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The power electronic transformer (PET) is an emerging technology that is quickly becoming a key component of the next-to-come power distribution networks (PDNs), due to its versatility on energy management, as well as, the improvement on the quality of the energy. PDNs are characterized by their unbalanced conditions, causing that PETs driven by conventional dq0 controls introduce current distortions on the primary winding of the transformer. Such distortion is evidenced in the 2 $\boldsymbol{\omega }$ oscillations of ${V_d}$ and ${V_q}$ acting as harmonic sources. In this sense, this article proposes a novel control approach for PETs. The key idea behind of this proposal consists of operating each phase independently, which is achieved through the enclosed rectification and the mitigation of the 2 $\boldsymbol{\omega }$ oscillations in a dual active bridge topology. The attained advantages by this control scheme are: a) balancing of the primary winding currents; b) unitary power factor; c) negligible harmonic distortion; and d) 2 $\boldsymbol{\omega }$ oscillation mitigation on the dc bus.

A refined dynamic lumped-parameter model of a REBCO field coil synchronous generator including details of the thermoelectromagnetic phenomenology of the superconductor has been developed in the classic dq0 frame of reference. The idea is to build a generic modelling framework that can be used in power systems engineering studies to infer trends on the behavior of HTS field coil machines in power grids. In the present work, the transient stability of a hybrid High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) generator is analyzed under the most severe operating condition applying a three-phase short circuit at its terminals. For the study, we chose the parameters of a wind generator at 1 MW. Two cases are considered: 1) no full transition of the HTS to the normal-resistive state under stable condition, 2) full transition of the HTS under unstable condition. The response of the HTS machine is compared against that of a conventional machine.

This article proposes a novel optimal hybrid control framework to improve the voltage profile of highly unbalanced Distribution Grids (DGs) by coordinating the injection of reactive power from multiple off-board Electrical Vehicles (EVs) chargers. It exploits the time-synchronized measurements advantages, centralized control, and local controllers embedded into a hierarchical and scalable scheme, coordinated by the distribution system operator (DSO). The proposed framework is aimed to increase the modern electrical networks’ flexibility, reliability, and stability. It is powered by the Eigensystem Realization (ER)-based system identification technique, a Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) controller, the Distribution-level Phasor Measurement Units (D-PMUs), and a new aggregator agent that handles the EV chargers power injection to precisely and timely regulate the dynamic voltage response in a sub-area or the entire DG. The robustness and feasibility of the proposal are demonstrated by employing simulated scenarios with unbalanced faults, latency in communications, and highly unbalanced loads conditions on the IEEE 13 and 123 nodes test feeders, compensating the voltage variations accurately in less than 205 ms. The promising outcome of this study suggests a novel application for an emerging measurement-based control system in the operation of modern active DGs.

This paper presents the design, modeling, implementation, and experimental results of an advanced current-sensorless control scheme for voltage source converter–power factor correction rectifiers. This proposal is aimed to reduce the complexity of the control while maintaining desirable features for ac/dc conversion, such as unity power factor, low total harmonic distortion in input current, continuous regulation of the dc voltage even facing ac voltage sags and dynamic load changes. Unlike other proposals, this scheme has a single feedback proportional-integral loop, uses few mathematical operations, and the dq 0 reference frame is not included in the control scheme. These characteristics simplify the implementation of the proposed control thus improving its efficiency. The theoretical analysis and simulation validate the technical feasibility of the proposed control, and finally, various cases of study and experimental results obtained with a laboratory scale-down prototype are presented to confirm the viability and performance of the control.

Accurate and fast characterization of voltage variations helps to evaluate their severity on equipment and activate protections. In this paper, a methodology for tracking and characterization of voltage variations, sample to sample, is presented. It consists of a Hilbert transform to estimate the voltage of the signal’s envelope, a fuzzy logic system to track down the type of voltage variation, and a rule-based method for the final identification and decision making according to IEEE Std 1159-2009. Unlike some techniques presented in the literature for tracking voltage variations such as the Kalman filter and adaptive linear network techniques, the proposed methodology requires neither a harmonic model nor an algorithm to adjust the model parameters, which in many cases increases the computational burden and time tracking. It is worth mentioning that the proposed classification stage does not need a training stage; therefore, its development is easier and its efficiency does not depend on a data training set. The performance of the proposed methodology is validated and tested using synthetic signals as well as real measurements of voltage variations. In addition, an implementation of our methodology into an field-programmable gate array based system is performed in an effort to offer a low-cost and portable system-on-a-chip solution for online and real-time monitoring of voltage variations.

Voltage control based on reactive power compensation is a fundamental aspect of the operation of ac electric power systems. This paper presents a novel shunt compensation scheme based on a virtual air gap variable reactor. The scheme is fully developed, from the adaptation of the virtual air gap principle to high-voltage applications and the determination of its expected performance, to the proposal of a digital cascade control using internal model and proportional-integral controllers. The suitability and flexibility of the device, and the voltage control and reactive power compensation scheme are verified by means of laboratory tests performed in a small-scale prototype. Measured results show that the proposed device and its control provide a robust load compensation scheme for ac systems.