Wind Turbine Emulator Using Three-Level Inverter-Fed Induction Motor Drive Controlled Through DTC Strategy

Induction motors (IM) are widely applied in manifold industrial applications, notably in the renewable energy sector, owing to their low maintenance requirements, economical cost, and high efficiency. This article outlines a Wind Turbine Emulation (WTE) system using a squirrel cage asynchronous machine under Direct Torque Control (DTC) approach. The proposed DTC strategy is based on a three-level Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) inverter fed the IM to proficiently imitate a small-scale wind-turbine behavior in a laboratory setting by regulating the waveform of the speed. The suggested control system reacts effectively as a wind turbine emulator in research laboratory by controlling the speed waveform with minimum torque and flux ripples. The simulation findings, carried out using Matlab/SIMULINK environment, confirmed the suitability of the DTC in WTE application.