- Deliver enhanced levels of reliability and security of supply.

Energy storage systems (ESS) will play a central role in in the research and development of smart grids.

1.3 Aim

ABB is a global leader in power and automation technologies. Energy storage system for gird integration is

a growing market of interest for ABB. Today they have a battery system ready for commercial deployment,

but other energy storage technologies are also of interest. This master thesis is done with collaboration with

ABB Cooperate Research in Västerås. The main goal of this thesis is to provide a market overview and a

technical description of a flywheel energy storage system (FESS), in order to provide a basis for future

research and development. The aim is to describe and identify the essential system components and

highlight important aspects when designing FESS. Furthermore, this thesis aims to give a comparative

overview of flywheels vs. other technologies for energy storage systems.

Additionally, an overview of commercially available flywheel energy storage system is given, together

with the purpose of evaluate where the market stands and how far the technology development has come.

The last part of the thesis is dedicated to developing a simulation model of flywheel energy storage A

primary model design is performed with the goal to be a starting point for future studies of electrical

dynamics of a FESS. A case study is carried out to show the operational principles of flywheel energy

storage systems. An example of a future case study that can be performed is how a FESS can handle power

quality problems associated with a wind farm.

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2 ELECTRICAL ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS (ESS)

The following section gives an overview of energy storage systems for storing of electrical energy. It will

describe the technical characteristics and give the reader an overview of the general properties, advantages

and disadvantages for each system. The aim is to give the reader background information about the

alternatives to electrical energy storage with flywheels. This section gives also an overview for the

applications for energy storage systems in electrical grids.

2.1 Application in Electrical Grids

Energy storage systems (ESS) can be applied to a wide range of applications in the electrical system. It can

be the solution for problems in the whole electrical energy value chain, from generation support,

transmission and distribution to the end-consumer users. The following list summarizes applications in

electrical power systems where energy storage system can be used [3].

1. Electric energy time shift - Energy is purchased during off-peak hours when prices are low and

sold at a later time when the price is high. The stored energy can also be used by the storage-owner

to avoid expensive energy purchase during hours of high demand. Also known as energy arbitrage.

2. Load following – A requirement to keep the stability of the electricity grid, the storage power

respond to the demand of the end-user. The storage system either produce power or consume

(charge) to meet the supply and demand requirements.

3. Transmission and distribution upgrade deferral - By adding storage resources to a nearly

overloaded transmission and distribution system, investments can be delayed or entirely avoided.

4. Time of use energy cost management – Refers to the same mechanism as 1 but here end-users

reduce their total costs for electricity by utilizing storage systems.

5. Electric Service Reliability - Involves energy storage to provide better reliability of electric

service. In the case of a long-term power outage (more than a few seconds) the energy storage

provides enough energy to either preform a safe shutdown of vulnerable equipment or ride though

the entire outage.

6. Electric Service Power Quality – The energy storage is used to provide power quality services.

This can improve the quality of the power to loads during short duration faults in the electrical

system. Examples of poor power quality include: voltage sags, variation in frequency and

harmonics.

7. Renewables energy time shift – Energy is stored to increase the value of the produced energy. If

the price of energy is low when the renewable energy sources (RES) is producing the energy

storage unit can provide a time-shift so the energy can be sold when the price is higher.

8. Renewable capacity firming – This application applies to intermittent RES. The energy storage

provides a way to smooth the output form this type of energy source. The combined output from

the energy storage and the RES is close to constant. The application is especially valuable during

peak-demand periods.

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Table 2.1 summaries these applications and gives an estimate of the different applications power and

discharge specifications.

Table 2.1 Estimate of need for storage power and discharge duration for different application for ESS [3]

Application type Storage Power Discharge Duration

1 Electric energy time shift 1-500 MW 2-8 h

2 Load following 1-500 MW 2-4 h

3 Transmission and distribution upgrade deferral 250 kW - 5MW 3-6 h

4 Time of use energy cost management 1kW - 1MW 4-6 h

5 Electric Service Reliability 0.2kW - 10MW 5 min - 1 h

6 Electric Service Power Quality 0.2kW - 10MW 10 s - 1 min

7 Renewables energy time shift 1kW - 500MW 3 - 5 h

8 Renewable capacity firming 1kW - 500MW 2 - 4 h

2.2 Energy storage technologies

Electric energy has for long been a commodity where storage has been achieve efficiently in only some

rare cases. However there are existing and emerging technologies that allow electric energy to be stored.

Implementing a well-functioning energy storage system, which is seamlessly integrated to the grid, is not

an easy task. The design of such a system must take many factors in consideration. As described in section

2.1 the applications for ESS have a variety of demands and different storage technologies are suitable for

different applications. There is a vast diversity of possible energy storage technology alternatives for the

electric sector, each with unique functioning, performance, cycling and durability characteristics.

To date about 100GW of electric energy storage systems is installed worldwide, where pumped hydro is

the most represented technology (~127,000 MW). The next largest is compressed air energy storage with

about 440 MW installed.

Figure 1.3 ESS installed capacity worldwide [4].

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2.2.2 Pumped hydro (PHS)

Pumped hydroelectric energy storage is the most widespread electrical energy storage technology in the

world. The first pumped hydro station was built in Italy and Switzerland in the 1890s, thus it can be

considered as a mature technology. Further it was the only commercially available large-scale energy

storage until the 1970 when compressed air energy storage was introduced [4,5].

A typical pumped hydro power plant consists of two water reservoirs located on different altitudes. During

off peak hours when cheap electricity is available water is pumped from the lower reservoir and stored in

the higher. During times of high demand of electricity water flows, through a hydroelectric turbine, to the

lower reservoir to generate electricity [3]. The quantity of stored energy is a function of the total volume of

water in the upper reservoir and the differential height of between the two reservoirs. The reservoir can for

example be artificially built, natural bodies of water or the open sea. The latter is only used for the lower

reservoir.

The losses considered in a pump hydroelectric plant include turbulence, turbine/pump and motor/generator

efficiency. The overall efficiency is about 70-85% depending on design [5].

PHS technology is mature technology but is characterized by high capital investment and strong geological

barrier. This type of system is suited for applications with high power capability demand, a typical plant

has the power rating of 1000-2000 MW and the discharge time is somewhere around 6-12 h [5].

Advantages include:

- Very high energy capacity

- Large-scale

- Mature and commercial technology

Disadvantages include:

- Strong geological barrier.

- High capital investment

- Comparatively slow response time.

- Comparatively low efficiency

2.2.3 Compressed air energy storage (CAES)

A CAES plant has similar design as a gas turbine power plant. The basic difference to a conventional gas

turbine power plant is that the air is already compressed and the fuel consumptions can be significantly

lowered. The air is compressed during off peak hours and typically stored in an underground cavern,

vessel, or pipes. When the energy is needed the compressed air is mixed with natural gas and combusted in

a gas turbine to generate electricity. In a conventional gas turbine power plant about 2/3 of the energy

produced is consumed when pressurizing the air before combustion in the gas turbine. [5] In comparison

with a conventional gas turbine plant CAES consumes 40 % less fuel producing the same electricity output.

CAES usually is located near a suitable geological formation such as mines, depleted gas wells or salt

caverns.

Typical compressed air power plant has a power rating in the 110-290 MW range and can deliver power for

up to 10 hours [30]. There is about 440 MW installed worldwide [6]. The technology has been around since

the 1970’s but only two plants have been built. The first commercial CAES plant was built in 1978 in

Germany, with a capacity of 290 MW. The second commercial CAES was a 110 MW plant built 1991 in

Alabama, USA. These plants are used to supply peak load power.

Current research on CAES technology focus on development of adiabatic CAES systems where the heat

produced during compression is stored and reused to heat the compressed air before passing though the

turbine. This would eliminate the need for fuel in the system.

8

Advantages include:

- Very high energy capacity

Disadvantages include:

- Strong geological barrier. Despite many years of effort, no new suitable caverns have been

found.

- Comparatively slow response time

- Comparatively low efficiency

2.2.4 Battery energy storage (BESS)

Energy is stored chemically and electric energy is released during discharge through a redox reaction. A

basic battery cell consists of:

- Negative electrode or anode, gives electrons and oxidized during the redox reaction.

- Positive electrode or cathode, accepts electrons and is reduced during the redox reaction.

- Electrolyte, supplies medium for transfer of electrons.

The two electrodes are interconnected with an external circuit, which allows charge and discharge of the

cell. Depending of the desired output voltage and current multiple cells can be connected in serial or

parallel. There are several technologies to store electrical energy in batteries. The oldest, classical and

mature technology is Lead-acid. New technologies under development include Sodium Sulphurs and

Lithium-ion [7].

