Fault-Tolerant Control Performance Comparison of Three- and Five-Phase PMSG for Marine Current Turbine Applications

This paper deals with the use of permanent magnet multiphase generators in marine current turbines with the aim to highlight their fault-tolerance. In this context, the performances and the fault-tolerant capabilities of a five-phase permanent magnet synchronous generator are evaluated within a marine current turbine and compared to a classical three-phase generator. For both topologies, a robust nonlinear control strategy is adopted. The adopted control consists of an adaptive control approach that combines three strategies: a maximum power point tracking (MPPT), an optimal fault-adaptive reference current generation, and high-order sliding modes. Simulations are carried-out using a Matlab/Simulink-based marine current turbine simulator to analyze the generator performances during open-circuit faults. Conclusions are then derived regarding multiphase generators´ key features for marine applications.