Investigations On Sensorless Vector Control Using Current Error Space Phasor And Direct Torque Control Of Induction Motor Drive Based On Hexagonal And 12-Sided Polygonal Voltage Space Vectors

Abstract

Variable-speed Induction motor drives are nowadays used for various kinds of industrial processes, transportation systems, wind turbines and household appliances in the world. The majority of drives are for general purpose speed control applications where accurate speed control is not required for entire speed range. But for high dynamic drive application, very precise and fast control of induction motor drive is essential. For such applications, sophisticated and well-performing control design is a key issue. Precise and accurate torque control of the Induction Motor (IM) can only be accomplished by vector control and direct torque control. In terms of space vector theory, vector control implies that the instantaneous torque is controlled by way of the stator current vector that is orthogonal to the rotor flux vector. Precise knowledge of the rotor flux angle is therefore essential for a vector controlled IM. IMs do not allow the flux position to be easily measured, so most modern vector controlled IM drives rely on flux estimation. This means that the flux angle is derived from a flux estimator, using the dynamic model of the IM. Given that the rotor speed of the IM is measured by a mechanical shaft sensor. Flux estimation is a fairly easy task. However, vector control of IM without mechanical shaft speed sensor is of current interest in industrial environment. The driving motivations behind the development in sensorless control are lower cost, improved reliability and operating environment. In this thesis, a sensorless vector control scheme for rotor flux estimation using current error space phasor based hysteresis controller is proposed including the method for estimation of leakage inductance, Ls. For frequencies of operation less than 25 Hz, the rotor voltage and hence the rotor flux position is computed during the inverter zero voltage space vector using steady state model of IM. For above 25 Hz, active vector period and steady state model of IM is used. The whole rotor flux estimation scheme is dependent on current error space phasor and the steady state motor model, with rotor flux as a reference vector. Since no terminal voltage sensing is involved, dead time effects will not create problem in rotor flux sensing at low frequencies of operation. But appropriate device on-state drop are compensated at low frequencies (below 5 Hz) of operation to achieve a steady state operation up to less than 1 Hz. A constant switching frequency hysteresis current controller is used in inner current control loop for the PWM regulation, with smooth transition of operation to six-step mode operation. A simple Ls estimation based on current error space phasor is also proposed to nullify the deteriorating effect on rotor flux estimation. The parameter sensitivity of the control scheme to changes in the stator resistance Rs is also investigated. The drive scheme is tested up to a low frequency operation less than 1 Hz. The extensive simulation and experiment results are presented to show the proposed scheme’s good dynamic performance extending up to six-step operation. In contrast to vector control, direct torque control (DTC) method requires the knowledge of stator resistance only and thereby decreasing the associated sensitivity to parameters variation and the elimination of speed information. DTC as compared to vector control does not require co-ordinate transformation and PI controller. DTC is easy to implement because it needs only two hysteresis comparators and a lookup table for both flux and torque control. This thesis also investigates the possibilities in improvement of direct torque control scheme for high performance induction motor drive applications. Here, two schemes are proposed based on the direct torque control scheme for IM drive using 12-sided polygonal voltage space vectors for fast torque control. The torque control scheme based on DTC algorithm is proposed using 12-sided polygonal voltage space vector. The basic DTC scheme is used to control the torque. But the IM drive is open-end type. For torque control, the voltage space vectors orthogonal to stator flux vector in 12-sided polygonal space vector structure are used as hexagonal space vector based DTC scheme. The advantages achieved due to 12-sided polygonal space vector are mainly fast torque control and small torque ripple. The fast transient of torque with precise control is achieved using voltage space vector placed with a resolution of ±15. The torque ripple will be less as 6n±1 (n=odd) harmonic torque is totally eliminated from the whole range of PWM modulation. The comparative analysis of proposed 12-sided polygonal voltage space vector based DTC and conventional hexagonal space vector based DTC is also presented. Extensive simulation and experiment results are also presented to show the fast torque control at speeds of operation ranging from 5 Hz to the rated speed. The concept of 12-sided polygonal space vector based DTC is further extended for a variable speed control scheme using estimated fundamental stator voltage for sector identification. The conventional DTC scheme uses stator flux vector for identification of the sector and the switching vector are selected based on this sector information to control stator flux and torque. However, the proposed DTC scheme selects switching vectors based on the sector information of the estimated fundamental stator voltage vector and its relative position with respect to the stator flux vector. The fundamental stator voltage estimation is based on the steady state model of IM and information of synchronous frequency which is derived from computed stator flux using a low pass filter technique. The proposed DTC scheme utilizes the exact position of fundamental stator voltage vector and stator flux vector position to select optimal switching vector for fast control of torque with small variation of stator flux within hysteresis band. The present DTC scheme allows the full load torque control with fast transient response to very low speeds of operation below 5 Hz. The extensive simulation and experiment results are presented to show the fast torque control for speed of operation from zero speed to rated speed. However, the present scheme will have all the advantages of DTC scheme using stator flux vector for sector identification. All the above propositions are first simulated by MATLAB/Simulink and subsequently verified by an experimental laboratory prototype. The proposed control schemes are experimentally verified on a 3.7 kW IM drive. The control algorithms of the sensorless vector control using current error space phasor as well as DTC using 12-sided polygonal voltage space vector are completely implemented on a TI TMS320LF2812 DSP controller platform. These are some of the constituents for chapters 2, 3 and 4 in this thesis. Additionally, the first chapter also covers a brief survey on some of the recent progresses made in the field of sensorless vector control, direct torque control and current hysteresis controller. The thesis concludes with suggestion for further exploration.