2.2.4.1 Sodium Sulphurs Batteries

The sodium sulphur battery consists of positive liquid sulphur electrode and a negative sodium electrode

separate by an alumina ceramic electrolyte. When the battery is discharged positive sodium ions flow

though to electrolyte and electrons flows in the external circuit producing around 2 V. This process is

reversed during charging; the positive sodium ions pass back though the electrolyte and reform elemental

sodium. The operational temperature of a sodium sulphur battery is high, about 300 ˚C. The high

temperature is required to maintain the molten states of the electrodes. The efficiency is about 80%. A

typical system has a rated power of 30 MW and able to provide power during 6 hours. There is about 316

MW installed worldwide [6].

2.2.4.2 Lithium-Ion Batteries

Lithium-ion batteries consists of a lithiated metal oxide cathode and a graphite carbon anode. The

electrolyte is made up of lithium salts. During charging lithium-ions from the cathode flows through the

electrolyte, to the anode where the ions combine with external electrons and is deposited as lithium atoms

between the carbon layers. When the battery is discharged this process is reversed. The efficiency of

lithium-ion battery system is high, about 90-95%. A typical system is has a rated power at 1-10 MW [6].

2.2.4.3 Lead-acid batteries

There are many types of lead-acid batteries but all can be described by the same basic chemistry. The

anode is made of lead dioxide and the cathode is made of metallic lead. The electrolyte consists of

sulphuric acid, which is consumed during the discharge. The efficiency of a lead-acid battery system is

about 70-80% [4]. Lead-acid battery system is the oldest and most recognized electrical energy storage

today in small and medium scaled systems [5]. It has been the default choice for many small and medium

scale energy storage applications despite many disadvantages like low life expectancy, low energy density,

high maintenance and environmental hazards related to the handling of lead and sulphuric acid. Lead-acid

battery system can be used in numerous applications; however the technology has rarely been used in large-

scale energy management applications [4]. The largest installation was a 10 MW, 40 MWh energy storage

plant in Californa, USA, operational during 1988-1997.

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2.2.4.4 Flow batteries

Flow battery energy storage system consists of two sets electrolytes that flow through two independent

loops. The loops are joined in the cell but separated by a membrane that prevent the electrolytes from

mixing but allow ion-exchange. Flow batteries have the advantage of being easy scalable, compared to

conventional battery cells. The fact that the electrolytes are stored outside the cell makes it possible to

increase the energy storage capacity simply by increasing the volume of the reservoirs of electrolyte. This

makes the technology suitable for large-scale systems [8]. The amount of energy stored is determined by

the size of the tanks [9].

There are various types of flow batteries technologies, e.g. ZnBr, Vanadium Redox and Polysulphide

Bromide. An example flow battery system is 15 MW, 120 MWh and efficiency of about 75 % from

Regenesys Technologies in England [9].

Advantages include:

- High power capacity

- Long life

- Scalable

Disadvantages include:

- Low power density

- High cost

- Moving mechanical parts, for example pumps.

2.2.5 Super conducting magnetic energy storage (SMES)

SMES store energy in a magnetic field; a DC current flowing through a superconducting coil creates the

field. Electric energy can be released from the system when needed. A power electronics interface is

required to connect the SMES to the grid. In order to sustain low losses the coil must be kept below a

critical temperature, somewhere around 4 K. The low temperature makes the resistive losses negligible

[11].

The response time for a charge- discharge cycle for SMES system is in the order of milliseconds. This

makes this technology suitable for power quality applications. The efficiency is high, over 90 %, however

the energy used to cool the system must be considered. SEMS systems has been proposed in a wide range

of energy storage capacities from 0.3 to 1000 MWh and power rating from 1 MW to 1000 MW [4,10].

Disadvantages of the SMES system are the massive electromagnetic fields that effect possible placement of

the systems.

Advantages include:

- High efficiency

- Comparatively quick response time

Disadvantages include:

- Massive electromagnetic fields

- Complex system due to cryogenically cooling

- High costs

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2.2.6 Supercapacitors

Supercapacitors or double layer capacitor store energy much in the same way as a conventional capacitor,

hence the amount of stored energy can be described by:

A double layer capacitor consists of two electrodes, a separator, electrolyte, two current collectors and

housing. A very high capacitance is obtained in this way. Super capacitors are suitable for high power

applications and offer very quick response times and high efficiency. Disadvantages are comparatively low

energy density, high self-discharge and high cost [7, 4,8]. Small units exists, lager is under development.

Typical power ratings are 1kW-250 kW and efficiencies in the ranges of 85-98% [8].

Advantages include:

- Comparatively quick response time

Disadvantages include:

- High self-discharge

- High cost

- Low energy density

2.3 Technology summary

Table 2.2. Summary of storage technologies [3,5,6,8,9,10].

Technology Typical

Nominal Power

Discharge

time

Respones

Time

Efficiency Lifetime

Pumped Hydroelectric Energy

Storage

100-4000 MW 6-24 h 10s -3 min 65-85% 30-75

years

Compressed air energy storage 25-30000 MW 4- 24 h 3-15 min 50-85% 20-40

years

Ba

tter

y

Flow Batteries 25 kW-10 MW 1-8 h 30 - 100 ms 65-85% 2-10

years Lithium Ion 10 kW - 10 MW 10 min - 1 h 85-90%

Lead Acid 50 kW - 30 MW 15 min – 4

h

70-80%

Sodium Sulphur 50 kW - 30 MW 1-8 h

75-90%

Supercapacitors 10 kW - 1 MW 1s - 1min 5-10 ms 85-95% 40 years

Superconduction Magnetic

energy storage

1 MW - 100 MW 1s - 1min 5-10 ms 85-95% 30-40

years

Flywheels 10 kW - 20 MW 1s - 1 h 5-10 ms 85-95% 20 years

PHS- and CEAS-plants exists, however few places remain where it is feasible to build. Great

environmental impact is associated with these two technologies. Flywheels, batteries, SMES:s and

supercapacitors are the energy storage systems that compete in the same area, where SMES is still a

research area and few commercial applications exists. Supercapacitors have lower rated power than both

flywheel and battery system.

Frequency regulation is a market expected to grow with the expansion of wind and solar power. The

frequency regulation market was 2010 worth US $495 million in the United States; a number expected to

increase [12]. The dominant method today for frequency regulation is throttling power generation up and

down, which is not efficient due to the fact that generators operate at an optimum when held steady at high

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output. Many power plants take a minute or longer to respond to dispatch signals. Therefore, grid operators

favour faster-acting regulators, such as flywheels and batteries.

Battery-based frequency regulators are cheaper per megawatt to install than flywheel and are a competitive

technology. But the flywheel energy storage manufacturer, Beacon Power, believes that the apparent cost

advantage of batteries will literally erode with time, as constant cycling degrades their capacity. David

Hawkins, a senior principal consultant for the Netherlands-based energy consulting firm KEMA, who until

2010 was chief engineer for integrating renewable energy at California's grid operator agrees that [13]:

”…batteries will lose their edge over flywheels under that level of use. A battery really doesn't like

to be totally charged and discharged, whereas flywheels can handle a pretty severe duty cycle."

A report for the U.S. Department of Energy also states that [12]:

“Flywheels and supercapacitors, with their high cycle life and ramping capabilities, are good

candidates for regulation. Batteries may be better for supplying load following, where cycle life

requirements and the ratio of peak power to stored energy are lower.”

3 FLYWHEEL ENERGY STORAGE

3.1 General

A literature review was conducted to find out the state of the art in flywheel systems. System design,

storage capacity and materials used were investigated.

To secure the reliability of the literature review information was gathered from multiple sources. These

include articles retrieved from international recognized databases, such as IEEExplore, Science Direct and

cited books relevant to the subject.

3.2 History

The use of flywheel to store energy is not a new technology. Basic flywheels such as stone wheels were

used to craft pottery thousands years ago. The stone wheel smoothens the pulsed power from the foot and

enabled a smooth rotation of the pottery turntable.

Under the industrial revolution the use of the flywheel increased significantly when the steam engine was

introduced. During this period technological development of flywheels started. The first milestone was

when Dr. A Stodola showed that certain shapes yield uniform stress distribution for isotropic materials. The

next milestone in flywheel development took place during 1970’s when applications for backup-power and

electric vehicles were proposed. During this period flywheels made of composite material was proposed

and built. The development continued during the 1980’s when magnetic bearings were introduced. Recent

developments in materials, magnetic bearings, microcomputers and power electronics have made it

possible to consider flywheels as competitive option for electric energy storage [14, 21].

3.3 Flywheel basics

Flywheels store energy in kinetic form. The energy is stored in a rotating mass and the amount of energy

stored is a function of the moment of inertia and angular velocity, as shown in equation (3.1).

(3.1)

is the moment of inertia and is the angular velocity. The moment of inertia is determined by the shape,

principal rotational axis and mass of the flywheel and is defined by the following equation.

(3.2)

Where is the distance from the rotational axis of the differential mass .

