Speed Or Frequency Of Generator Patents (Class 322/29)
  • Patent number: 11951842
    Abstract: This disclosure relates to an electrified vehicle configured to selectively deactivate a restricted power mode based on an acceleration request, such as an imminent or current acceleration request. A corresponding method is also disclosed. An example electrified vehicle includes a battery and a controller configured to apply a restricted power mode when a state of health of the battery is below a predefined lower threshold. Further, when in the restricted power mode, the controller is configured to limit an amount of power drawn from the battery. Additionally, the controller is configured to selectively deactivate the restricted power mode in response to a signal indicating a current or imminent request for acceleration of the electrified vehicle requiring power to be drawn from the battery above an upper limit of the restricted power mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Yanan Zhao, Xiaohong Nina Duan, Ming Lang Kuang
  • Patent number: 11658490
    Abstract: Provided is a method for identifying low-frequency oscillations, in particular subsynchronous resonances, in an electrical supply network, wherein the electrical supply network has a line voltage with a nominal line frequency, comprising the steps: detecting at least one electrical signal of the electrical supply network as at least one test signal and filtering and/or transforming the at least one detected test signal into at least one check signal, temporal derivation of the at least one check signal or difference formation of temporally separated values of the check signal, in order to obtain a gradient signal in each case, identifying the presence of a low-frequency oscillation if the gradient signal or at least one of the gradient signals meets a predetermined check criterion, in particular at least one predetermined check limit is exceeded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Assignee: Wobben Properties GmbH
    Inventors: Kai Busker, Angelo Mendonca, Aramis Schwanka Trevisan
  • Patent number: 11623743
    Abstract: In an aspect, a system comprising a computing device. The computing device is configured to determine a drag minimization axis of a rotor connected to an aircraft. The rotor includes a first end and a second end. The rotor is configured to rotate about an axis. The computing device is further configured to determine a halting point of the rotor, wherein the halting point includes a drag minimization axis of the rotor. The computing device is configured to send a halting command to at least a magnetic element to halt the rotor, wherein the halting process is configured to stop a movement of the rotor and position the rotor in the halting point. The position of the rotor in the halting point includes the first end pointing in one direction of the drag minimization axis and the second end pointing in an opposite direction of the first end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: BETA AIR, LLC
    Inventor: Herman Wiegman
  • Patent number: 11588333
    Abstract: A microgrid power flow monitoring and control system is described herein. The control system may determine active and reactive power sharing shortage on the electric power delivery system. The control system may utilize the control strategies of generation units, such as ISO control, droop control and constant power control to estimate power flow within a microgrid or other isolated system. A control strategy of one or more generators may be modified based on the determined power flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignee: Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Abdel Rahman Khatib, Niannian Cai
  • Patent number: 11585322
    Abstract: A wind turbine control apparatus, method and non-transitory computer-readable medium are disclosed. The wind turbine control apparatus comprises a generator connected to a wind turbine with a drive train. The drive train comprises a rotor, a low speed shaft, a gear box, a high speed shaft, and a controller module. The controller module is configured to obtain a maximum power within a large range of varying wind velocities by operating the rotor at a neural network determined optimal angular speed for the current wind velocity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignee: KING FAHD UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM AND MINERALS
    Inventors: Mohammad Kamal Hossain, Meer Abdul Mateen Khan
  • Patent number: 11552496
