Controller Hardware-In-the-Loop validation of a magnetic core saturation algorithm for fault ride-through evaluations

In conjunction with the development of a wind turbine drivetrain testing facility, a fully configurable 15 MVA Hardware-In-the-Loop medium-voltage electric grid system capable of four-quadrant operation is being designed and installed. To successfully operate this system when performing fault ride-through evaluations, a control algorithm has been developed to prevent saturation of the interface transformer´s magnetic core. Prior to full implementation of this grid system, the high power components of the system are being evaluated using a real-time digital simulation (RTDS^®) environment in order to identify any potential control or interface issues. In this paper, the various modeled components are discussed, the implementation of the feed-forward control algorithm to prevent interface transformer saturation is presented, and finally, the results of a test scenario are shown with and without the saturation control algorithm in place.