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Equation (3.1) state that greater gain in stored energy come from increasing the angular velocity, rather

than increasing the moment of inertia. This is because the stored energy scales with the square of angular

velocity and only linearly with the moment of inertia. As an example a flywheel with the shape of a thin

rim (

where is the outer radius and is the inner radius) is considered. All the mass is

concentrated at the infinitely thin outer rim. Thus from equation (3.2) the moment of inertia is given by

(3.3)

where is the mass and is the radius of the flywheel. The stored energy is given by

(3.4)

The amount of stored energy is limited by the tensile strength of the material. If the stresses in the flywheel

exceed the tensile strength of the material the flywheel will break apart. The limiting stress in a thin rim is

the tangential stress, which is given by equation (3.5) [15], where

(3.5)

is the maximum tensile strength and is the material density. From equation (3.4) and (3.5) the

maximum energy density and specific energy for a certain material can be obtained. Thus the specific

energy and energy density for the thin rim flywheel can be expressed as

(3.6)

(3.7)

From equation (3.7) it is clear that a material with high tensile strength is a requirement to obtain high

energy density. However for most applications the total mass of the system must be taken into

consideration which is considered with the specific energy of the flywheel, as described by equation (3.6).

This analysis of a thin rim flywheel shows that the specific energy is proportional to the maximum tensile

stress of the material divided by the mass density of the flywheel material. Equation (3.6) shows that a high

strength material with low density would be optimal for flywheels rotors. The factor

in equation (3.6) and

(3.7) is only valid for a flywheel with the shape of a thin rim.

A flywheel made of high-density materials, such as steel, would indeed store more energy than an

equivalent size flywheel of low-density material at equal angular velocity. However low density materials

develop lower internal stresses, which allow higher angular velocities. This enables designs that store same

amount of energy at a lower weight, enabling compact system design.

3.3.1 Geometries and material

A more general expression for the maximum specific energy and energy density given by

(3.8)

(3.9)

Where is the so-called shape factor and can be described as a measure of how efficient the material of the

flywheel is used. For a detailed derivation of the shape factor see [17]. Figure 3.1 shows the most common

types of flywheel geometries.

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Figure 3.1 Shape factor of common flywheel shapes [16]

The Laval disk (named after the Swedish engineer Gustav de Laval) has a shape factor of K = 1. This disk

has the properties such that the radial and tangential stress components remain equal throughout the entire

disk. Depending on the material used the optimal flywheel shape will differ. Isotropic materials, such as

steel, have equal strength in both the tangential and radial direction [16]. Anisotropic materials, like fibre-

reinforced composites, have unidirectional tensile strength, i.e. are stronger in the longitudinal fibre

direction. As shown in Figure 3.1 there are shapes better suited for these types of materials. A thin rim

(hollow circular cylinder) flywheel is a very good candidate for composite material as this geometry exploit

the high unidirectional strength of the fibres [16, 17]. Multiple sources [18, 16,15] state that a hollow

circular cylinder is the optimal shape for a composite flywheel rotor.

Table 3.1 Rotor material comparison [15,16]

Material Density

[kg/m^3]

Tensile strength

[GPa]

Specific energy

[Wh/kg]

Steel

4320 Steel 7700 1.52 50

AISI 4340 7800 1.80 64

Alloy

AlMnMg 2700 0.60 62

Titanium

TiAl6Zr 4500 1.20 74

Composites

E-glass 200 0.10 14

S-Glass 1920 1.4 210

Carbon T-1000 1520 1.95 350

Projected

composites

1780 10 780

Table 3.1 show the properties of different rotor material. Maximum specific energy is calculated with

equation (2.9) with . The data in the table shows, as already described above, that the best material

for a flywheel rotor is a high strength material with low density. Composite materials have both high

strength and low density and are ideal for flywheel rotors used for energy storage. A composite material

allows a higher rotational speed and this result in flywheel rotors with high specific energy. Composite

materials are therefore a better choice than metals when designing flywheel rotors. The theoretical specific

energy of composite rotors is around five times higher than metallic ones [20]. The high-speed flywheel

concept originated in the early 1970s. A researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory presented

an article in Scientific American proposing a new approach to rotor design, recommending the use of

composite materials instead of metal [21].

14

Composite materials also have safety advantage over metallic material. If a potential failure at high angular

velocity and the radial stresses exceed the material strength composite flywheel is less likely to break apart

in free flying projectiles. Instead circumferential cracks develop and the flywheel breaks apart gradually.[4]

3.4 Flywheel systems components

Basically, a modern flywheel energy storage system (FESS), consists of five key components; 1) flywheel

rotor, 2) bearings, 3) electrical machine, 4) power electronic interface, and 5) housing.

3.4.1 Electrical machine

The energy is stored in the flywheel, as presented in section 3.3, and in order to charge and discharge the

flywheel must be coupled to an electrical machine. When the flywheel is charging the machine accelerates

the flywheel and when energy is extracted the machine slows the flywheel down. Thus the electrical

machine must be able to operate as both a motor and a generator. In [18] a design is described with separate

motor and generator, however the typical design of a FESS is to use only one machine.

The key design criteria that the machine must meet include high efficiency, high power density, low idle

losses and low rotor losses. High efficiency is an important requirement for FESS to be an effective energy

storage system. Low rotor losses are critical since most FESS operates in vacuum and the heat removal is

limited. Low idle or stand-by losses are desirable for energy storage over longer times.

Common types of electrical machines used in FESS include: the induction machine (IM), the switched

reluctance machine (SR) and the permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) [22]. A summary of

the main properties of these machines is summarized in Table 3.2

Table 3.2 Advantages and disadvantages of common electrical machines in FESS [15, 16,22].

Advantages Disadvantages

PMSM + No need for excitation - Risk of demagnetization

+ Rotor design complexity reduced, no need

for electric wiring

- Electromagnetic spinning losses at zero

torque

+ High overall efficiency possible - Low-strength of PM material require

structural support against centrifugal forces

+ Highest power density - Sensitive to heating

IM + Demagnetization impossible - Poor overload capability

+ Possibility to control excitation field, no

electromagnetic spinning losses

- High maintenance

+ Can be built with low-cost high-strength

materials

- Adds complexity to the rotor design, due to

the need of wiring

- High losses due to the need of excitation

SR + Very robust - Low power factor and low power density

- Need of excitation

+ No idle losses - High rotor eddy current losses

In most high-speed flywheel energy storage systems PMSM is chosen due to superior properties when it

comes to power density and efficiency.

3.4.2 Bearings

The rotor must be supported by bearings. The bearings minimize the friction and keep the rotor in place. In

most modern flywheel designs high speed is desirable, implying extensive requirements on the bearings.

The bearings must have low losses in order to run the flywheel system efficient.

15

Mechanical bearings are the best choice for FESS with speed under 20000 rpm and with speeds over 40000

rpm magnetic bearings are the only option [19]. Mechanical bearings offer straightforward implementation

and low initial cost but relative high friction. The need of lubrication makes these types of bearings

unsuitable for high-speed flywheel systems. As later will be discussed, high speed flywheel are operated in

low-pressure environment, therefore lubrication of mechanical bearings is hard to implement [23].

Magnetic bearings are not in contact with the rotor or shaft and offer low losses, long lifetime and require

no lubrication. These properties make magnetic bearing suited for use in high-speed flywheel systems.

Basically, a magnetic bearing consists of permanent magnets that levitate the mass of the flywheel and

controlled electromagnets that stabilize the flywheel rotor radially. The stabilization requires a complex

control system, with expensive sensors. A combination of both mechanical and magnetic bearings is used

in some systems [15].

High temperature super-conducting magnetic bearing (HTS) is a recently developed type of bearing which

significantly lowers the losses [16]. With this type of bearing a control system is not needed but the bearing

system requires cryogenic cooling [15]. These types of bearings are still under research and development

by Boeing in 2011.

Table 3.3 Comparison of different types of bearings [27].

Bearing type Approximate power loss

Advantages Disadvantages

Ball (mechanical)

5–200 W + Simple, low cost, compact

- Needs lubrication, seals, hubs and axle.

Magnetic 10–100 W + Acts directly on rotor, allows high speeds.

- High cost, requires ‘‘touchdown bearings’’ and reliability uncertainty.

HTS 10–50 W + Low loss, high forces - Long-term development requirement, housekeeping losses (cryogenic cooling)

3.4.3 Housing

One of the more important parameters of FESS is efficiency. The aerodynamical drag loss contributes

largely to the total system losses [24], as these losses increase with the cube of the rotational speed.

Therefore, the losses will be significant if a high-speed flywheel is operated in atmosphere pressure.

Therefore reduction of these losses is an effective way to reduce total losses of the overall system

efficiency. One solution to reduce the aerodynamically drag loss is to mount the flywheel in a vacuum

housing. This eliminates air drag and thereby reduces the losses. However, this adds complexity to the

overall system and requires auxiliary system such as vacuum pump and a cooling system. A vacuum

environment may require a more efficient cooling system that can handle heat removal from the electrical

machine and other part of the flywheel system that produces heat, since the heat transfer is less effective in

vacuum.