    Abstract: A permanent magnet synchronous generator control system includes a charging circuit connected between a vehicle generator winding and a battery, a controller connected with the charging circuit, and a current detection circuit for detecting a magnitude of charging current and a voltage feedback circuit for detecting a magnitude of charging voltage that are connected with the controller. The charging circuit includes a chopper circuit for chopping an AC voltage output by the vehicle generator winding and a rectifier circuit for rectifying the chopped AC voltage into a DC voltage for charging the battery. The controller is configured to control the charging circuit to adjust the magnitude of charging current or voltage based on the detection result from the current detection circuit or voltage feedback circuit, so as to maintain the stability of the charging voltage for the battery and obtain a constant power output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignees: SHENZHEN GENIUSMART TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Jun Wu
  • Patent number: 11545832
    Abstract: A method for controlling a wind farm to damp low-frequency electrical oscillations, in particular subsynchronous resonances, in an electrical supply grid having a grid voltage with a nominal grid frequency is provided. The wind farm comprises at least one wind turbine connected to the electrical supply grid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: Wobben Properties GmbH
    Inventors: Aramis Schwanka Trevisan, Angelo Mendonca, Jair Cassoli, Johannes Brombach
  • Patent number: 11545921
    Abstract: Apparatus and associated methods relate to active damping of mechanical oscillations of a synchronous generator's drivetrain by modulating an excitation signal provided to the synchronous generator in proper phase relation with detected mechanical oscillations so as to dampen these oscillations. The excitation signal includes a superposition of a voltage-regulation signal and an active-damping signal. The voltage-regulation signal is configured to regulate an output voltage of electrical power provided by the synchronous generator, and the active-damping signal is configured to provide active damping to the drivetrain of the mechanical system that includes the synchronous generator. The active-damping signal is generated by detecting mechanical oscillations of the drivetrain, filter such detected mechanical oscillations such that the active-damping signal has a proper phase relationship with the mechanical oscillations over a predetermined range of frequencies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation
    Inventor: Albert Markunas
  • Patent number: 11506173
    Abstract: A method for providing grid-forming control of a double-fed wind turbine generator connected to an electrical grid includes receiving at least one control signal associated with a desired total power output or a total current output of the double-fed wind turbine generator. The method also includes determining a contribution of at least one of power or current from the line-side converter to the desired total power output or to the total current output of the double-fed wind turbine generator, respectively. The method also includes determining a control command for a stator of the double-fed wind turbine generator based on the contribution of at least one of the power or the current from the line-side converter and the at least one control signal. Further, the method includes using the control command to regulate at least one of power or current in the stator of the double-fed wind-turbine generator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Dustin Howard, Einar Vaughn Larsen
  • Patent number: 11480066
    Abstract: A gas turbine power plant comprises a gas turbine, a power turbine, a clutch, an electrical generator and a controller. The power turbine is fluidly connected to the gas turbine without any mechanical connection. The clutch comprises an input mechanically connected to the power turbine and an output mechanically connected to the electric generator. The controller can identify that a speed of the electric generator is greater than a speed of the power turbine, determine a difference between the speed of the electric generator and the power turbine, in response to the difference being greater than a threshold, control the gas turbine to a first maximum acceleration of the power turbine, and in response to the difference being equal or less than to the threshold, control the gas turbine to a second maximum acceleration of the power turbine that is less than the first maximum acceleration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: Energy Services LLC
    Inventors: William Harms, John J. Henderson, Anthony Maiorana, Ralph David Turley
  • Patent number: 11476663
    Abstract: A solar array power generation system includes a solar array electrically connected to a control system. The solar array has a plurality of solar modules, each module having at least one DC/DC converter for converting the raw panel output to an optimized high voltage, low current output. In a further embodiment, each DC/DC converter requires a signal to enable power output of the solar modules.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: Solaredge Technologies Ltd.
