Critical evaluation and application of position sensorless control techniques for reluctance synchronous machines

The position sensorless controllability of the reluctance synchronous machine (RSM) is investigated in this thesis with the focus on industry applications where variable and dynamic torque is required from startup up to rated speed. Two low speed as well as one medium to high speed position sensorless control (PSC) method for RSMs are investigated. These methods are extended to operate in the entire rated speed region with a hybrid PSC structure that makes use of phase locked-loop synchronisation and a hysteresis changeover method. It is shown in this thesis that PSC of the lateral rib rotor RSM is not possible from zero up to ± 0.2 p.u current. It is shown through finite element (FE) simulations that PSC of the ideal rotor RSM however, is possible at zero reference current. A novel construction method is used to build two ideal rotor RSMs. Measured flux linkage curve results of the ideal rotor RSMs correlate well with simulation results and it is shown that the electrical angle of the machine can be tracked successfully at zero reference current. The FE simulation package is used to compare the saliency of the RSM on a per-unit scale to three types of field intensified permanent magnet (FI-PM) synchronous machines and a field weakening interior permanent magnet synchronous machine. It is shown that the saliency of the RSM is larger than that of the investigated PM machines from zero up to rated load. It is thus concluded that the RSM is well suited to saliency-based PSC (SB-PSC) methods, which are used to control synchronous machines at startup and low speeds. The hybrid PSC methods developed in this thesis, are tested and evaluated on three proposed industry applications. The first is a reluctance synchronous wind generator with an inverter output LC filter. The LC filter allows long cables to be used and reduces the voltage stress on the stator windings of the machine. The combination of the LC filter and hybrid PSC method allows the power electronics and controller to be stationed in the base of the turbine tower. A new stator quantity estimation method is derived to omit the need of current and voltage sensors on the machine side of the LC filter. Good maximum power point tracking laboratory results are shown with the high frequency injection-assisted hybrid PSC method. The second application investigated is a position sensorless controlled variable gear electric vehicle (EV) RSM drive. Simulation and measured results show good torque capabilities of the position sensorless controlled EV RSM. It is shown through simulation results that the fundamental current harmonic is dominant in the demodulation scheme of the high frequency injection position sensorless control (HFIPSC) method due to the high current rating of the proposed RSM. The HFI-PSC method is extended to reduce the effect of the fundamental current harmonic in the demodulation scheme without adding any additional filters. The final investigated application is a novel mine scraper winch, which uses two position sensorless controlled RSMs to retrieve ore from the blast site underground. The new design improves on the safety, efficiency and durability of the current scraper winch design. Measured results show that the position sensorless controlled winch RSM is able to deliver rated startup torque with both investigated SB-PSC methods. Finally an automation method is implemented and tested to limited the applied force on the scraper and automatically free itself when stuck. iii Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za