Applied Energy 86 (2009) 1565–1573

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

A comparative study between three sensorless control strategies

for PMSG in wind energy conversion system
Jemaa Brahmi, Lotfi Krichen *, Abderrazak Ouali
Advanced Control and Energy Management Research Unit ENIS, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Sfax, 3038 Sfax, Tunisia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper presents a comparative study of sliding mode, artificial neural network and model reference
Received 25 June 2008 adaptive speed observers for a speed sensorless permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) in
Received in revised form 14 October 2008 wind energy conversion system (WECS). Wind velocity and position sensorless operating methods for
Accepted 9 November 2008
wind generation system using observer are proposed only by measuring phase voltages and currents.
Available online 30 December 2008
Maximum wind energy extraction is achieved by running the wind turbine generator in variable-speed
mode. In addition the three speed observers are compared to verify the robustness against parameter
Keywords:
variations.
Sensorless
WECS
Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
MPPT
Sliding mode observer
Artificial neural network observer
Model reference adaptive observer

1. Introduction In this study, we propose the sensorless maximum power point

Due to the drawbacks associated with the use of rotor position
sensors in permanent-magnet synchronous generator (PMSG)
drives, there has been significant interest in the so-called rotor po-
sition sensorless drive. Rotor position sensorless control of the
PMSG typically requires knowledge of the PMSG structure and
parameters, which in some situations are not readily available or
may be difficult to obtain. Moreover the amount of energy ob-
tained from a wind energy conversion system (WECS) depends
not only on the characteristics of the wind regime at the site, but
also on the control strategy used for the WECS.
In the literature, many techniques have been developed for
sensorless control of induction machines [1–4] and for PMSG appli-
cations [5–7]. In [3], a sensorless vector-control strategy for an
induction generator in a variable-speed WECS using a MRAS obser-
ver to estimate the rotational speed of the induction generator is
studied. In [8], the neural network is applied for wind speed esti-
mation and robust control of maximum wind power extraction.
The work in [9] studies the rotor speed sensorless control of the
PMSG using the reduced order observer. In [10], a rotor position
sensorless control of the PMSM using a diagonally recurrent neural
network is implemented.
tracking of wind generation system. A speed observer based on the
MRAS theory for a speed sensorless permanent magnet synchro-
nous generator (PMSG) drive in wind energy conversion system
(WECS) is first proposed. Next, the speed observer based on the
neural network is derived, and then a speed observer based on
the sliding mode control theory is done. The maximum power
point is based on the knowledge of the characteristic curve of the
wind turbine aerofoil. For high wind speeds, the pitch control ad-
justs the pitch angle to limit the aerodynamic power of the WECS,
which supplies a load or a grid through an inverter. This converter
allows the reactive power management by the regulation of the DC
voltage bus and the control of the reactive power. In addition, the
observers are compared, in order to test the robustness of the
observers against parameter variations of the PMSG.
Some simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effec-
tiveness of the sliding mode speed observer in wind energy conver-
sion system under decrease or increase of stator resistance.
2. Modeling of the WECS
2.1. Modeling of the wind turbine

The wind power acting on the swept area of the blade s is a

function of the air density q (kg m3) and the wind speed
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: brahmi_jemaa@yahoo.fr (J. Brahmi), lotfi.krichen@enis.rnu.tn v w ðm s1 Þ. The transmitted power P (W) is generally deduced
(L. Krichen), abderrazak.ouali@enis.rnu.tn (A. Ouali). from the wind power using the power coefficient Cp, as

0306-2619/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2008.11.010
1566 J. Brahmi et al. / Applied Energy 86 (2009) 1565–1573