    Inventors: F. William Capp, William J. Driscoll
  • Patent number: 11435402
    Abstract: A method of monitoring a machine is described. The machine includes a mechanical system moved by a motor, where the mechanical system has more than two components coupled to each other. The two or more components move differently when the mechanical system is driven by the motor. The method includes repeatedly determining one movement factor of one of the components, and repeatedly determining one dynamic factor of one of the components. The movement factors of the remaining components are then calculated via a model of the mechanical system, and separate parameters for the components of the mechanical system are determined from the movement factor, the dynamic factor, and the calculated movement factors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: Schneider Electric Industries SAS
    Inventors: Michael Rieger, Juergen Heid
  • Patent number: 11368048
    Abstract: A microgrid power flow monitoring and control system is described herein. The control system may determine active and reactive power sharing shortage on the electric power delivery system. The control system may utilize the control strategies of generation units, such as ISO control, droop control and constant power control to estimate power flow within a microgrid or other isolated system. A control strategy of one or more generators may be modified based on the determined power flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2022
    Assignee: Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Abdel Rahman Khatib, Niannian Cai
  • Patent number: 11322941
    Abstract: A method of controlling output of an ESS depending on droop control according to frequency variation range of a power grid in the present invention may comprise steps of: monitoring the frequency variation range of the power grid; predicting frequency correction range resulting from regulation of an engine generator during a predetermined unit regulation time if the frequency variation range is determined to exceed a first reference value; controlling the output of the ESS with an output value determined by a frequency of the power grid according to a droop control algorithm set as a default if the predicted frequency correction range does not exceed a second reference value; and fixing the output of the ESS during the unit regulation time if the predicted frequency correction range exceeds the second reference value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: HYOSUNG HEAVY INDUSTRIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Dae Geun Jin, Bo Gun Jin
  • Patent number: 11296537
    Abstract: The invention relates to a control for an electrical energy supply unit, comprising a first filling level input, to which a first filling level of a first energy store of the electrical energy supply unit can be transmitted. In addition, the control comprises a further filling level input, to which a further filling level of an optional further energy store of a further electrical energy supply unit can be transmitted. Furthermore, the control comprises a nominal alternating voltage determiner which is designed to determine a nominal alternating voltage while taking into account the first filling level and/or the further filling level. In addition, the control comprises a nominal alternating voltage output, from which the nominal alternating voltage can be transmitted to an alternating voltage generator of the electrical energy supply unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignee: Power-Blox AG
    Inventor: Alessandro Medici
  • Patent number: 11288422
    Abstract: A simulation evaluation model of a high voltage ride through capability includes a wind turbine system aerodynamic model, a torque control model, a converter model, and a high voltage fault generating device model connected in sequence; the wind turbine system aerodynamic model is configured to calculate an airflow input power; the torque control model is configured to calculate a rotor electromagnetic torque according to the airflow input power; the high voltage fault generating device model is configured to simulate a high voltage fault and output a predetermined voltage on a low voltage side of a transformer; and the converter model is configured to calculate a stator reactive current, an active power and a reactive power of the wind turbine system during the high voltage fault according to the airflow input power, the rotor electromagnetic torque and the predetermined voltage on the low voltage side of the transformer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: GUODIAN UNITED POWER TECHNOLOGY COMPANY LTD.
    Inventors: Jingchun Chu, Ling Yuan, Lei Pan, Wenchao Chen, Chong Jiao, Fa Xie, Wen Du, Yanping Li, Qian Wang, Xuefeng Lin, Yan Ding
  • Patent number: 11223307
    Abstract: A rotary machine includes a rotor rotatable about a rotation axis and a stator mechanically divided into stator segments, each covering a respective section in relation to the rotation axis. Coils of one individual multi-phase rotary system are respectively arranged in the stator segments, each having terminals which connect phase lines of an individual multi-phase rotary system and are connected to the coils. A converter unit includes multiple subunits operated independently of one another, each forming an individual multi-phase rotary system. The number of phases of the subunits corresponds to the number of stator segments. The terminals of the stator segments are each connected to a subunit. The stator segments form groups of directly successive stator segments when viewed about the rotation axis. The terminals of the stator segments are connected to the same sub-unit within each group, but connected to different sub-units from group to group of stator segments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignee: FLENDER GMBH
    Inventors: Michael Ade, Andreas Jöckel, Norbert Schönbauer
  • Patent number: 10897218
