Model predictive control of switched reluctance generator based on Z-source converterfor wind power applications

This paper presents a novel control drive for switched reluctance generator (SRG) driven from the wind power generation system. The SRG is controlled with a model predictive control (MPC) approach to generate the desired voltage applied to the phase winding being fed by a z-source converter, for the first time. The converter itself is controlled with another MPC system to track the reference voltage of the previous section as fast as possible. To consider the nonlinear characteristics of the SRG, the flux linkage and electromagnetic torque have been derived from the finite element analysis of the machine and applied to the model. This novel drive maximizes the output power of the generator from three aspects. First, decreasing the rise-up time of the phase current and the second, keeping the current in flat-top mode at any speed and the third, maximum usage of the negative slope area of the phase inductance which is the generating zone. The whole of the system is simulated in MATLAB-SIMULINK and the effectiveness of the proposed method is evaluated using the simulation results.