1 The electromagnetic torque is given by

P¼ C P qSv 3w ð1Þ
2
C em ¼ p/m Isq ð7Þ
The power coefficient is a non-linear function of the tip speed-ratio
k, which depends on the wind velocity and the rotation speed of the A block diagram of the drive investigated for assessment of
shaft Xt (rpm). quality of the proposed estimator of the rotor and position speed
by taking into account of the stator resistance variation is shown
RXt in Fig. 1. The bloc of speed and position observer can be the MRAS,
k¼ ð2Þ
vw the neural network or the sliding mode observer which are ex-
where R represents the blade radius (m). plained and detailed in the following sections. The wind generator
As both mechanical shafts are linked by the gearbox, there is consists of a wind turbine driving a multi-pole permanent magnet
only one state variable. The mechanical equation is given by synchronous generator (PMSG) and of the AC/DC rectifier to con-
nect this wind generator to the DC bus. The converter controls
dX 1 the output voltages of the PMSG and indirectly the operating point
¼ ðC m  C em  f XÞ ð3Þ
dt J of the wind turbine and consequently its generated power.
where Cm is the mechanical torque (N m), Cem is the electromagnetic
torque (N m), X is the mechanical speed of the rotor (rad s1), J is 2.3. Modeling of the converters
the moment of inertia (kg m2) and f is the coefficient of viscous fric-
tion (N m s rad1). The modelling of the converters is made by using the concept of
instantaneous average value [11]. The converter is equivalent to a
2.2. Modeling of the PMSG matrix topology composed of three legs of which its two ideal
switches are in complementary states (Fig. 2). A switching function
The model generally used of the PMSG is the Park model. By fij is defined for each power switch [12]. It represents the ideal
considering only the fundamental harmonic of the flux distribution commutation orders and takes the value 1 when the switch is
in the air-gap of the machine and by neglecting the homopolar closed (on) and 0 when it is opened (off):
component, the theory of the space vector gives the dynamic equa- fij 2 f0; 1g with
tions of the stator voltages as follows: 
i 2 f1; 2; 3g no of the leg ð8Þ
(
V sd ¼ Rs Isd þ dudtsd  xusq j 2 f1; 2; g no of the switch in the leg
dusq
ð4Þ
V sq ¼ Rs Isq þ dt
 xusd As ideal power switches are considered:

The stator fluxes are given by fi1 þ fi2 ¼ 1; i 2 f1; 2; 3g ð9Þ

(
usd ¼ LIsd þ /m For both three-phase converters, rectifier ‘rec’ and inverter ‘inv’
ð5Þ of Fig. 1, modulation functions can be defined from the switching
usq ¼ LIsq
functions:
where Rs is the phase resistance of the stator winding (X), L stator 2 3
   f11
inductance (H), um is the flux of the permanent magnetic (Wb), Vsd mrec13 1 0 1 6 7
mrec ¼ ¼ 4 f21 5
and Vsq are the d–q components of the stator voltages (V), respec- mrec23 0 1 1
tively, Isd and Isq are the d–q components of the stator currents f31
2 3rec ð10Þ
(A), respectively, x is the rotor electric speed (rad s1) and p is     f11
minv 13 1 0 1 6 7
the number of pairs poles. minv ¼ ¼ 4 f21 5
With arrangement of Eqs. (4)and (5) we obtain: minv 23 0 1 1
f31 inv
(
V sd ¼ Rs Isd þ L dIdtsd  xLIsq The rectifier provides the voltages V sdq ¼ ½V sd V sq T from the
dI
ð6Þ
V sq ¼ Rs Isq þ L dtsq  xLIsd þ x/m capacitor voltage U and the modulated current Irec:

Fig. 1. Block diagrams of speed sensorless PMSM drive in WECS.