    Abstract: The present application provides a control system and method for a permanent magnet synchronous traction and transmission system. A The control system comprises a sampling unit and a controller; the sampling unit collecting an operation excitation current and an operation torque current, a input capacitor voltage and a rotor frequency; the controller acquires a target torque instruction issued to the traction and transmission system, calculates a target excitation current value and a target torque current value, and generates an excitation current regulation value and a torque current regulation value; a regulation unit is configured to generate a torque current regulation value according to the target torque current value and an operation torque current value and generate a target modulation ratio and a modulation frequency according to the excitation current regulation value and the torque current regulation value output from the regulation unit and finally output a PWM modulation wave control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 19, 2021
    Assignee: CRRC QINGDAO SIFANG ROLLING STOCK RESEARCH INSTITUTE CO., LTD. (CN)
    Inventors: Jingbin Bi, Meng Xia, Hu Cao, Fanfei Zeng
  • Patent number: 10889285
    Abstract: A method for controlling an electric machine in a powertrain system in which a driven load is connected to a rotor of the electric machine includes measuring phase currents at a starting point of a sample period using current sensors connected to phase windings of the electric machine. The individual phase currents also are determined at a midpoint of the previous sample period. An angular position of the rotor is determined at the starting point and previous midpoint before calculating synchronous reference frame currents of the electric machine at the starting and previous midpoint using the phase currents and angular position. The method includes calculating average synchronous reference frame currents over the sample period and regulating operation of the electric machine using the average. An electrical system includes the electric machine, a power inverter module, and a controller that executes the method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2021
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventor: Caleb W. Secrest
  • Patent number: 10763695
    Abstract: A microgrid power flow monitoring and control system is described herein. The control system may determine active and reactive power sharing shortage on the electric power delivery system. The control system may utilize the control strategies of generation units, such as ISO control, droop control and constant power control to estimate power flow within a microgrid or other isolated system. A control strategy of one or more generators may be modified based on the determined power flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Abdel Rahman Khatib, Niannian Cai
  • Patent number: 10630215
    Abstract: A DFIG power system defines a generator power path and a converter power path. The generator power path has a DFIG with a rotor and a stator. The converter power path has a power converter with a rotor-side converter coupled to a line-side converter via a DC link. The power converter has at least two power bridge circuits connected in parallel. A method of operating the DFIG power system includes monitoring, via one or more sensors, at least one electrical condition thereof. The method also includes comparing, via a control system, the at least one electrical condition to a predetermined threshold, the predetermined threshold being indicative of an occurrence of a transient overloading event. Further, the method includes alternating between non-interleaving and interleaving intervals if the at least one electrical condition exceeds the predetermined threshold so as to reduce harmonics of the DFIG power system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Robert Gregory Wagoner, David Smith
  • Patent number: 10615597
    Abstract: A system includes at least one generator coupled to an island grid, at least one energy storage unit and at least one converter coupled to the at least one energy storage unit and configured to be coupled to the island grid. The system further includes a control circuit configured to cause the at least one converter to transfer power between the at least one energy storage unit and the grid responsive to a change in a load on the island grid to maintain operation of the at least one generator at a predetermined operating point. The at least one generator may include a control system configured to match generator output to the load and the control circuit may be configured to maintain the control system of the at least one generator within a predetermined dynamic response capability limit responsive to the change in the load.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: Flexgen Power Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Pasi Taimela, Tony Olivo, Robert William Johnson, Jr., Doug Moorehead
  • Patent number: 10590843
    Abstract: A portable generator includes a combustion engine. The portable generator includes an electric generator coupled to the combustion engine. The portable generator can include a load bank. When the electric generator operates at a first voltage and generates less than a threshold amount, the load bank is coupled to the electric generator in a first configuration. When the electric generator operates at a second voltage that is different than the first voltage, the load bank is coupled to the electric generator in a second configuration that is different than the first configuration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2020
    Assignee: Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC
    Inventors: Ryan M. Maxwell, David R. Dixon, David W. Hawver, Tommy D. Gleaton
  • Patent number: 10541634
    Abstract: A generator arrangement includes a stator with armature winding, a rotor with one or more permanent magnets supported for rotation relative to the stator, a variable speed drive, and a control module. The variable speed drive is connected to the rotor for rotating the rotor within a predetermined speed range. The control module is disposed in communication with the armature windings and is operatively connected to the variable speed drive to maintain constant output voltage as load changes by varying rotational speed of the rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation
    Inventors: Dhaval Patel, Jonathan C. Dell, Andreas C. Koenig, Glenn C. Lemmers, Jr.
