Modeling and simulation of the electric part of a grid connected microturbine

This paper presents a simulation model of the electric part of a grid connected microturbine (MT). The model contains a detailed representation of the main components of the electric system that are the permanent magnet synchronous machine and the static frequency changer. The microturbine is controlled so that the energy is exchanged with unity displacement factor. The simulation results obtained with the model using SimPowerSystems software were compared with experimental results obtained with a Capstone 30 kW microturbine. Finally, the simulation model is used to analyze the microturbine performance during steady state and transients such as grid voltage and phase unbalances and operation under grid polluted voltage.