 J. Brahmi et al. / Applied Energy 86 (2009) 1565–1573 1567

the power coefficient according to the specific speed k. For this

ic f11 f12 f13 it1 wind turbine the optimal specific speed is kopt = 8.1.
U um13 For the powers lower than the nominal output of the turbine
c um23 Pn = 3.6 kW, the aerodynamic torque which gives the optimum
power according to the optimal PMSG speed is approximated by
the following polynomial function:
it3
f21 f22 f23 C m opt ¼ 6:2491  107 X3opt þ 0:0021X2opt  0:0232Xopt
þ 1:1834 ð13Þ
Fig. 2. Diagram of ideal switches equivalent to the converter. Beyond the nominal output of the turbine, the pitch control is
activated and the PMSG works at constant power. For strong
 speeds, the aerodynamic brake is operated.
V sdq ¼ mrec U Taking into account the relative difficulty of the speed control of
ð11Þ
Irec ¼ mTrec Isdq a high inertial turbine, a torque control of the generator is applied.
The three-phase inverter is modelled in the same way. It yields This way of controlling the system requires an adaptation of the
the inverter voltages V inv dq ¼ ½V inv d V inv q T from the capacitor volt- device that ensures the maximum point of power MPPT.
age and the inverter modulated current Iinv from the line currents
Ildq ¼ ½Ild Ilq T :
 4. Model reference adaptive speed observer
V inv dq ¼ minv U
ð12Þ
Iinv ¼ mTinv Ildq Speed estimation methods using MRAS have been described in
the literature for field-oriented IM drives. Schauder [13] uses the
rotor flux as the output value for the model to estimate the rotor
3. Optimal control strategy of the WECS speed, [14] propose a new MRAC method that uses the stator cur-
rents as the state variables for estimating the speed of induction
In this study, the search of the maximum power point is based motor. In [15], the rotor speed is estimated by the full order adap-
on the knowledge of the characteristic curve of the wind turbine tive observer.
aerofoil. Fig. 3 represents the aerodynamic power according to In Fig. 5 the MRAS estimator uses two models to calculate a sta-
the PMSG speed for various values of the wind speed. The summits tor flux of the PMSG. One model is a reference model and the other
of these curves give the maximum ‘extractable’ power Popt and thus one is an adaptive model.
the optimal point. This point is characterized by the optimal speed Eq. (5) represents the reference model which depends only on
Xopt and the maximum power coefficient C p,opt. Fig. 4 represents stator currents and the adaptive model which considers the rotor
speed as the adjustable parameter, is shown in Eq. (14).
( R
^ L^Isq  Rs^Isd Þdt þ /m
^ sd ¼ ðV sd þ x
/
R ð14Þ
^
/sq ¼ ðV sq  x^ L^Isd  Rs^Isq  x^ /m Þdt

The outputs of these two models are compared in an adaptation

mechanism to estimate the adjustable parameter that tunes the
adaptive model in order to drive the output error between these
models to zero. The error between the two models is fed back to a
proportional–integral (PI) controller in which an adaptation algo-
rithm is used to tune the speed x^ , so that the error e = 0. The conver-
gence of the adaptation diagram is assured if the adaptive
mechanism in such manner is suitably chosen that one guarantees
the asymptotic stability of the error e. The error in d–q coordinates is

e ¼ ½e1 ; e2 T ¼ ½/^ sd  /sd ; /^ sq  /sq T ð15Þ

Fig. 3. Aerodynamic power versus PMSG speed.
Let us suppose that e1 ¼ /^ sd  /sd , the state error equation is
written as follows:

Fig. 4. Power coefficient versus specific speed. Fig. 5. Block diagram for MRAS control.
1568 J. Brahmi et al. / Applied Energy 86 (2009) 1565–1573

de1 Rs ^ ^ sq þ Rs / þ V sd  L dIsd Vα W ci W sj
¼ / sd þ x
^/ ð16Þ
dt L L m dt
we obtain: Vβ
bs W31
 