  • Patent number: 10224720
    Abstract: A combined power plant is disclosed for feeding energy into a non-local power network. The combined power plant includes at least one turbine power plant and at least one energy storage installation with one or more energy storage modules, whereby the turbine power plant is connected to the non-local power network in order to feed in power. A monitoring unit monitors the rotational speed of a turbine on the basis of a rotational speed-specific characteristic quantity, at least while the energy is being fed into the non-local power network. The energy storage installation is connected to the non-local power network separately or via the turbine power plant, whereby the monitoring unit is connected to a control unit of the appertaining energy storage installation in order to transmit a characteristic quantity signal based on the rotational speed-specific characteristic quantity to the control unit via a data connection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2019
    Assignee: ENRICHMENT TECHNOLOGY COMPANY LTD. ZWEIGNIEDERLASSUNG DEUTSCHLAND
    Inventors: Rainer vor dem Esche, Christoph Treppmann
  • Patent number: 10106027
    Abstract: A compact generator and coolant pump assembly may be used on a vehicle having a fluid reservoir and a plurality of electrical components disposed on the vehicle. The generator includes a rotor and stator disposed in a housing and the rotor is driven by a rotatable input member to generate an electrical output for use by one or more components of the vehicle. The assembly also includes a circulating pump connected to the generator housing and driven by the rotatable input member. The circulating pump may be connected to a fluid reservoir and to one or more electrical components such as a controller or battery on the vehicle through a set of coolant lines to provide coolant to the electrical components. The circulating pump may be offset from the generator housing by a plurality of spacers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2018
    Assignee: Hydro-Gear Limited Partnership
    Inventor: Scott W. Keller
  • Patent number: 9945907
    Abstract: A method of determining a fault condition in a synchronous machine. The method includes a) obtaining a field current signal and a shaft voltage signal of the synchronous machine, b) transforming the field current signal and the shaft voltage signal to obtain a field current frequency spectrum and a shaft voltage frequency spectrum, and c) determining whether a fault condition is present, and in case a fault condition is present identifying a type of the fault condition, based on harmonic content of the field current frequency spectrum and harmonic content of the shaft voltage frequency spectrum, wherein c) includes comparing the harmonic content of the field current frequency spectrum with fault condition field current signature spectra and comparing the harmonic content of the shaft voltage frequency spectrum with fault condition shaft voltage signature spectra.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Pedro Rodriguez, Subrat Sahoo
  • Patent number: 9915243
    Abstract: A system for automatic generation control in a wind farm is provided. The system includes a wind farm controller for controlling the plurality of energy storage elements. The wind farm controller receives an automatic generation control set point from an independent system operator, generates a farm-level storage power set point for the wind farm based on the automatic generation control set point, generates individual storage power set points for the plurality of energy storage elements based on states of charge of the respective energy storage elements, and controls the plurality of energy storage elements based on the individual storage power set points for dispatching storage power to perform automatic generation control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2018
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Deepak Raj Sagi, Mark Edward Cardinal, Avijit Saha, Rajni Kant Burra, Govardhan Ganireddy
  • Patent number: 9874190
    Abstract: Methods and systems for exercising a genset are disclosed herein. The method includes detecting whether the genset is in a first mode or a second mode, and activating a plurality of exercise cycles of the genset. Activating the plurality of exercise cycles comprises, in response to detecting the genset is in the first mode, ignite fuel to activate the genset during each of the plurality of exercise cycles of the genset; and in response to detecting the genset is in the second mode, cranking the genset without igniting fuel during at least a first subset of the plurality of exercise cycles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2018
    Assignee: Cummins Power Generation IP, Inc.
    Inventors: Dan G. Priem, Leo T. Steffl
  • Patent number: 9843280
    Abstract: A motor control system is provided for field-oriented control of an electric motor for driving a vehicle. The motor control system includes a current setpoint creator, which is designed to receive a torque setpoint as an input signal and to output a torque-creating current setpoint and at least one field-creating current setpoint as output signals in order to control the electric motor in a field-oriented manner. An exceptional situation detection device detects a present torque setpoint, calculates a change based on the present torque setpoint and an earlier torque setpoint, and detects an exceptional situation if the magnitude of the change exceeds a specified threshold value. The motor control system is designed to adapt the torque-creating current setpoint based on the present torque setpoint when the exceptional situation is detected, thereby bypassing the current setpoint creator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2017
    Assignee: CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE GMBH
    Inventor: Thomas Baumann
  • Patent number: 9577558
