Estimation of the plant time constant of current-controlled voltage source converters

Precise knowledge of the plant time constant is essential to perform a thorough analysis of the current control loop in voltage source converters (VSCs). As the loop behavior can be significantly influenced by the VSC working conditions, the effects associated to converter losses should be included in the model, through an equivalent series resistance. In a recent work, an algorithm to identify this parameter was developed, considering the inductance value as known and practically constant. Nevertheless, the plant inductance can also present important uncertainties with respect to the inductance of the VSC interface filter measured at rated conditions. This paper extends that method so that both parameters of the plant time constant (resistance and inductance) are estimated. Such enhancement is achieved through the evaluation of the closed-loop transient responses of both axes of the synchronous reference frame when a proportional integral current controller is implemented. Experimental results validate the approach.