R ω
^
e1 s þ s ¼ Wðe1 ; tÞ þ f ðtÞ ð17Þ Iα
L
where Iβ

Rs Rs dIsd ^ sq Iα (k-1) bs
f ðtÞ ¼  / þ / þ V sd  L and Wðe1 ; tÞ ¼ x
^ ðe1 ; tÞ/
L sd L m dt
Iβ (k-1)
Eq. (17) describes a system with feedback
 explained
 in Fig. 6, Output
Input hidden
having a linear transfer function as HðsÞ ¼ sþR1s =L , and a non-linear layer
layer layer
function in the feedback chain where the input is e1 and the output
is W(e1, t). Fig. 7. Neural network structure.
The synthesis of the stability conditions of a system composed
of two subsystems, one linear and the other non-linear requires
5. Artificial neural network
that
  The structure of the proposed feedforward neural network used
 The linear function HðsÞ ¼ sþR1s =L is null, positive, so Re ½HðjwÞ ¼
Rs =L for estimation is indicated in Fig. 7. The network has three layers,
w2 þðRs =LÞ2
is positive 8w > 0.
i.e., input layer, hidden layer, and output layer. The circles in the
 The adaptive mechanism included in the non-linear block must
network represent the neurons. The input and output layers have
satisfy the criterion of the hyperstability of Popov [13].
neurons equal to the respective number of signals, whereas the
hidden layer in the present design has five neurons. The basic ele-
The proportional and integral law adaptation is written
ment of the ANN is the neuron which has four main parts: inputs,
Z t
weights and biases, activation function and outputs as illustrated
xðe1 ; tÞ ¼ w1 dt þ w2 ð18Þ
in Fig. 7. A training algorithm adjusts the weights and the biases.
0
The data set is formed by the current components (Ia, Ib,
We pose Ia(k  1), Ib(k  1)) and the voltage ones (Va, Vb). Thus, we have
Z t six neurons in the input layer and one neuron as an output which
xi ðe1 ; tÞ ¼ w1 dt and xp ðe1 ; tÞ ¼ w2 ð19Þ represents the estimated speed.
0
Supervised neural networks applied to the speed observer were
The non-linear block verifies the inequality of Popov defined by trained to produce the desired output correction to the estimated
Z
speed. Implementation of these supervised networks was carried
I¼ e1 W dt ¼ I1 þ I2 > g 2 ð20Þ out in two steps.
R R R In the first step, the groups of input–desired output training
where I1 ¼ e1 / ^ sq ½ t w ðe1 ; tÞ dt dt and I2 ¼ e1 /
^ sq ½w  dt
0 1 2 data were obtained from simulation of the complete drive system.
The solution of I1 is given by the integral law adaptation The network inputs and the desired output were normalized. To
Rt
xi ðe1 ; tÞ ¼ k1 0 e1 /^ sq dt þ xð0Þ and the solution of I2 is given by improve the learning process, the input data to the ANN were
the proportional law adaptation, xp ðe1 ; tÞ ¼ k2 e1 / ^ sq ; k1 and k2 are
the subject of polynomial interpolation. This operation is repeated
positive constants. for the entire next learning data considering that each new learn-
 Z t  ing starts from the weights, which were determined in the previ-
xðe1 ; tÞ ¼ k2 e1 /^ sq þ k1 e1 /^ sq dt þ xð0Þ ous learning process.
0
The next step is for testing. The last stage of checking the perfor-
For e2 ¼ ð/^ sq  /sq Þ and in the same way as e1, we determine mance of the speed observer was testing using data that are differ-
x(e2, t) which can be expressed as ent than the learning ones.
 Z  The data vector set is:
t
En = [ia, ib, ia(k  1), ib(k  1), va, vb],
xðe2 ; tÞ ¼  k01 e2 /^ sd þ k02 e2 /^ sd dt þ xð0Þ
0 Wci: input weight i = (1:6),
Wsj: output weight j = (1.5),
The estimated speed is finally given by
Wc = [Wc1 Wc2 Wc3 Wc4 Wc5 Wc6]
^ ¼ xðe1 ; tÞ þ xðe2 ; tÞ
x Ws = [Ws1 Ws2 Ws3 Ws4 Ws5]
Z with be: input bias and bs: output bias.
^ sq  e2 /
¼ kp ðe1 / ^ sd Þ þ ki ^ sq  e2 /
ðe1 / ^ sd Þ dt þ xð0Þ ð21Þ The output of the hidden layer is given by the following
expression:
where e1 /^ sq  e2 /^ sd ¼ /sq /^ sd  /sd /^ sq . Sc ¼ f ðW c En þ be Þ
The estimated speed is expressed by
c ¼ f ðW s Sc þ bs Þ
W
where Sc is the output of the hidden layer and the function f is a tan-
gent sigmoid function.