    Abstract: A power management system having automatic calibration is disclosed. The power management system may have an alternator and an electronic control unit. The electronic control unit may be configured to determine a reference voltage based on at least one measured operating condition of the alternator. The reference voltage may correspond to an overloading threshold of the alternator. The electronic control unit may be further configured to monitor a voltage of the alternator and, when the monitored voltage is less than the reference voltage, perform a corrective action to increase a power output of the alternator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Michael James Kresca, Brett Michael Nee, Matthew J. Urbanc
  • Patent number: 9570913
    Abstract: A generator for producing electric power, the generator including a generator unit including a stator) and a rotatably supported rotor, wherein the stator includes a first set of windings and a second set of windings, and the rotor is adapted to induce electrical voltage in the first set of windings and in the second set of windings when the rotor is rotated relative to the stator, the generator further includes a first converter coupled to the first set of windings, the first converter being adapted to convert alternating voltage in the first set of windings into an output DC voltage, a DC output coupled to the first converter to receive the output DC voltage, and a second converter coupled to the second set of windings and to the DC output, the second converter being adapted to generate control voltages and/or control currents in the second set of windings, is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2017
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Björn Andresen, Jesper Elliot Petersen, Arwyn Thomas, Zhan-Yuan Wu, Zhen Ping Xia
  • Patent number: 9391444
    Abstract: Voltage instability protection for an electric power system is implemented by determining a change in power injected into a region of interest within the electric power system based on synchronized power measurements from different power injection points of the region of interest, and by determining a change in power absorbed by one or more loads in the region of interest based on synchronized power measurements from different load points of the region of interest. A change in power loss for the region of interest is determined based on the difference between the change in power injected into the region of interest and the change in power absorbed by the region of interest. A voltage instability condition is indicated when the change in power loss for the region of interest approximates the change in power injected into the region of interest.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: ABB RESEARCH LTD.
    Inventors: Mahyar Zarghami, Reynaldo Nuqui
  • Patent number: 9184582
    Abstract: Method for operating a fail operational power system for a vehicle includes monitoring a first voltage on a first power distribution path and a second voltage on a second power distribution path. An isolator switch controllably operative between open and closed states is monitored. The closed state connects the first and second power distribution paths and the open state opens the connection between the first and second power distribution paths. Each of the monitored first and second voltages is compared to a reference voltage. When a predetermined operating mode requiring fail operational power is enabled, the isolator switch is controlled to the open state when at least one of the monitored first and second voltages violates the reference voltage and the isolator switch is controlled to the closed state when neither one of the monitored first and second voltages violates the reference voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: David P. Koch, Chandra S. Namuduri, Jeffrey James Hoorn, Nikhil L. Hoskeri, Mark S. Hoinka
  • Patent number: 9160251
    Abstract: In a rotary electric machine, an on-timing setter sets on-timings of each of a high-side switching element and a low-side switching element for each of at least two three-phase stator windings. An off-timing setter sets off-timings of each of the high-side switching element and the low-side switching element. An off-timing fault determiner determines a fault of an off-timing of a target switching element as one of the high-side switching element and the low-side switching element set by the off-timing setter when a time interval from the off-timing of the target switching element set by the off-timing setter to time when a phase voltage corresponding to the target switching element reaches a threshold after the off-timing thereof is shorter than a preset value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2015
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Harumi Horihata, Hideaki Nakayama
  • Patent number: 9143071
    Abstract: The present invention concerns a method of controlling a wind power installation having a generator with a stator, a pole wheel with at least two rotor poles with a respective pole winding for producing a magnetic field guided in the respective rotor pole, and an air gap between the stator and the pole wheel, including the steps—controlling a respective exciter current through each pole winding,—varying at least one of the exciter currents relative to at least one further one of the exciter currents, and/or—varying at least one of the exciter currents in dependence on the position of the pole wheel in relation to the stator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Assignee: Wobben Properties GmbH
    Inventor: Volker Diedrichs
  • Patent number: 9073444
