Influence of a converter control malfunction on the harmonic behavior of wind turbines with permanent magnet generator

This paper is on variable-speed wind turbines with permanent magnet generator. A three-mass drive train model and two different topologies for the power-electronic converters are considered. The two different topologies considered are respectively a matrix and a multilevel converter. A control strategy, based on fractional-order controllers, is proposed for the wind turbines. Previous papers were mainly focused on the transient stability of variable-speed wind turbines at external grid faults. Instead, this paper considers the possibility of an internal abnormal operating condition, namely a converter control malfunction. The influence of the converter control malfunction on the harmonic current emissions is studied. Comprehensive results are presented, and conclusions are duly drawn.