Another approach is proposed in [24]. Instead of operating the flywheel in low pressure it is shown that by

using a gas-mixture of helium and air can be another effective way to reduce aerodynamically drag loss.

One advantage is that the requirement on the cooling system is reduced.

The task for the housing is not only to reduce losses; it must also withstand a potential failure. If the rotor

breaks apart the housing chamber must be able to stop free flying projectiles. The housing is typically thick

steel or other high strength material. The safety can be enhanced by multiple-barriers. The flywheel system

16

can be installed underground where a thick steel housing can provide a first protection and a second barrier

is provide by the underground installation [26].

3.4.4 Power electronic interface

In modern FESS, power electronics are a vital part of the system. It provides a control interface for the

electrical machine and interface for the power transfer. The power electronic interface usually consists of a

bi-directional inverter/converter and a variable speed drive. The power from/to the flywheel is available at

a DC-link. To interface the FESS to an ac-grid, another bi-directional converter is needed, i.e. the converter

may be single-stage (AC-DC) or double-stage (AC-DC-AC).

The generator will produce AC current with decreasing frequencies as the flywheel slows down. It is

therefore needed to convert the AC current to a constant frequency; this is done by the power electronic

interface. Depending on requirements of the FESS application the controller operation of the converters

may vary. For a FESS interconnected with an ac-grid, control of both active and reactive power may be

needed.

Desired attributes for the power electronic interface are high power capability, high switching frequency

and high efficiency. With the recent development of semiconductors, rectifiers and power converters can

meet high power ratings and efficient demands. The converter is usually based on insulated-gate bipolar

transistors (IGBTs). The power electronic components are compact which make it possible to house them

in a unit that is comparable to the flywheel unit itself [15].

3.5 Range of Capacities

When it comes to the power and energy capacity of a FESS it is important to point out that these are

completely decoupled. This fact can be shown by equation (3.9), the specific energy of the flywheel is set

by four mechanical parameters: Shape, strength of material, mass density, and angular velocity. The

electrical machine and the power electronics is not part of this equation and therefore do not affect the

energy stored in the flywheel. However, the rotor of the electrical machine does indeed add to the total

amount of stored energy but generally it contributes significantly less than the actual flywheel.

Furthermore, the power level of the system depends mainly on the properties of the electrical machine and

the power electronic interface. Thus the systems energy storage capacity is limited by the mechanical

properties (mainly rotational speed limit of the flywheel) and the limit for the power capacity is set by the

electrical machine and power electronics.

Individual flywheels with the storage capacity up to 138 kWh have been stated in literature [15]. However,

to the author’s knowledge, the range of stored energy for commercially available FESS is 0.2 – 25 kWh. It

should be pointed out that several flywheel units can be connected in parallel/series to increase the storage

and/or power capabilities.

The data for the specific energy in presented in Table 3.1 is only considering theoretical limit of the

flywheel rotor. Specific energy for a complete system must take the all the system components into

consideration, which will imply a decreased specific energy for the entire system. Commercially available

FESS today has specific energy significantly lower than the values presented in Table 3.1[26]. With the

development of new high strength materials, which enables higher speeds the specific energy for the

complete system will increase. According to [27] FESS with specific energy up to 200 Wh/kg and specific

power up to 30 kW/kg is expected in the next few decades.

3.6 Environmental issues

The materials used in FESS are generally non-hazardous. The materials used are mainly; composite-fibres

(carbon-, glass- and epoxy-fibers), steel, copper, aluminium, silicon and rare earth magnates. Under

normal operation there are close to-zero emissions. If properly handled all materials used can be re-cycled

at end-of-life [4]. The main hazardous concern is the potential failure of the flywheel rotor.

3.7 Commercially available flywheel systems

There are a number of companies around the world that manufacture flywheel energy storage systems. This

section provides an overview over some of the systems that are commercially available today.

17

Flywheel energy storage systems are usually categorized as either low-speed or high-speed. The border

between these two types is found around 10 000 rpm [7]. Low-speed flywheels have long been

commercially available, these systems typically utilize metal rotor and are characterized by low energy

density. The most common application for low speed flywheels is to act as a power quality device to

provide ride-through of interruptions up to 15 s long or to bridge the shift from one power source to

another. Examples of leading commercial manufactures of low speed flywheels are Piller and Active Power

[24].

The current R&D on flywheel energy storage systems has focused towards high-speed composite

machines, running at rotational speed over 10,000 rpm. As shown above the high directional strength

properties of composites materials, combined with their comparatively low density, allows optimal design

of the overall system with respect to specific energy [29]. Examples of leading commercial manufactures of

high speed flywheel systems are Beacon Power and Vycon Energy [28,29].

3.7.1 Beacon Power

Beacon Power Corporation, based in Massachusetts, USA, aims to develop advanced flywheel-based

energy storage systems. Their first systems was backup power solutions for telecommunication application

but the focus have now changed towards development of grid-scale flywheel energy storage system for

applications such as grid-scale frequency regulation service.

Beacon Power's main product is the “Smart Energy Matrix”, based on a concept of a multi-flywheel energy

storage system. This system consists of multiple 100kW/25kWh flywheel units. The main components of

each flywheel unit are the following [29]:

- Rotor assembly – Composite flywheel, metal hub and shaft, interface for active lift and magnetic

bearing system, motor rotor

- Motor/generator – Permanent magnet machine

- Magnetic bearings and active lift system

- Vacuum system

- Vacuum housing – Structural support for the rotor assembly and low-pressure vessel.

Figure 3.2. Conceptual overview of Beacon Power Flywheel System [44].

Each flywheel unit is coupled to a bi-directional power converter, which acts as an inverter and variable

speed motor drive. The power converter provides a DC interface which makes it possible to connect

multiple units in parallel to a common DC bus bar in order to meet higher power demands, as shown in

Figure 3.3.

18

Figure 3.3 Multiple flywheel units parallel connected to a common DC bus bar.

Beacon Power has a 20 MW test “Smart energy matrix”-plant in operation, located in Stephentown, USA.

The purpose of this plant is to provide frequency regulations services. This plant is comprised of 200

parallel-connected 100kW/25kWh flywheel units. The speed range of the rotor is 8000 – 16000 rpm. The

plant can provide a maximum output power of 20 MW for 15 minutes. The response time is <4 seconds,

input/output voltage is 480 V three phase AC, 50 / 60 Hz [25].

Figure 3.4 Left: Beacon Power 20 MW Smart energy matrix test facility. Right: Close up of flywheel unit. [26]

3.7.2 Vycon Energy

Vycon market a system with product name VDC-XE which consists of a high speed steel flywheel with a

speed range of 14,500 -36750 rpm. The flywheel is coupled to a high-speed motor/generator that interfaces

via power electronics to a 400-600 V DC-link. The maximum output power for one unit is 300 kW.

Discharge time at rated output is around 14 s. It is possible to parallel several units to increase power output

and/or discharge time.

Vycon targets the UPS market segment and the flywheel system can be an alternative to lead acid batteries.

Another application is in the railway industry (traction applications). The flywheel system absorbs breaking

energy from the train, which can be used when the train accelerates. This can give subway operator a way

to lower their energy consumption. Vycon also market their flywheel system for usage in large cranes. The

use is similar to traction system, breaking energy is stored in the flywheel and released when the crane

needs power to lift [29].

3.7.3 Piller

Piller is another company that provides flywheel based UPS solution and load levelling in local grids, such

as traction applications. Piller flywheel technology is based on a low speed steel flywheel with a speed

range of 3,600 to 1,500 rpm. The electrical machine is a high power synchronous machine with a maximum

power rating of 1.65 MW. The maximum discharge time is around 10 seconds [31].

19

3.7.4 Active Power

Active Power provides flywheel based UPS solutions. The core technology is a vacuum operated low speed

flywheel with a power rating of 250 kW. The flywheel is made from forged steel and has an operational

rotational speed range of 2500-7700 rpm. The system utilizes a combination of ceramic ball bearings and

magnetic lift to increase bearing lifetime. The power is available either at a DC-link or AC-terminal. One

single flywheel unit can provide the nominal output power if 250 kW for 14 seconds. The standby

efficiency is 99,8%. Modular system design, were multiple flywheel units is parallel connected can provide

power up to 2 MW [32].

Figure 3.5 Active Power flywheel unit.

3.7.5 Market summary

As seen on the examples above the flywheel market is focusing on UPS and traction system. With

exception for Beacon Power all companies mentioned above are competitors in the UPS solution market.

These systems are mainly for power quality application where long discharge times not are needed. At

present and to the author’s knowledge, Beacon Power the only company focusing on grid-scale solution.

Table 3.4 Manufactures of flywheel systems [29,30,31,32].