    Abstract: A battery charging system for a vehicle, capable of charging a vehicle battery pack properly in a short time even during driving a vehicle-mounted electrical load. The battery charging system includes the battery pack mounted in the vehicle, the vehicle-mounted electrical load that can be driven by a current from the battery pack, and a battery charge controller that controls charging of the battery pack. When the battery pack is charged by using an external battery charger during operation of the load, the battery charge controller requires the external battery charger to supply a sum current that is a sum of a current for charging the battery pack and a current for driving the load to the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, CAPTEX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Akira Ito, Mitsuru Fujita, Shinji Katoh, Kenichi Tanaka, Yukitsugu Sakaguchi
  • Publication number: 20150102783
    Abstract: Some embodiments relate to a method of controlling speed of a variable speed generator. The method includes detecting a load of the variable speed generator and determining a target speed for the variable speed generator based on the load supplied by the variable speed generator. The method further includes using a controller to adjust the speed of the variable speed generator based on the target speed. The method may further include correcting the target speed by calculating a correction factor that corrects the target speed based on a voltage produced by the variable speed generator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2014
    Publication date: April 16, 2015
    Inventors: Isaac S. Frampton, Eric D. Albsmeier
  • Patent number: 8975878
    Abstract: A method of controlling a generator (110) of an electric drive (104) associated with an engine (102) is provided. The method may determine an operational state of the electric drive (104) based on a speed of the engine (102), and selectively engage one of a map-lookup control scheme (150) and a fixed-theta off control scheme (152) for operating the generator (110) based on the operational state of the electric drive (104).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Jackson Wai, Thuong Le, Adam Braun, Jesse Gerdes, James Siegle, Mark Hartman
  • Patent number: 8963508
    Abstract: Some embodiments relate to a method of controlling speed of a variable speed generator. The method includes detecting a load of the variable speed generator and determining a target speed for the variable speed generator based on the load supplied by the variable speed generator. The method further includes using a controller to adjust the speed of the variable speed generator based on the target speed. The method may further include correcting the target speed by calculating a correction factor that corrects the target speed based on a voltage produced by the variable speed generator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: Kohler Co.
    Inventors: Isaac S. Frampton, Eric D. Albsmeier
  • Publication number: 20150048806
    Abstract: A method for operating a separately excited electric machine, in particular, a generator of a motor vehicle, where an exciting current flows through a rotor winding of the electric machine at a nominal current intensity during a normal operation and at a holding current intensity in an idling operation; the holding current intensity being greater than zero and less than the nominal current intensity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 13, 2012
    Publication date: February 19, 2015
    Inventor: Istvan Deak
  • Patent number: 8957536
    Abstract: A wind turbine is provided. The wind turbine includes a generator, an output thereof being connectable to a power grid via a power transmission path, the power transmission path comprising a generator side converter coupled to the output of the generator, a grid side converter coupled to the power grid, and a DC link coupled between the generator side converter and the grid side converter. For diverting the generator power, a load dump arrangement is provided which includes at least one resistor, a plurality of switches, and a plurality of electrical connections which electrically connect the at least one resistor to the output of the generator and across the DC link via the plurality of switches. One common and configurable load dump is used for both converter system failures and grid failures. As compared to two separate load dumps for converter failures and grid failures, the single load dump will require a smaller space for a wind turbine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: Vestas Wind Systems A/S
    Inventors: Amit Kumar Gupta, Anshuman Tripathi, Ramasamy Anbarasu, Ove Styhm, Gil Lampong Opina, Jr., Yugarajan Karuppanan, Bing Li, Shu Yu Cao
  • Publication number: 20150035501
    Abstract: A method for controlling torsional oscillation includes detecting angular position of a wound field synchronous generator machine, extracting information indicative of torsional oscillation, selecting synchronous torsional oscillations, compensating for the synchronous torsional oscillations with an exciter signal, and controlling field current in the wound field synchronous generator using the exciter signal. A damping controller includes a damping module with a synchronous selective compensator and a synchronous notch filter for generating torsional oscillation compensation signals for asynchronous torsional oscillation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 2, 2013
    Publication date: February 5, 2015
    Applicant: HAMILTON SUNDSTRAND CORPORATION
    Inventors: Gregory I. Rozman, Steven J. Moss
  • Patent number: 8928166
    Abstract: An electric power generation system (EPGS) employs both a wild-source generator and a variable and/or constant frequency generator. The wild-source generator is coupled to receive mechanical power from a low-pressure spool on an aircraft engine and to generate in response a wild-source output for consumption by voltage and frequency-tolerant loads. The variable and/or constant frequency generator is coupled to receive mechanical power from a high-pressure spool on the aircraft engine and to generate in response a variable and/or constant frequency output for consumption by voltage and frequency-intolerant loads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation
