Title :
Minimising capacitor lifetime failures in power converters for wave energy applications
Author :
Shek, Jonathan K H ; Macpherson, D. Ewen ; Mueller, Markus A.
Author_Institution :
Sch. of Eng., Univ. of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
Abstract :
The offshore location of wave energy converters demands a highly reliable and fault-tolerant system. Capacitors account for the majority of failures in power converters and should be replaced prior to failure to reduce system downtime. This paper presents a control methodology to reduce the rate of capacitor degradation as a means to improve fault tolerance. Modeling, simulation, and power converter control are systematically investigated using MATLAB/Simulink.
Keywords :
failure analysis; offshore installations; power capacitors; power convertors; power system control; power system simulation; wave power plants; MATLAB; Simulink; fault-tolerant system; minimising capacitor lifetime failures; offshore location of; power converter control; power converters; wave energy converters; Capacitors; Control systems; Current control; Degradation; Generators; Mathematical model; Voltage control; Capacitor; lifetime; power conversion; wave energy;
Conference_Titel :
Electric Machines & Drives Conference (IEMDC), 2011 IEEE International
Conference_Location :
Niagara Falls, ON
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4577-0060-6
DOI :
10.1109/IEMDC.2011.5994925