6. Sliding mode observer

In the stationary reference frame, the (a, b) model for the PMSG
Fig. 6. Equivalent diagram of MRAS. without saliency is characterized by
 J. Brahmi et al. / Applied Energy 86 (2009) 1565–1573 1569

dis V_ ¼ sTn s_ n þ x ^_ Dx where Dx ¼ x ^ x ð27Þ

¼ Ais þ Bms þ Bes ð22Þ
dt ^
s_ n ¼ ½s_ a  s_ b  ¼ Aðis  is Þ þ Bes  k ð28Þ
where
is = (ia, ib)T : stator a- and b-axes currents, The sliding mode exists when V_ < 0
vs = (va, vb)T : stator a- and b-axes voltages, Substituting Eq. (28) into Eq. (27), the following equation is
es = (ea, eb)T : induced voltage, obtained:
ea = ke x sin h; ke back emf constant, ^_ Dx < 0
V_ ¼ sTn ½Að^is  is Þ þ Bð^es  es Þ  k þ x ð29Þ
eb = ke x cos h.
  According to the Lyapuvov’s stability theory, V must be obeyed
Rs 1 1 0
A¼ I; B ¼ I; I ¼ to guarantee that the observer is stable. In order to drive the sys-
L L 0 1 tem to be convergent, we have these conditions:

sTn Að^is  is Þ  k < 0 ð30aÞ

The sliding mode observer (SMO) is depicted in Fig. 8 which
sT Bes þ x ^_ D x ¼ 0 ð30bÞ
consists of the three parts, current observer, continuous control n
function and rotor position and speed calculator.
From Eq. (30b), the speed estimator may be derived as
From Eq. (22) the SMO is made as the following structure:
k
^_ ¼ ½s sin ^h  s cos ^h
d^is x a b ð31Þ
¼ A^is þ Bv s þ B^es ð23Þ L
dt
Also, from Eq. (24) and with sin ^
h ! sin h; cos ^
h ! cos h the rotor
where the equivalent controls of conventional sliding mode obser-
position is determined as follows:
ver can be obtained in Eq. (24)  
(
^ea ¼ k1 signð^ia  ia Þ ¼ ke x ^ sin ^h ^h ¼ tan1 ea ð32Þ
ð24Þ eb
^ cos ^h
^eb ¼ k1 signð^ib  ib Þ ¼ ke x

The superscript ‘‘^” represents the estimated quantities, k1 is 7. Comparative study of speed estimators and simulation
the constant current observer gain, (^ia  ia ) and (^ib  ib ) are the er- results
ror between estimated current and actual one in the a- and b-axis,
respectively. To make a concrete comparison between the three methods, we
The sliding mode surface is defined as have proceeded by a steady state simulation. By applying a step
signal of a wind ranging between 7 and 9 m/s at time t = 30 s,
Sn ¼ ½sa  sb T ð25Þ
and by increasing the stator resistance of 20% at time t = 70 s, the
where Sa ¼ ð^ia  ia Þ ¼ ia and Sb ¼ ð^ib  ib Þ ¼ ib .
To avoid the chattering phenomena, the sign function is re-
placed by the sigmoid function defined by [16]
120
  real
2 115 estimated
Hðia Þ ¼  1; ia ¼ ia  ia
1 þ expðaia Þ 110
PMSG speed (rad/s)

 
2 105
Hðib Þ ¼  1; ib ¼ ib  ib
1 þ expðaib Þ 100
95

a is a positive number. 90
When the estimation error trajectories reach the sliding surface 85
(sn = 0), it is obvious that the observed current will converge to the 80
actual ones, i.e., ^ia ¼ ia and ^ib ¼ ib . 75
Let’s design the Lyapunov function to find such condition of 70
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
sliding mode existence. Time (s)