Manufacturer Rated power [kW] Discharge time [s] Rot. Speed [rpm]

Low Speed

Active Power 250 14 2500-7700

Piller 1650 10 1800-3600

High Speed

Vycon Energy 215 14 14500-36700

Beacon Power 100 900 8000-16000

20

3.8 Summary

Features that flywheel energy storage systems include:

- High power density

- Relative high specific energy density

- Low or no capacity degradation during discharge/charge. – Flywheel have very high cycling

capacity, up to 90 000 charge-discharge cycles have been reported.

- Easy to measure the state of charge - Function of the rotational velocity.

- Very low maintenance – Manufactures claim that flywheel have close to zero maintenance.

- Quick response time

- Scalable and no geological barrier

- Low environmental impact

- Long lifetime > 20 years

21

4 MODEL DESIGN

4.1 SCOPE

In this thesis the first steps in the development of simulation FESS model were taken. The essential

components have been identified which are needed for simulating a FESS system. The model is built using

the electromagnetic time domain transient simulation environment PSCAD/EMTDC. The model can later

be used for evaluating a grid connected FESS capability to handle various power quality problems or other

applications in electrical grids. The model is later verified with usage in a peak shaving application. The

model developed is further described in appendix A1.

The model and control system is built using standard components from the PSCAD/EMTDC master

library. The focus will be on the power electronic interface. In a real system multiple parallel-connected

power converters are needed to meet the power requirements, however to simplify the developed model

one power converter module is considered.

4.2 Model description

The developed model of a the flywheel energy storage system (FESS) include the following components

- Two voltage source converters (VSC)

- Permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM)

- Step-up transformer

- Grid

The VSC connected to the PMSM (machine-side VSC) provides a variable speed control for the PMSM

while the grid connected VSC (grid-side VSC) control the DC-voltage of the DC-link. The VSCs are

formed by six Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs). The VSCs are back-to-back connected to enable

bidirectional power flow. The grid is modelled as a voltage source.

M/GFW ~=~=

~

Step-up transformer GridVSCsPMSMFlywheel

Figure 4.1 Model topology

4.3 Sinusoidal pulse width modulation

In order to produce the desired AC output from both VSC, sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) is

performed. The output from the VSC is a square wave with two possible voltage values: +Vdc/2 or

–Vdc/2. The three phase converter bridge consists of six switches, each formed by an IGBT with an anti-

parallel diode. The anti-parallel diodes provide protection for peak load inductive current when the switch

is off.

Figure 4.2 Schematic figure of a VSC

22

A schematic view of the VSC is shown in Figure 4.2. The gate signals for controlling the switches (G1-G6

in figure 4.2) are generated by comparing a triangular wave (carrier) with a sinusoidal wave (desired phase

voltage reference), as shown in Figure 4.3.

Figure 4.3 Voltage reference for phase A, B or C and triangular wave

When the instantaneous value of reference voltage is greater than the triangular wave the gate signal is 1

and 0 when the voltage reference is less than the triangular wave. This signal controls switch G1 and the

inverse signal controls switch G4. The configuration of the switches is shown in Figure 4.2.

The gate signals are generated in the same manner for all three phase, the voltage reference for each phase

is compared with the triangular wave and the gate signals for the corresponding switch is generated. G1 and

G4 corresponds to phase A, G3 and G6 to phase B, G5 and 62 to phase C.

The output voltage for the VSC is not a perfect sine wave and will contain voltage components with higher

frequencies than the desired fundamental frequency. However the undesired harmonics can be reduced by

using an appropriate filter, for example a low-pass filter. The amplitude of the output voltage is governed

by

. is the modulation index, with is always less or equal to 1.

4.4 D-Q-0 Transformation

The mathematical analysis of three phase system can be complicated; however there exists methods to

simplify the analysis of such systems. One of these methods is the dq0 transformation. This transformation

simplifies the analysis and derivation of control systems of three phase synchronous machines and power

converter and will be used in the following sections.

The dq0 transformation is a mathematical transformation used to transfer stationary three phase (abc)

quantizes to three rotating quantities (dq0). In balanced three phase systems the 0-componets can be

neglected, and the dq0 transformation can be reduced to d- and q- components. In this thesis only balanced

system are considered. The d- and q-components are time invariant (DC quantities). The abc-dqo and the

inverse dq0-abc transformation are performed according to the following matrix equations.

(4.1a)

(4.1b)

23

Where , are the dqo components, , , are the three phase components and is the reference

angle to the stationary three phase component . The d,q components are rotating with the rate of change of

the angular position. In Figure 4.4 a graphical representation of the dq transform is shown.

θ xa

xb

xc

xq

xd

dθ/dt

Figure 4.4 Graphical representation of the dq-transformation.

4.5 Motor/generator

The motor/generator is modelled with a permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) model from the

standard PSCAD library. The model is a linear state model in the d-q rotating reference frame; the

equations of the PMSM are expressed in the d-q reference frame to transform the nonlinear equations three

phase equations to a linear state model [33]. The dq representation also simplifies the implementation of

the control system. The stator voltages is given by the following equations

(4.2)

Where and are the d- and q-axis stator inductances, respectively. is the angular velocity of the

rotor, are the stator currents and is the rotor flux. The electromagnetic torque can be calculated

with the following equation [33]

(4.3)

Where is the torque and is the number of magnetic poles in the rotor. The machine considered has

two magnetic poles, which implies that the electrical frequency is equal to the angular frequency of the

machine rotor. The maximum torque is achieved by keeping, , hence the electromagnetic torque is

given by [33]

(4.4)

24

4.5.1 Machine-side VSC control strategy

The PMSM control is based on vector control, also called field oriented control. This control method

consists of controlling the stator currents. The goal of the vector control is to separately control the torque

producing and magnetizing flux components of the stator current. To achieve this decupled control, the d-

axis component of the stator current is aligned with the rotor flux. This leads to a control structure similar

to the control of a DC-machine. In Figure 4.5 the block diagram for the PMSM control implementation is

presented.

The control system consists of the following subsystems:

- Current measurement

- Rotor angle and speed measurement

- Current control

PMSM

ABC to dqCurrent

Control

ABC to dq PWM

Isd ref*

vsq ref*

vsd ref*

isq

Ga

te

Sig

na

ls

isa

isb

isc

isd

Rotor angle

and speed

messurement

θr

ωr

vsa

re

f*

vsb

re

f*

vsc r

ef*

θr

Isq ref*

Figure 4.5 Vector control of the PMSM.

The stator currents are measured ( , ,, ,) and transformed from abc to the rotating d-q reference frame

( , ). To keep the d-axis aligned to the rotor flux, the rotor angle (θ) is used in this transformation. To

control the stator currents a current control is derived from equation (4.2) Laplace transform yields

(4.5)

The current controller can be formed by a feedback loop as shown in Figure 4.5. The error between the

reference stator currents and

and the measured stator currents are processed by a PI

controller. As shown in equation (4.5) is the d- and q-axis stator currents components are coupled and

needs to be cancelled to achieve a functioning current control. In order to keep the d- and q-axis

components of the stator reference voltages synchronized to the rotor, the rotor angle (θ) is used in the d-q

to abc transformation. The coupled machine dynamics are added to the output signal from the controller

which results in the voltage reference signals (

). The voltage reference signals passed the

PWM modulator which outputs the gate signals to the IGBT bridge.

25

ωrΨm

+

-

+

-

ωrLsqisq

isd ref*

isd

PIvsd ref*

+

- +

+

ωrLsdisd

Isq ref*

isq

PIvsq ref*

+

Figure 4.6 Current controller.

The reference currents passed to the current control is calculated either by a speed controller or power

controller. The speed controller is implemented as shown in the following block diagram

ω*

ω

PI

-

+ Isq ref*

Figure 4.7 Speed controller.

As shown in Figure 4.7 the speed controller calculates the q-axis current reference signal (

), which

is proportional to the torque according to equation (4.4), by finding the difference between the reference

speed (ω*) and the measured speed (ω). The PI controller process the error in order to achieve accurate

control.

The power controller also calculates a q-axis current reference signal. Since the power developed when the

flywheel deceleration is given by

(4.6)

Where is the angular velocity of the flywheel, is the power reference and is the torque. The torque

required to keep a constant power output can be calculated as

(4.7)

Assuming a stiff shaft coupling between the flywheel and generator, the mechanical power is equal the

electrical power, . The q-axis current reference, , can by calculated by combing equation

(4.7) and (4.4).

(4.8)

26

P*

P

PI 1/ω 1/Ψ3/2

-

+ isq ref*

Figure 4.8 Power controller

The power controller is implemented as shown Figure 4.8. The error between the reference power (P*) and

the measured power (P) is processed by a PI-controller in order to achieve accurate control.

