General Electric Company

Robert Allen Seymour

Allen Michael Ritter

Robert William Delmerico

John D D'Atre

Xiaoming Yuan

Robert Gregory Wagoner

Anthony Michael Klodowski

Haiqing Weng

David Grey Smith

Zhuohui Tan

Renchang Dai

Rajib Datta

Ralph Teichmann

Changyong Wang

Richard S Zhang

Wenqiang Yang

Igor Berroteran Gil

Yunfeng Liu

Brian Nedward Meyer

Werner Gerhard Barton

James M Nowak

Benjamin Arthur Niemoeller

John Springer Harrison

Ling Luo

Terry Michael Tackman

Richard A Kellogg

Ramesh Paturi

Rangababu Naga Venkata Thota

Ravi Bhushan Konduru

David Wilbon

Weng Haiqing

David Smith

James Michael Nowak

The present subject matter is directed to a method for initializing a startup sequence of a wind turbine. The method includes a step of defining a plurality of operating conditions of the wind turbine. As such, upon satisfaction of the plurality of operating conditions, a run-ready signal may be generated, wherein the run-ready signal indicates a readiness of a power converter of the wind turbine to generate power. The method may also include defining a subset of the plurality of operating conditions, wherein the subset of operating conditions are independent of speed conditions of the wind turbine. Another step of the method includes generating a spin-ready signal for the wind turbine upon satisfaction of the subset of operating conditions. The method may also include controlling a rotor of the wind turbine based at least in part on the spin-ready signal.

System and method for initializing a startup sequence of a wind turbine

The present disclosure is directed to an automated apparatus and method for testing a crowbar circuit of power converter. The crowbar circuit includes an anti-parallel diode and a voltage-controlled switching element, e.g. a silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR). The method includes implementing a first test sequence for testing operability of the diode and a second test sequence for testing operability of the voltage-controlled switching element. More specifically, the first test sequence determines a first current-voltage feedback that is indicative of the operability of the diode and the second test sequence determines a second current-voltage feedback that is indicative of the operability of the voltage-controlled switching element.

Automated method and apparatus for testing a crowbar circuit of a power converter

A method and system for a control circuit are provided. The circuit includes an integrating counter coupled to a process wherein the integrating counter is configured to integrate over time a process parameter signal received from the process and to generate a trigger signal when the integrated signal equals a predetermined count. The control circuit also includes a transition controller electrically coupled to a respective control element and configured to receive the trigger signal generated by the integrating counter.

Method and system for power conversion

A system and method for estimating a remaining life period for a device. The system includes a sensor coupled to the device, wherein the sensor is configured to facilitate measuring an operating parameter of the device and generate a measurement signal that is representative of the operating parameter. The system includes a database comprising an upper limit value, a lower limit value and a reference parameter. A processor of system includes circuitry coupled to the sensor and coupled to the database The processor is configured to correlate measurements of the operating parameter with the reference parameter to facilitate estimating a remaining life period of the device.

System and method for estimating remaining life for a device

The present subject matter is directed to a system and method for controlling an electrical component, e.g. a power bridge, of a wind turbine using contingency communications. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving, by the electrical component, a standard set of commands for a first time frame. A next step includes receiving, by the electrical component, one or more contingency sets of commands for time frames beyond the first time frame. The method also includes determining if the standard set of commands is received within a start window of the first time frame. A further step includes implementing, by the electrical component, the standard set of commands during the first time frame if the standard set of commands is received within the start window. The method also includes implementing, by the electrical component, one of the contingency sets of commands received during a previous time frame if the standard set of commands is not received within the start window.

System and method of controlling an electronic component of a wind turbine using contingency communications

A control system includes a fundamental control unit, first and second compensation control units, a switch control unit, and a switch implementation unit. The fundamental control unit generates fundamental commands to implement fundamental power conversion operation for a converter. The first compensation control unit generates a first compensation signal for injection into the fundamental command to balance neutral point voltage when the converter is in operation in a first state. The second compensation control unit generates a second compensation signal for injection into the fundamental command to balance neutral point voltage when the converter is in operation in a second state. The switch control unit detects first and second states of the converter and provides first and second switch signals respectively. The switch implementation unit switches the fundamental control unit to communicate with the first and second compensation control units according to the first and second switch signals respectively.

