Engineering topics

Dorfler, Florian

Publications and source records attributed to Dorfler, Florian.

5 records

DOE OSTI2019

Dispatchable Virtual Oscillator Control for Decentralized Inverter-Dominated Power Systems: Analysis and Experiments: Preprint

This paper presents an analysis and experimental validation of dispatchable virtual oscillator control (dVOC) for inverter-dominated power systems. dVOC is a promising decentralized control strategy that requires only local measurements to induce grid-forming behavior with programmable droop characteristics. It is dispatchable -- i.e., the inverters can vary their power generation via user-defined power set-points and guarantees strong stability. To verify its feasibility, a testbed comprising multiple dVOC-programmed inverters with transmission line impedances is designed. With an embedded synchronization strategy, the dVOC inverters are capable of dynamic synchronization, black start operation, and transient grid voltage regulation with dynamic load sharing, and real-time-programmable droop characteristics for backward compatibility. All these features are experimentally verified.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2019

Global Phase and Magnitude Synchronization of Coupled Oscillators With Application to the Control of Grid-Forming Power Inverters

In this paper, we explore a new approach to synchronization of coupled oscillators. In contrast to the celebrated Kuramoto model, we do not work in polar coordinates and do not consider oscillations of fixed magnitude. We propose a synchronizing feedback based on relative state information and local measurements that induces consensus-like dynamics. We show that, under a mild stability condition, the combination of the synchronizing feedback with a decentralized magnitude control law renders the oscillators' almost globally asymptotically stable with respect to set points for the phase shift, frequency, and magnitude. We apply these result to rigorously solve an open problem in control of inverter-based ac power systems. In this context, the proposed control strategy can be implemented using purely local information, induces a grid-forming behavior, and ensures that a network of ac power inverters is almost globally asymptotically stable with respect to a prespecified solution of the ac power-flow equations. Moreover, we show that the controller exhibits a droop-like behavior around the standard operating point, thus, making it backward compatible with the existing power system operation.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2018

The Effect of Transmission-Line Dynamics on a Globally Synchronizing Controller for Power Inverters

In this work, we analyze a dispatchable virtual oscillator control (dVOC) strategy for grid-forming power inverters that ensures almost global synchronization of inverterbased AC power systems when the dynamics of the transmission network are neglected, i.e., if an algebraic model of the transmission lines is used. While this approximation is often justified for conventional power systems, the dynamics of the transmission lines can compromise the stability of an inverterbased power system. Therefore, in this article, we use tools from singular perturbation theory to construct a Lyapunov function candidate and explicit bounds on the controller gains that guarantee global convergence to the set of steady-states for the full power-system with transmission line dynamics. Moreover, we show that the only undesirable steady-state is unstable.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2018

Robust decentralized frequency control: A leaky integrator approach

We investigate the robustness of the so-called leaky integral frequency controller for the power network. In particular, using a strict Lyapunov function, we show the closed-loop system is robust in the input-to-state stability sense to measurement noise in the controller. Moreover, an interesting and explicit trade-off between controller performance and robustness is discussed and illustrated using a benchmark study of the 39-bus New England reference network.

Weitenberg, Erik↗

DOE OSTI2018

Synchronization of Lienard-Type Oscillators in Heterogenous Electrical Networks

Motivated by potential applications for power-electronic converters in microgrids, we study the problem of global asymptotic synchronization of Lienard-type nonlinear oscillators in heterogenous LTI electrical networks with series R-L circuits modeling interconnections. By heterogeneous, we mean that the resistance-to-inductance ratios of the lines are not all the same. Building on our previous work, we derive sufficient conditions for global asymptotic synchronization by using a first-order filter on the outputs of the oscillators. Our approach leverages a coordinate transformation to a system that emphasizes signal differences and the use of passivity based arguments to establish synchronization of the network of oscillators asymptotically. The analysis subsumes and generalizes previous conditions that have been derived for Lienard oscillators in homogeneous electrical networks. Numerical simulations are provided to validate the results.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