A method for synchronization of power electronic converters in polluted and variable-frequency environments

This paper presents a new synchronization method which employs an enhanced phase-locked loop (EPLL) system. The operational concept of the EPLL is novel and based on a nonlinear dynamical system. As compared with the existing synchronization methods, the introduced EPLL-based synchronization method provides higher degree of immunity and insensitivity to noise, harmonics and other types of pollutions that exist in the signal used as the basis of synchronization. The salient feature of the EPLL-based synchronization method over conventional synchronization methods is its frequency adaptivity which permits satisfactory operation when the centre frequency of the base signal varies. The proposed EPLL-based method of synchronization is also capable of coping with the unbalanced system scenarios. Structural simplicity of the EPLL-based method greatly simplifies its implementation in digital software and/or hardware environments as an integral part of a digital control platform for power electronic converters. The primary application of the proposed synchronization method is for the distributed generation units, e.g., wind generation systems, which utilize power electronic converters as an integral part of their systems.