4.5.2 Grid connected VSC Model

The objective of the gird-side converter is to keep the DC-link voltage constant regardless of the magnitude

and direction of the PMSM power output. The control system shown in Figure 4.9 consists of the following

subsystems:

- RMS voltage measurement

- Current measurement

- DC voltage control

- Current control

- Phase-locked loop (PLL)

i d i q

Current

Control

~

Transfomer Grid

ABC to

d-q

iq ref*= 0

id ref*

PWM

Ga

te

Sig

na

ls

d-q to

ABCvtq ref*

vtd ref*

Rf Lf

vsd

vsa

vsb

vsc

vta

vtc

vtc

Vdc

Control

vdc

Vdcref*

vdc

PLL

va

re

f*

vb

re

f*

vc r

ef*

θp

ita

itc

itb

Figure 4.9 Complete control system of grid-side VSC

The AC-dynamics of the VSC model in the stationary three phase (abc) can be described with the

following equations.

(4.9)

27

Where are the output voltages from the VSC, , are the grid side voltages , , ,

are the three phase currents. is the interface resistance and is the interface inductance.

4.5.3 Grid-side VSC control strategy

Transforming equation (4.9) to the rotating dq reference frame synchronized with the grid voltage yields

[36].

(4.10)

Where and are the output voltages from the VSC, and are the grid side voltages, and

are the output d-axis q-axis currents components and is the system frequency in radians per second.

With the dq-reference frame synchronized to the grid voltage ( ) d- and q-components become:

(4.11)

The d- and q-axis currents in equation (4.9) are coupled with the terms and respectively. In

order to derive independent current control loop for the d-axis and q-axis currents these terms must be

cancelled. Equation (4.8) transformed to the laplace-domain gives

(4.12)

By denoting

(4.13)

and based on the decupled compensator model presented in [34] the VSC model can be described by two

decupled first order systems as shown in Figure 4.10.

1

--------

sLf+Rf

Itq utq

1

--------

sLf+Rf

Itd utd

Figure 4.10 Decoupled VSC model.

The VSC can now be controlled with the input signals and . These input signals, and are

computed by subtracting the reference currents value ( and ) by the measured current (

and ). The error is processed by a PI controller and outputs and .

From these signals the VSC terminal voltage references ( are computed be adding the

compensation terms according to equation (4.13). The terminal voltage references are then passed to the

PWM, which outputs the gating signals to the IGBT bridge. In order to synchronize the frequency of the

terminal voltage with the grid frequency, the phase angle of the grid voltage is obtained from the phase-

locked loop is used in the dq-abc transformation of the voltage references passed to the PWM.

28

The derived control loops are capable of separately controlling the d- and q-axis currents, as shown in

Figure 4.11.

+

- +

-+

ωLfitq

vsd

Itd ref*

itd

+

-

ωLfitditq

+

-

PI

PI

Itq ref*

utd

utq

vtd ref*

vtq ref*

Figure 4.11 Grid-side VSC current controller.

The DC-link voltage is controlled by exchanging active power between the grid and the VSC by controlling

the DC-link voltage can be controlled [38], hence the DC-voltage controller generates a d-axis current

reference signal . The error between the reference DC-voltage value and the measured DC-voltage

is processed by a PI controller, as shown in Figure 4.12. The output is limited to make sure the current

reference is kept in safe operation range of the VSC.

+

-

Vdc ref*

Vdc

Itd ref*PI

Figure 4.12 DC voltage control

The reactive power can be calculated with the following equation, with as stated in equation (4.11)

(4.14)

Hence the reactive power is controlled by the q-axis current. The q-axis current reference signal is set equal

to zero in order to maintain unity power factor [35].

4.6 Flywheel

The flywheel is modelled as inertia added to the PMSM rotor. The flywheel is assumed to have a direct

connection between the motor/generators rotor shaft. The dynamics of the rotor/flywheel is modelled with

the following equation

(4.15)

Where is the electromagnetic torque, is the mechanical losses, is the angular velocity of the

flywheel, is the damping coefficient and is the inertia of the flywheel.

29

5 SIMULATION

5.1 Case study

To verify the flywheel energy storage system (FESS) a peak shaving case is considered. The case will show

that the FESS can supply a sudden peak load and then recharge. This case is chosen to show the

operational characteristics of a flywheel energy storage system. The aim of this case study is to test the

FESS capability to transfer active power from the PMSM to the grid and vice versa. The load considered is

a star connected resistive load, as shown in Figure 5.1. This load is switched in at a certain time, and should

be supplied by the flywheel system instead of the grid. Therefore, a 3-phase breaker is interconnected

between the load and the grid transmission line.

M/G =~=

~FW

Transfomer

0.690k V / 30 kV Grid

~

Figure 5.1 Case study topology.

The case study is carried out with the machine running at 50 Hz (3000 rpm). When the machine is running

at 3000 rpm the flywheel is fully charged. The resistances of the IGBT switches are chosen to a low level, 1

uΩ, which makes the system close to ideal. The mechanical losses of the flywheel is neglected, hence the

term in equation (4.15) is disregarded. The damping coefficient, , is chosen to 0.02 PU. The stator

inductance is measured in PSCAD/EMDTC and the d- and q axis components are assumed to be equal

( ). The measure value is 0.15 PU. The machine is rated at 3 MW and the three phase resistive

load is chosen to 0.5 pu (1.5 MW) of the rated power of the PMSM. The parameter for the case study is

presented in Table 5.1.

30

Table 5.1. Parameters of the case study.

PMSM

Rated power Rated frequency Rated Voltage

3 MVA 50 Hz 690 V

Magnetic flux Stator Inductance Flywheel/Rotor Inertia

1 PU 0.15 PU 152 kgm^2

Machine-side VSC

Switching frequency

2000 Hz

Grid-side VSC

Switching frequency Interface inductance Interface resistance

1800 Hz 0.382 mH 9.6 mΩ

DC-link voltage DC-link capacitor

1.1 kV 1000 mF

Load

600 ohm per phase

Transformer

Low voltage side High Voltage side

690 V 30 kV

The case study simulation was carried out as follows

1. The PMSM initially run at rated speed of 3000 rpm. The speed controller maintains the reference

value, as describe in section 4.5.1. The FESS is fully charged.

2. After 1 sec the load is switched in by closing the breaker. The PMSM control system change to

power control and a reference signal of 0.5 pu is fed to the power controller. The FESS should now

discharging and provide power to the load in order to shave the peak.

3. After 3 sec the load is disconnected and the PMSM control system change to speed control and a

speed reference of 1 PU (3000 rpm) is fed to the speed controller. The FESS system should

recharge until the speed increases to the reference value.

31

5.2 Simulation results

The FESS is preforming as expected. When the load is connected the FESS is supplying the power required

by the load, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5.1 Active power FESS (blue ), load (red) and grid (green).

Figure 5. shows that during the time the load is connected the FESS supplies the active power to the load

while the grid power is zero. When the load is disconnected and the grid starts to supply power to the

PMSM in order to recharge the FESS.

As the FESS is discharging the speed of the flywheel is decreasing. The speed decreases from 3000 rpm to

approximately 1600 rpm during the discharge, as shown in Figure 5.2. At 4.2 seconds the FESS starts to

recharge and the speed is increasing until the speed of the flywheel reaches 3000 rpm.

Figure 5.2 Rotational speed of the flywheel.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10-2.5

-2

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

Active p

ow

er

[MW

]

Time [s]

FESS

Load

Grid

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101400

1600

1800

2000

2200

2400

2600

2800

3000

3200

Rota

tional speed [

rpm

]

Time [s]

32

6 CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION

A technical description of a flywheel energy storage system has been outlined. The main system

components, i.e. flywheel, electrical machine, power electronic interface, bearing system, and housing have

been described. It has been shown that composite materials are advantageous when building flywheel

rotors due to its higher tensile strength to density ratio. This allows high-speed rotation and therefore high

specific energy, which enables compact design. There are multiple options when choosing the electrical

machine. It has been concluded that a permanent magnet synchronous machine is the most advantageous

design, mainly due to advantages in efficiency and high power density.

As the grid is likely to develop into a more dynamic system with future development of smart grid

technology, the author concludes that the functional requirements on the power interface of the FESS are

expected to increase. It should be able to handle for example load following and power quality services.

FESS can be the solution for a multiple of applications in the electrical utility system, such as load

levelling, frequency regulation and renewable energy capacity firming. FESS is best suited for applications,

which are characterized by high cycling and fast dynamics. The drawbacks are the relative short discharge

time. BESS and FESS have common characteristics. Comparing these systems FESS has advantages such

as higher power density, no cycling degradation, environmentally friendly and fast response time. However

FESS system must become cheaper to really be an alternative to battery system (UPS). With further

development of flywheel rotors, power electronics and magnetic bearings flywheel energy storage system

will be a strong candidate for grid applications up to multiple megawatts.

Today fully commercial FESS exists primarily in the UPS market with both high-speed and low-speed

technology. The systems are marketed as an alternative to other UPS solutions, such as lead-acid batteries.

To the author’s knowledge there is only one company, Beacon Power, focusing on grid-scale FESS.

Beacon Power markets their FESS as a competitive alternative solution for frequency regulation. However,

they are in a development stage of the technology and have only one test facility operational.

