DESIG A D IMPLIME TATIO OF A I TEGRATED WI D TURBI E/HYDROGE GE ERATOR

I TRODUCTIO In the developing countries the supply of electricity is still far from sufficient, therefore there is the need to explore all possible sources to boost the electricity supply. With the growing emphasis over clean energy sources the wind turbine electricity generation is gaining ground. The wind is a clean and plentiful source of energy, but one of the problems with wind turbines especially inland installations is the wide fluctuations in wind speed. In this study a project will be undertaken to design a power converter system so that at times of excessive wind speeds the extra electricity generated will be stored in the form of chemical energy. During periods of low wind speeds when insufficient electricity is being produced the chemical energy will be used as fuel for a pollution-free internal combustion engine which will be used to drive the generator.

MOTIVATIO A D SIG IFICA CE OF THE STUDY Generation of electricity from fossil fuels adds a lot of pollutants to the atmosphere. Therefore if a means of generating electricity could be provided which will not put any pollutants into the atmosphere it will be a great boost towards a healthier and more sustainable environment. Hydroelectric power generation is an alternative but there is growing shortage of water supply which reduces the potential of hydroelectric power plants. Automobiles also contribute a lot to environmental pollution. Therefore if non fossil fuel can be used as an alternative to a lot of the environmental pollution problem will be solved. Thus if Hydrogen gas can be used in place of petrol as fuel then the pollution from automobiles will be greatly reduced. In this research project the green environment objective will be realized from these two perspectives.

AIM The aim of this research is to design a power converter and control system for an integrated wind turbine/ hydrogen independent power generator. In this study a project will be undertaken to design a power converter system so that at times of excessive wind speeds the extra electricity generated will be used to produce hydrogen from water. The Hydrogen will then be stored in an appropriate form.

During periods of low wind speeds when insufficient electricity is being produced from the wind turbine the stored hydrogen will be used as fuel to drive an internal combustion engine/gas turbine which will be used to drive the generator. Any excess hydrogen can be stored and used to drive hydrogen cars. In rural areas this can be used as a complete independent energy source. First the home electricity demand will be met and secondly fuel for cars and machinery is provided, and all with minimal environmental pollution. The system is inherently nonlinear therefore an appropriate fuzzy controller will be designed for the system. Fuzzy control is a practical alternative for a variety of challenging control applications since it provides a convenient method for constructing nonlinear controllers via the use of heuristic information. METHODOLOGY 1. Derive an overall model of the system. 2. Design an appropriate power converter topology. 3. Develop an appropriate fuzzy controller for the system. 4. Program a microcontroller/ microprocessor with the controller software. 5. Build the overall system prototype.