Air-Gap-Power-Vector-Based Sensorless Method for DFIG Control Without Flux Estimator

A sensorless method for the direct estimation of the slip position of the wound-rotor induction machine is introduced, discussed, and experimentally validated in this paper. The slip position is necessary for the implementation of control by flux orientation. The method proposed is based on the phase comparison of an estimated air-gap power vector and the measured rotor currents in a common reference frame. The proposed method can be implemented in the rotor or in the field reference frames with a hysteresis or proportional-integral controller. The method is sensitive to the stator no-load active and reactive powers, but this dependence is not very important. Simulation and experimental results show that the method is appropriate for the vector control of the doubly fed induction machine. Unlike other methods, this method gives acceptable results when the load is small. In addition, it does not need a flux estimator for the implementation of flux orientation.