In this thesis work a simulation model of a FESS has been developed by using the electromagnetic time

domain transient simulation environment PSCAD/EMTDC. The main model components include PMSM

coupled to a variable speed drive and grid connected converter. A rudimentary control system has also been

implemented. A case study showed the operational principles of the FESS. It can be concluded that the

model has the necessary functions to make further studies of a FESS.

A difficulty during the studies was the lack of system context, describing the smart grid environment,

which was aimed to be defined after a working FESS model in PSCAD. With hindsight, a system context

should have been clearly defined before starting to develop the FESS model. This is crucial when designing

the entire model, because depending on requirements of the FESS application and grid characteristics the

power controller operation of the converters may vary which also impacts the design. The model lacked the

system context and it was therefore difficult to draw any other conclusion other than the flywheel

operational characteristics; the FESS in the case study can supply the resistive load with 1.5 MW during

4.2 seconds.

I think FESS can be a good solution as to electrical energy storage, however there is still a need of

extensive development (R&D) and further cost reduction in order to make it competitive alternative. The

battery industry has up to now gained more attention in media, more R&D and financial support. This is

interesting due to the fact that batteries will literally erode with time, as constant cycling degrades their

capacity; an issue not present in the FESS concept. It is clear that energy storage is needed in the smart grid

environment. In the future, the most probable scenario is a market with various technologies of ESS, each

with its unique niche.

33

7 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK

Future work into the concept of mechanical energy storage system splits into three main areas:

Mechanical design and development of the flywheel rotor

Development of the bearing system

Development of the electrical machine

As to the simulation model development of model the following steps should be further worked out

Connection to an advanced grid model (eg. describing dynamical load variations)

Further development of the grid side control, such as reactive power control

Detailed analysis of the dynamics of the control system for booth power converters.

It would be interesting to model the functionality of a FESS in a renewable capacity firming case. A wind

turbine with integrated flywheel energy store for example.

34

8 ACKNOWLEDAGEMETS

I would like thank my supervisor Frans Dijkhuizen for giving me the opportunity to do my master thesis at

ABB Corporate Research.

Also, I wish to thank Johan Abrahamsson and Magnus Hedlund at the division of electricity at Uppsala

University for their feedback and help during the work with this master thesis. Furthermore I wish to thank

the examiners of this thesis Kjell Pernestål and Hans Bernhoff.

Finally I wish to give my thanks to Linda Karlsson who has been a great support throughout the whole

project.

35

9 REFERENCES

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Requirements and the Resultant Benefits of a Fully Functioning Smart Grid. Electric Power Research

Institute. 2011.

[2] European Technology Platform SmartGrids, “European Technology Platform

Smart Grids”, April 2010. Available online:

http://www.smartgrids.eu/documents/SmartGrids_SDD_FINAL_APRIL2010.pdf

[3] Jim Eyer , “Energy Storage for the Electricity Grid: Benefits and Market Potential Assessment Guide”,

Sandia National Laboratories, October 2009

[4] I. Gyuk. “EPRI-DOE Handbook of Energy Storage for Transmission and Distribution Applications”. U.

S. Department of Energy

[5] http://www.electricitystorage.org/ 2011-03-01

[6] D. Rastler. “Electricity Energy Storage Technology Options A White Paper Primer on Applications,

Costs and Benefit”. Electric Power Research Institute 2009

[7] Ioannis Hadjipaschalis, Andreas Poullikkas, Venizelos Efthimiou, “Overview of current and future

energy storage technologies for electric power applications”, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,

Volume 13, Issues 6-7, August-September 2009, Pages 1513-1522

[8] H. Ibrahim, A. Ilinca, J. Perron, “Energy storage systems--Characteristics and comparisons, Renewable

and Sustainable Energy Reviews”, Volume 12, Issue 5, June 2008, Pages 1221-1250

[9] Vazquez, S.; Lukic, S.M.; Galvan, E.; Franquelo, L.G.; Carrasco, J.M.; , "Energy Storage Systems for

Transport and Grid Applications," Industrial Electronics, IEEE Transactions on , vol.57, no.12, pp.3881-

3895, Dec. 2010

[10] Guerrero, M.A.; Romero, E.; Barrero, F.; Milanes, M.I.; Gonzalez, E.; , "Overview of medium scale

energy storage systems," Compatibility and Power Electronics, 2009. CPE '09. , vol., no., pp.93-100, 20-22

May 2009

[11] Alamri, B.R.; Alamri, A.R.; , "Technical review of energy storage technologies when integrated with

intermittent renewable energy," Sustainable Power Generation and Supply, 2009. SUPERGEN '09.

International Conference on , vol., no., pp.1-5, 6-7 April 2009

[12] Brendan J. Kirby, “Frequency Regulation Basics and Trends”, OAK RIDGE NATIONAL

LABORATORY, dec 2004

[13] PETER FAIRLEY, Flywheels Keep the Grid in Tune, IEE Spectrum June 2011

[14] Bitterly, J. (1997). “Flywheel technology past, present, and 21st Century projections”. Energy

Conversion Engineering Conference, Proceedings of the 32nd Intersociety, 4, pp. 2312-2315.

[15] Bolund, B., Bernhoff, H., & Leijon, M. (2007). “Flywheel energy and power storage systems”.

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Review , 11 (2), 235-258.

[16] S.R Holm “Modelling and optimization of a permanent magnet machine in a flywheel” PhD Thesis

Technische Universiteit Delft,2003

36

[17] G. Genta, Kinetic Energy Storage: Theory and Practice of Advanced, Flywheel Systems, Butterworth-

Heinemann Ltd, 1985.

[18] Ribeiro, P., Johnson, B., Crow, M., Arsoy, A., & Liu, Y. (2001). “Energy storage systems for

advanced power applications”. Proceedings of the IEEE , 1744-1756.

[19] Abrahamsson, J; Bernhoff, H “Magnetic bearings in kinetic energy storage systems for vehicular

applications”, Journal of Electrical Systems 7-2 (2011), 225-23.

[20] Babuska ,Vit et al A Review of Technology Developments in Flywhee Attitude Control and Energy

Transmission Systems, 2004 IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings,

[21] Post, F.R, “A High-Efficiency Electromechanical battery”, Proceedings of the IEEE, vol 81 NO. 4,

March 1993

[22] Juan de Santiago, “AFPM Motor/Generator Flywheel for Electric Power Stabilization”, Lic thesis,

Uppsala University, Nov 2009.

[23] Kirk J.A “Flywheel energy storage – Basic concepts”. Internatianol journal of mechanical science. Vol

19 pp 223-231

[24] Y. Suzuki, A. Koyanagi, M. Kobayashi, et al., Novel applications of the flywheel energy storage

system, Energy 30 (11) (2005) 2128–2143.

[25] Fiske, O., & Ricci, M. (206). “Third Generation Flywheels For High Power Electricity Storage”.

LaunchPoint Technologies, Inc .

[26] Johan Lundin, ”Flywheel in an all-electric propulsion system”, Lic thesis, Uppsala University, May

2011.

[27] Chen H et al., “Progress in electrical energy storage system: a critical review”,Prog Nat Sci

2009;19:291–312

[28] http://www.beaconpower.com/ 2011-05-20

[29] http://www.vyconenergy.com/ 2011-05-20

[30] http://www.power-thru.com/ 2011-05-20

[31] http://www.piller.com (2011-05-20)

[32] http://www.active-power.com (2011-05-20)

[33] Janaína Goncalves de Oliveira et al , “Battery Discharging Power Control in aDouble-Wound

Flywheel System Applied to Electric Vehicles” ,International Journal of Emerging Electric Power Systems:

Vol. 12: Iss. 1, Article 7.

[34] C.K Sao et al. A Benchmark System for digital time domain simulation of PWM D-STATCOM. 2002

[35] Sun Haisheng et al, "DFIG wind power generation based on back-to-back PWM converter,"

Mechatronics and Automation, 2009. ICMA 2009. International Conference on , vol., no., pp.2276-2280,

9-12 Aug. 2009

37

10 APPENDICES

A1 PSCAD Model

In this section, the PSCAD model developed in this thesis work, is described and illustrated in the

following figures. The complete system with the permanent magnet synchronous machine coupled to the

machine-side VSC, the grid side VSC, load and grid is presented. Further the control system for both VSC

is presented.

A1.1 Complete system PMSM, Machine side VSC, Grid-side VSC, grid and load.

Figure A1.1 shows the complete system. Two back-to-back connected VSC, one coupled to the permanent

magnet machine and one the grid. Between the gird-side VSC and the grid (voltage source) is a step-up

transformer interconnected, with the voltage level 0.690kV/30kV and a star connected restive load (600

ohm/phase ).

Figure A1.1. The complete system

A1.1.1 Grid-side VSC- Model

Gird-side VSC which of six IGBT-switches and parallel-diodes. Measurements of all phase currents and

line-neutral voltages.

