Electric power regulation for a novel riverine hydrokinetic energy conversion system

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Author
Ahammed, Kawsar
Chair
Wies, Richard
Al-Badri, Maher
Committee
Kasper, Jeremy
Keyword
Hydroelectric generators
Water-power
Tanana River
Metadata
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URI
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/15955
Abstract
Transportation of diesel fuel used to produce electricity for Alaska remote communities is highly expensive. Thus, people living in those remote areas pay a high rate for electric energy compared to the national average cost. The availability of renewable energy resources may help to minimize these high expenses. As many rural Alaskans live near rivers, hydrokinetic energy could be used as a renewable source of electric power. This renewable resource, if successfully harvested, has immense potential to help power Alaska remote communities and significantly reduce electric energy costs. This project aims to investigate the implementation of an energy conversion system to harvest riverine power by utilization of a novel hydrokinetic energy harvesting system through field testing and modelling. An electrical power generator, specifically a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG), was selected to be used for mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion within a low-speed range. Unregulated electric power produced by the generator was rectified and filtered to produce smooth DC power. A maximum power point tracking (MPPT) current controller was implemented in the Simulink® environment to demonstrate how to extract the maximum power available at the generator output under different water velocities and load conditions.
Description
Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2025
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction -- 1.1 Research objectives -- 1.2 Hydrokinetic energy -- 1.3 Generator selection process -- 1.4 Power conversion and regulation -- 1.5 Harmonics -- 1.6 Thesis organization. Chapter 2: Literature review -- 2.1 Generators -- 2.2 Power conversion -- 2.3 Maximum power point tracking control -- 2.3.1 Tip speed ratio control -- 2.3.2 Power signal feedback control -- 2.3.3 Hill-climb search control -- 2.3.4 Optimal torque control -- 2.3.5 Comparison of maximum power point tracking controllers -- 2.4 Microgrids -- 2.5 Summary of literature review. Chapter 3: Field tested system -- 3.1 Tanana River Test Site (TRTS) selection and field test location -- 3.2 TRTS on-water testing infrastructure and research barge setup -- 3.3 Floating generator housing and hydrokinetic turbine design -- 3.4 Gearbox -- 3.4.1 Precision planetary gearbook -- 3.4.2 Features and parameters of gearbox -- 3.5 Permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) and specifications -- 3.5.1 Permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) -- 3.5.2 Torque-speed curve of permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) -- 3.5.3 Specifications of permanent magnet synchronous generator -- 3.5.4 Generator housing configuration -- 3.6 Panel board configuration and electronic components -- 3.7 DC load bank testing for HECS -- 3.8 Acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP) -- 3.9 Fish monitoring and impact assessment on turbine performance -- 3.10 Debris interaction test and evaluation of turbine durability -- 3.11 Evaluation of shore-based deployment system performance -- 3.12 Performance analysis of a solid shaft connection in place of a flexible torsional cable -- 3.13 System's data collection. Chapter 4: Model development and simulation -- 4.1 System block diagram -- 4.2 Hydrokinetic turbine (HKT) model -- 4.2.1 Tip speed ratio versus power coefficient -- 4.2.2 Schematic diagram of hydrokinetic turbine (HKT) model -- 4.3 Gearbox -- 4.4 Permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) -- 4.5 Three-phase rectifier (AC-DC) -- 4.6 Filter capacitor design calculations -- 4.7 Boost converter -- 4.7.1 Boost converter inductor design calculations -- 4.7.2 Boost converter capacitor design calculations -- 4.8 Calculation of adjusted load resistance -- 4.8.1 System diagram for adjusted load resistance analysis -- 4.8.2 Analysis of equivalent and adjusted load resistances in system simulation -- 4.9 Development of MPPT current controller -- 4.9.1 Investigation of hydrokinetic turbine characteristics for MPPT implementation -- 4.9.2 Parameters setup for MPPT current controller -- 4.10 System simulation with MPPT current controller. Chapter 5: Results and analysis -- 5.1 Field test measurements -- 5.1.1 Mechanical measurements -- 5.1.2 Electrical data measurements -- 5.2 System simulation with constant water velocity -- 5.2.1 Electrical frequency -- 5.2.2 Pulse width modulation (PWM) signal -- 5.2.3 Input and output current, voltage and power of boost converter -- 5.2.4 System simulation results -- 5.3 System simulation with variable water velocity -- 5.3.1 Water velocity setup -- 5.3.2 Variation in frequency -- 5.3.3 Variation in pulse with modulation (PWM) -- 5.3.4 Variations in current, voltage, and power. Chapter 6: Conclusions and future work -- 6.1 Conclusions -- 6.2 Future work -- 6.2.1 Future development scope in the field test -- 6.2.2 Future development scope in simulation model -- 6.3 Final thoughts.
Date
2025-05
Type
Thesis
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