1 T ^  xÞ2
ðx Fig. 9. Actual and estimated rotor speeds (MRAS).
V¼ sn s_ n þ ð26Þ
2 2
Under the assumption that the rotor speed is constant within
one estimation period, derivative of Lyapunov function becomes 110
real
estimated
105
PMSG speed (rad/s)

100

iα, iβ 95

^ 90
eα = k1 sign_(iα -iα)
θ
^ ^

^ ^
vα, vβ iα ,iβ ^
eβ = k1 sign_(iβ -iβ )
^ 85
Speed and
Current
position 80
observer
Sigmoid calculator ω^ 75
function (H)
70
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (s)

Fig. 8. Sliding mode observer. Fig. 10. Actual and estimated rotor speeds (ANN).
1570 J. Brahmi et al. / Applied Energy 86 (2009) 1565–1573

120
real
simulation results of the MRAS, the ANN and the SMO observers
115 estimated are depicted in Figs. 9–11, respectively.
110 For SMO and ANN observers, we note good results when the
PMSG speed (rad/s)

105 stator resistance variation appears and chattering phenomenon is

100 observed with SMO. The stator resistance perturbation causes a
95 static error in the case of MRAS observer.
90 In the following, we have considered a real wind speed ranging
85 between 6 and 12 m/s with an average value of 9 m/s where two
80 simulations with and without resistance variation are investigated.
75 The wind speed sequence is obtained by adding a turbulent com-
70 ponent to a slowly varying signal.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (s) Figs. 12–17 present the simulation results without stator varia-
tion. The estimated and actual rotor speeds at the nominal condi-
Fig. 11. Actual and estimated rotor speeds (SMO). tion are shown in Fig. 12. The simulation result of wind velocity
estimation is shown in Fig. 13. When the wind speed is high, i.e.,
greater than 10 m/s, the pitch control adjusts the pitch angle de-

a 140 b 140 c 140

130 130 130
120 120 120

PMSG speed (rad/s)

PMSG speed (rad/s)

PMSG speed (rad/s)

110 110 110

100 100 100

90 90 90

80 80 80

70 70 70

60 60 60

50 50 50
40 40
40 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (s) Time (s) Time (s)

Fig. 12. Actual and estimated rotor speeds at nominal condition. Legend: (a) MRAS, (b) neural network and (c) sliding mode observer. - - - -: Estimated value and —: real
value.

a 14 b 14 c 14
12 12 12
wind speed (m/s)

10 10 10
wind speed (m/s)

wind speed (m/s)

8 8 8

6 6 6

4 4 4

2 2 2

0 0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (s) Time (s) Time (s)

Fig. 13. Actual and estimated wind speeds at nominal condition. Legend: (a) MRAS, (b) neural network and (c) sliding mode observer. - - - -: Estimated value and —: real
value.

a 6
b 6 c 6

5 5 5
Pitch angle (deg)

Pitch angle (deg)

Pitch angle (deg)

4 4 4

3 3 3

2 2 2

1 1 1

0 0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (s) Time (s) Time (s)

Fig. 14. Pitch angle. Legend: (a) MRAS, (b) neural network and (c) sliding mode observer.
 J. Brahmi et al. / Applied Energy 86 (2009) 1565–1573 1571

a 4000
b 4000
c 4000
3500 3500
3500

Aerodynamic power (W)

Aerodynamic power (W)

Aerodynamic power (W)

3000 3000
3000
2500 2500
2500
2000 2000 2000
1500 1500 1500

1000 1000 1000

500 500 500

0 0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (s) Time (s) Time (s)

Fig. 15. Aerodynamic power. Legend: (a) MRAS, (b) neural network and (c) sliding mode observer.

a 40 b 40 c 40

35 35 35

30 30 30
Torque (Nm)

Torque (Nm)

25 25 25

Torque (Nm)
20 20 20

15 15 15

10 10 10

5 5 5

0 0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (s) Time (s) Time (s)

