Comparative study between sliding mode control and the vector control of a brushless doubly fed reluctance generator based on wind energy conversion systems

Introduction. Nowadays, global investment in renewable energy sources has been growing intensely. In particular, we mention here that wind source of energy has grown recently. Purpose. Comparative study between sliding mode control and vector control of a brushless doubly fed reluctance generator based on wind energy conversion systems. Methods. This paper deals with conceptual analysis and comparative study of two control techniques of a promising low-cost brushless doubly-fed reluctance generator for variable-speed wind turbine considering maximum power point tracking. This machine's growing interest because of the partially rated power electronics and the high reliability of the brushless design while offering performance competitive to its famous spring counterpart, the doubly-fed induction generator. We are particularly interested in comparing two kinds of control methods. We indicate here the direct vector control based on Proportional-Integral controller and sliding mode controller. Results. Simulation results show the optimized performances of the vector control strategy based on a sliding mode controller. We observe high performances in terms of response time and reference tracking without overshoots through the response characteristics. The decoupling, the stability, and the convergence towards the equilibrium are assured.