    Inventors: Mark J. Seger, Todd A. Spierling, David S. Behling, Craig R. LeGros, Brandon M. Grell
  • Patent number: 8928293
    Abstract: An electrical machine includes a stator having a main armature winding, an exciter field winding, and a transformer primary winding. A rotor is operatively connected to rotate relative to the stator, wherein the rotor includes an exciter armature winding operatively connected to the exciter armature winding for field excitation therebetween, a main field winding operatively connected to the main armature winding for field excitation therebetween, and a transformer secondary winding operatively connected to the transformer primary winding to form a rotating transformer. A generator control unit is operatively connected to the main armature winding, exciter field winding, and transformer primary winding to control the main armature and exciter field windings based on excitation in the primary winding received from the transformer secondary winding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation
    Inventors: Gregory I. Rozman, Jacek F. Gieras, Steven J. Moss
  • Patent number: 8907636
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method and a device for primary frequency regulation based on bang-bang control, the method comprises: obtaining in real-time a power grid frequency of a steam turbine generator set; performing a subtraction operation on a rated power grid frequency and said power grid frequency to generate a power grid frequency difference; performing a dead zone process on the power grid frequency difference according to a dead zone fixed value to generate a frequency difference; performing a frequency difference compensation operation on the frequency difference to generate a frequency difference compensation instruction; and combining an original primary frequency regulation output instruction with the frequency difference compensation instruction and outputting the result to a steam turbine speed regulation system when a selecting switch is 1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2014
    Assignees: North China Electric Power Research Institute Co. Ltd., State Grid Corporation of China
    Inventors: Weihua Li, Zhenyong Yang, Aiguo Gao, Yi Luo, Liankun Lai, Feiyi Li, Yanjin Wang
  • Patent number: 8903555
    Abstract: A wind power generator generates power through a rotation of a rotor and is interconnected, and operated with its power generation output previously limited in order to be able to further supply the power to a power system in response to a decrease in system frequency. Thus, a concentrated control system derives a required restricted amount corresponding to a power generation output required to respond to the decrease in system frequency, derives a value by subtracting an amount corresponding to a latent power generation output with which the power generation output can be increased, from the required restricted amount, and sets a restricted amount of the power generation output in each wind power generator to perform the operation with the power generation output previously limited to respond to the decrease in system frequency, based on the above value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Takumi Nakashima, Masayuki Hashimoto, Akira Yasugi, Tsuyoshi Wakasa, Hisanobu Shinoda
  • Patent number: 8823334
    Abstract: A method for starting an electric motor, the motor having a main machine, exciter, and permanent magnet generator (PMG), each having a stator and a rotor, with each rotor mounted to a common shaft, the method comprising starting the main machine in an asynchronous mode by applying a starting current to the stator of the main machine to induce a damper current in a damper winding of the main rotor to generate a starting torque that initiates the rotation of the common shaft, and then running the main machine in synchronous mode by supplying running current from the exciter rotor to the main machine rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: GE Aviation Systems LLC
    Inventors: Hao Huang, Xiaochuan Jia
  • Patent number: 8803487
    Abstract: A rotating device for multi-megawatt, fast response frequency regulation for the electric grid. The device generally has a main shaft coupled to a motor-generator, a main spring concentric to the main shaft, and several radially-symmetric arms, each connected to the main spring via a four-bar mechanism. As the rotational speed of the device increases, centrifugal force acting on the arms causes them to rise, the four-bar mechanism compresses the main spring, and energy is stored in the device as a combination of kinetic rotational energy, elastic potential energy, and gravitational potential energy. The device can be configured with additional springs, which can be compression springs, tension springs, or a combination thereof, in order to increase the amount of energy produced. Symmetrically-spaced gliding masses can be arranged on the arms as well.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Dehlsen Associates, LLC
    Inventors: James G. P. Dehlsen, Mauricio Quintana
  • Patent number: 8786262
    Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention is a unique method of controlling the output of a synchronous electrical machine. Another embodiment is a unique method of controlling the output of a synchronous electrical machine for powering a load. Still another embodiment is a unique aircraft power generation system. Other embodiments include apparatuses, systems, devices, hardware, methods, and combinations for fluid driven actuation systems. Further embodiments, forms, features, aspects, benefits, and advantages of the present application will become apparent from the description and figures provided herewith.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: Rolls-Royce Corporation
    Inventors: Kaushik Rajashekara, John Timothy Alt