Figure A1.2. The grid- side VSC.

Vscn1

NC1

Vsbn1

NB1

Vsan1

NA1

0.000382 [H]0.0096 [ohm]

g2g1

g3g1

g4g1

g5g1

g6g1

g1g1

igt1a

igt1b

igt1c

A

B

C

V_dc

0.000382 [H]

0.000382 [H]

0.0096 [ohm]

0.0096 [ohm]

A

B

C

#1 #2Iabc2Te

W

Te

w

Va VcVb

Vab

Vbc

Isa

Isb

Isc

gt1

gt4 gt6

gt3 gt5

gt2

2

I D

A

B

C

3 P

ha

se

RM

S

VmRms

Po

we

r

A B

P Q

60

0 [o

hm

]

A B C

60

0 [o

hm

]

60

0 [o

hm

]

C B A

BR

KL

oa

d

TimedBreaker

LogicOpen@t0

BRKLoad

Iabc3

Po

we

r

A B

P Q

2

I

2

I

2

I

2

I

2

I D D

DDD

2

I

2

I

2

I

2

I

2

I

2

I

D D D

D D D

10

00

[mF

]

1.0e6 [ohm]

Iabc1

Po

we

r

A B

P Q

Pgen_MW

Iab

c4 Power

A

B

P

Q

Idc

Vscn1

NC1

Vsbn1

NB1

Vsan1

NA1

0.000382 [H]0.0096 [ohm]

g2g1

g3g1

g4g1

g5g1

g6g1

g1g1

igt1a

igt1b

igt1c

A

B

C

V_dc

0.000382 [H]

0.000382 [H]

0.0096 [ohm]

0.0096 [ohm]

2

I

2

I

2

I

2

I

2

I

2

I

D D D

D D D

10

00

[mF

]

Idc

38

A1.1.2 Grid-side VSC control block.

Control block for the grid side VSC. The inputs are the measured currents and voltages shown in figure

A1.3. The outputs are the six gate signals which controls the IGBT switches of the gide-side VSC .

Figure A1.3. Gird-side VSC control block.

A1.1.3 Complete control system

The inside of control block shown in figure A1.4. The voltage measurement and current measurements are

converted to the dq reference frame. The inside DC-link voltage control block is shown in the next figure

and the current control block is shown in figure A1.6. The voltage reference from the current control are

passed to the PWM generator outputs the gate signals which controls the IGBT switches of the gird side

VSC.

Figure A1.4. Complete grid-side control.

Vsan1Vsbn1Vscn1

Controller VSC 1

Vsan Vsbn Vscn

ita

itb

g1

g2

g3

g4

g5

g6

itc

V_dc

g3g1

g5g1

g4g1

g1g1

g2g1

g6g1

igt1a

igt1b

igt1c

V_dc

g2

g3

g4

g5

g6

g1

theta

Va

Vb

Vc

PLLthetaVsbn

Vscn

Vsan

theta

SawtoothWaveformGenerator

theta TrgOn TrgOff

PWM

Generator

theta

vtdUlim

vtqUlim

g1

g2

g3

g4

g5

g6

TrgOn TrgOff

v_dc

Current

Measurement

theta

itaa

itba

itca

itd

itq

ita

itb

itc

itd

itq

Current

Control

vsd

itqref

itdref

vtdUlim

vtqUlim

itd itq

itd itq

Vdc

Control

V_dc

Vdcref

itdrefV

Vdcref

V_dc

Vrms

Measurement

Vrms

Vsa

Vsb

Vsc

Theta

*

*Sqrt (2)

1/Sqrt(3)

Vacrms

itdref

V_dc

Vsbn

Vscn

Vsan

G1 + sT

vsd

itqref

theta

1.1

0.0

39

A1.1.4 DC-link voltage control

Figure A1.5. DC-link voltage control as described in section 4.5.3.

A1.1.5 Current control

Figure A1.6. Current control of the grid-side VSC as described in section 4.5.3.

I

P

Vdcref itdrefV

V_dcB

-

D+ *

G1 + sT

*

GainScale

TIME

I

P

vtqUlimitqref

itq

vsd

B

+

D-

F

+vtdUlim

itd

**

itq

B

-

D-

B

-

D+

itd

itdref

B

-

D+

*

*

I

P

G1 + sT

wL

wL

TIME

TIME

40

A1.2 PMSM/Flywheel model

The PMSM have the rotational speed of the rotor as input and outputs the electromagnetic torque. The

PMSM is connected to the machine-side VSC that consists of six IGBT-switches and parallel-diodes.

Figure A1.7. PMSM model and machine-side VSC.

.

A1.1.6 Rotor/flywheel dynamics block

This block calculates the rotational speed of the rotor, input to the PMSM, from the electromagnetic torque

according to eq. 4.14 in section 4.5.1.

Figure A1.8. Machine/flywheel dynamics.

Te

W

Te

w

Va VcVb

Vab

Vbc

Isa

Isb

Isc

gt1

gt4 gt6

gt3 gt5

gt2

2

I D

A

B

C

3 P

ha

se

RM

S

VmRms

2

I

2

I

2

I

2

I

2

I D D

DDD

10

00

[mF

]

Iabc1

Po

we

r

A B

P Q

Pgen_MW

Te

w

D+

F

- wmD+

F

-

1sT

*0

A

B

Ctrl

Ctrl = 1

TIME

1.0Inital speed

wm

S / Hinhold

out

A

B

Ctrl

Ctrl = 1

0.0

TIME

N

D

N/D

5.0Rotor Interia [pu]

41

A1.1.7 PMSM control block

The inputs is the (left side of the block) reference speed, measured generator power, reference power,

measured speed, electromagnetic torque, rotor angle and (top of the block ) measured three-phase currents.

The outputs are the gate signals passed the IGBT switches of the machine-side VSC (shown in figure

A1.7).

Figure A1.9. The control block of the PMSM.

gt1

gt3

gt4

gt6

gt2

gt5

Te

w

Theta

PMSG_Block

w

Te

w_ref

isa iscisb

g1

g2

g3

g4

g5

g6

Theta

Pgen

Pref

Isa Isb Isc

Pgen_PU

0.5

1.0

42

A1.1.8 Current control

Figure A1.10. ABC-dq transformation of the current measurements. The dividing block converts the measured

currents to PU –values.

Figure A1.11. Current control as described in section 0. Implemented in PU.

A1.1.9 Speed control

Figure A1.12. Speed control gives the q-axis current reference to the current control.

A

B

C

D

Q

0

Isa

Isb

Isc

Isq

IsdN

D

N/D

N

D

N/D

N

D

N/D

3.54998513447

D+

F

-

Isq

I

P

I

P

D+

F

-

Isd

D+

F

-

B

+

D+

F

+

*L

Isq*L

Isd

w

*

w

*

Decoupling

Decoupling

Isqref

Isdref*

Block

*Block Usq_ref

Usd_ref

*1

psi_m

D+

F

-I

P*

Block

w

Isqref_ww_ref

43

A1.1.10 Power control

Figure A1.13. Power control gives the q-axis current reference to the current control.

w

Pref N

D

N/D

Pg

en

D+

F

-*

-1.0

*Block

I

P

Isqref_Te

44

A1.1.11 PWM signal generator

Figure A1.14. DQ-abc transformation of the voltage reference from the current control passed to the PWM

shown in figure A1.16.

Figure A1.15. Machine-side PWM signal generator. Outputs the gate signals to the IGBT switches of the

machine-side VSC.

MagInv

Usaref

PhaseInv

D

Q

A

B

C0

Y

X

M X

P Y

M

PY

X

M

P

M

PY

X

0.0

Usq_ref

Usd_ref

Usbref

Uscref

gt1

gt2

gt3

gt4

gt5

gt6

CAR1

L

H

DblckH

L

ON

OFF

L

H

DblckH

L

ON

OFF

L

H

DblckH

L

ON

OFF

L

H

DblckH

L

ON

OFF

L

H

DblckH

L

ON

OFF

L

H

DblckH

L

ON

OFF

CAR1 gt4 gt6 gt2

gt5gt3gt1

Block

Block

Usaref Usbref Uscref

Usaref Usbref Uscref

g2

g3

g4

g5

g6

g1

45

A1.3 Transformer, grid and load.

Close up of step-up transformer, grid and load shown in figure A1.1. The transformer has 690 V low-

voltage side and 30kV high voltage-side. Power measurements are done at three points, before the

transformer, at the grid and load.

Figure A1.16. Transformer, load and gird.

A

B

C

A

B

C

#1 #2Iabc2

Po

we

r

A B

P Q

60

0 [o

hm

]

A B C

60

0 [o

hm

]

60

0 [o

hm

]

C B A

BR

KL

oa

dTimed

BreakerLogic

Open@t0BRKLoad

Iabc3

Po

we

r

A B

P Q1.0e6 [ohm]

Iab

c4 Power

A

B

P

Q