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Contenu archivé le 2022-12-27

STAND-ALONE WIND ENERGY SYSTEM FOR PUMPING DRINKING WATER USING VARIABLE SPEED DRIVE TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE

Objectif

To demonstrate a load management system of a stand alone wind diesel system incorporating water pumping with variable speed drive to control power to the pumps.
This project aims to extend the current load management schemes available for wind diesel systems (which deal with resistive heating loads) to the management of water pumping.
Combining the proven resistance load management technology with commercial variable speed pump drives, surplus energy will be fed to water pumps as the windspeed fluctuates. In the proposal all the energy produced by the wind will be fed to pumps providing an ideal test bed for this innovation.
Energy output from the wind turbine is expected to be in excess of 136,500 kWh/year with a payback period on this installation of approximately 13 years.

A 60 kW wind turbine and a 10 kW diesel generator will be installed at Lough Salt in Co Donegal, Ireland, to pump water from Lough Reelan to Lough Salt.
Conventional control systems of wind diesel systems use resistive dump load switching to keep the electrical load matched to the wind turbines power, thereby keeping the frequency within set limits. This high speed thyristor switching does not suit pumps. So the pumps must be controlled on a threshold basis where they are switched on at a certain power level and switched off if the power becomes unavailable. While the pump or pumps are switched on, the fluctuations in the wind turbine power output, produced by the variability of the wind electronic load control system, switching resistance heating loads on and off.
In systems dedicated to water pumping this control system results in uneconomical amounts of energy being wasted in the dump load. The concept of using a system to improve water output and reduce energy dumped was therefore developed.
Commercially available pulse width modulated variable speed inverter drives will be used. In these units the incoming supply is rectified to d.c. and then a sine wave of variable frequency and voltage is reconstituted according to the control strategy. In this system as the speed of the pump changes, the motor speed to the flow rate will change and the power consumption of the device change.
By interfacing one or more of the pumps to a PWM variable speed inverter drive it will be possible to vary the load more gradually than simply turning pumps on or off. It will also be possible to start and stop the pumps more frequently as the inverter provides a built in "soft-start". All this will result in an improved use of available wind energy, more water pumped and less energy dumped to heat.
It is expected that this technology will further improve the economic viability of stand alone wind energy systems.

Thème(s)

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Appel à propositions

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Régime de financement

DEM - Demonstration contracts

Coordinateur

PRIMARY ENERGY
Contribution de l’UE
Aucune donnée
Adresse
9 KILDERRY LANE
MUFF
Irlande

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Coût total
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