Neutral point clamped converter control system and control method and compensation unit

A control system includes first and second fundamental control units for generating first and second fundamental commands, and a compensation control unit. The compensation control unit includes first and second calculation elements and a comparator for comparing first and second modulation indexes. When the first modulation index is less than the second modulation index, the first calculation element generates a first source-side compensation command. When the first source-side compensation command is not sufficient to balance the neutral point voltage, the first calculation element further generates a first line-side compensating command. When the first modulation index is greater than the second modulation index, the second calculation element generates a second line-side compensation command. When the second line-side compensation command is not sufficient to balance the neutral point voltage, the second calculation element further generates a second source-side compensating command.

Neutral point clamped converter control systems and methods

A system, method, and apparatus for providing three level inverter modulation is disclosed. In one embodiment, control signals can be provided to control a three level inverter in a power converter based on at least one feedback signal.

Multi-level inverter control method and controller for a wind generation power system

Systems and methods for reducing current imbalance between parallel bridge circuits used in a power converter of a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) system are provided. A control system can monitor the bridge current of each of the bridge circuits coupled in parallel and generate a feedback signal indicative of the difference in bridge current between the parallel bridge circuits. Command signals for controlling the bridge circuits can then be developed based on the feedback signal to reduce current imbalance between the bridge circuits. For instance, the pulse width modulation of switching devices (e.g. IGBTs) used in the bridge circuits can be modified to reduce current imbalance between the parallel bridge circuits.

Current balance control in converter for doubly fed induction generator wind turbine system

In one aspect, a method of galvanic isolation for a gate-controlled device is described. One embodiment of the method comprises receiving, by a gate-controlled device, wireless receive signals, wherein said wireless receive signals are received by a wireless receiver associated with the gate-controlled device.

Method, system and apparatus for galvanic isolation of gate-controlled devices

A method and system for a commutation control circuit are provided. The system includes an integrating voltage counter electrically coupled to an electrical power bus, wherein the integrating voltage counter is configured to integrate over time a voltage signal received from the power bus and to generate a trigger signal when the integrated voltage signal equals a predetermined count. The system also includes a plurality of transistor pairs configured to receive a trigger signal generated by the integrating voltage counter and electrically coupled to respective windings of a motor.

A method of controlling electrical power systems coupled to an electrical connection point includes obtaining carrier signals and fundamental waveforms from electrical power systems coupled to at least two renewable energy sources, generating pulse width modulation (PWM) signals using the carrier signals and the fundamental waveforms while interleaving carrier signals, fundamental waveforms, or a combination of carrier signals and fundamental waveforms of the electrical power systems, and driving grid side converters of the electrical power systems with the PWM signals.

Electrical system and control method

A power generation system comprises at least two electrical systems connected at an electrical connection point. Each electrical system comprises a power conversion system comprising a converter including a plurality of switches for converting direct current power into alternating current power. The power generation system comprises a control system including at least two pulse width modulation (PWM) modulators, each PWM modulator for obtaining a fundamental waveform and a carrier signal, using the fundamental and carrier signals to generate a PWM pattern, and for providing the PWM pattern to a respective converter for driving the switches of the respective converter. The control system is configured to interleave carrier signals, fundamental waveforms, or a combination of carrier signals and fundamental waveforms of the at least two electrical systems to generate interleaved PWM patterns respectively for the at least two converters.

An apparatus for rapidly tracking fundamental frequency information in the signal of an electric grid is a cross-coupled phase-lock loop filter (CCPLL) that includes the use of a phase-lock-loop (PLL) apparatus having a plurality individual filters, wherein an input for a first filter in the plurality of individual filters comprises the signal of the electric grid and an output signal from at least a second filter in the plurality of individual filters. A method for using the CCPLL includes applying a signal to the CCPLL and monitoring the output of the CCPLL. Use of the CCPLL may be accomplished or modeled via computer instructions stored on machine readable media.

Apparatus, method and computer program product for tracking information in an electric grid

A phase-locked loop circuit comprises a phase error detector for receiving a multi-phase reference signal and a synchronized phase signal of the phase-locked-loop circuit, and for performing a rotational transformation to convert the multi-phase reference signal into two-phase quantities at a synchronous rotation d-q reference frame. A monotonic transfer module receives the two-phase quantities, and generates a monotonic phase error signal which is monotonic when a phase difference between the multi-phase reference signal and the synchronized phase signal ranges from &#x2212;180 degrees to 180 degrees. A regulator receives the monotonic phase error signal, and generates a synchronized rotation frequency. An integrator receives the synchronized rotation frequency, and generates the synchronized phase signal.

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Roanoke, VA, United States of America

Robert Allen Seymour