Fig. 16. Actual and estimated output torque. Legend: (a) MRAS, (b) neural network and (c) sliding mode observer. - - - -: Estimated value and —: real value.

a8 b8 c 8

7 7 7

6 6 6
Rotor position (rad/s)

Rotor position (rad/s)

Rotor position (rad/s)

5 5 5

4 4 4

3 3 3

2 2 2

1 1 1

0 0 0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025
Time (s) Time (s) Time (s)

Fig. 17. Rotor position. Legend: (a) MRAS, (b) neural network and (c) sliding mode observer.

a 140 b 140 c 140

130 130 130
120 120 120
PMSG speed (rad/s)

PMSG speed (rad/s)

PMSG speed (rad/s)

110 110 110

100 100 100
90 90 90
80 80 80
70 70 70
60 60 60
50 50 50
40 40 40
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (s) Time (s) Time (s)

Fig. 18. Actual and estimated rotor speeds considering the variation of stator resistance: 20% decrease. Legend: (a) MRAS, (b) neural network and (c) sliding mode observer. -
- - -: Estimated value and —: real value.
1572 J. Brahmi et al. / Applied Energy 86 (2009) 1565–1573

a 14 b 14 c 14

12 12 12

10 10 10

Wind speed (m/s)

Wind speed (m/s)

Wind speed (m/s)

8 8 8

6 6 6

4
4 4

2
2 2

0
0 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (s)
Time (s) Time (s)

Fig. 19. Actual and estimated wind speeds considering the variation of stator resistance: 20% decrease. Legend: (a) MRAS, (b) neural network and (c) sliding mode observer. -
- - -: Estimated value and —: real value.

a 140 b 140 c 140

130 130 130

120 120 120

PMSG speed (rad/s)

PMSG speed (rad/s)

PMSG speed (rad/s)

110 110 110

100 100 100

90 90 90

80 80 80

70 70 70

60 60 60

50 50 50

40 40 40
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (s) Time (s) Time (s)

Fig. 20. Actual and estimated rotor speeds considering the variation of stator resistance: 20% increase. Legend: (a) MRAS, (b) neural network and (c) sliding mode observer. - -
- -: Estimated value and —: real value.

a 14 b 14 c 14
12 12 12
Wind speed (m/s)

Wind speed (m/s)

Wind speed (m/s)

10 10 10

8 8 8

6 6 6

4 4 4

2 2
2

0
0 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (s)
Time (s) Time (s)

Fig. 21. Actual and estimated wind speeds considering the variation of stator resistance: 20% increase. Legend: (a) MRAS, (b) neural network and (c) sliding mode observer. - -
- -: Estimated value and —: real value.

picted in Fig. 14 to limit the aerodynamic power plotted in Fig. 15 to a static error between the estimated and the real rotor speed for
the nominal value of the PMSG. The wind turbine output torque is ANN and MRAS observers.
represented in Fig. 16. Fig. 17 depicts the angle position of the rotor. According to these simulations, we note a good behavior of the
Figs. 18–21 show simulation results with increase or decrease three algorithms especially at the nominal condition under both
of stator resistance in order to analyze the performances of the transient and steady-state conditions. The disagreement between
three observers relative to parameter variations. In this study, an the estimated speed and the real one is accented especially with
increase or a decrease of 20% of the stator resistance is applied at the MRAS, where it can be seen that a 20% variation of stator resis-
time t = 50 s. Figs. 18 and 19 represent rotor and wind speeds tance can produce an important estimation error. The ANN is more
respectively in the case of a decrease of the stator resistance. insensitive against the stator resistance and wind speed variations
Whereas, Figs. 20 and 21 represent rotor and wind speeds respec- than the MRAS observer. Moreover, the robustness of the proposed
tively in the case of an increase of the stator resistance. Figs. 18a,b sliding mode speed observer against the variation of stator resis-
and 20a,b, where the variation of the stator resistance occurs, show tance can be observed from these simulation results.
 J. Brahmi et al. / Applied Energy 86 (2009) 1565–1573 1573

8. Conclusion References

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