Resolving Power Quality Issues Raised by Aerodynamic Aspects of Wind Turbine in Isolated Microgrids Using Fuel Cell/Electrolyzer System

This paper shows how the power quality issues can be resolved in wind-diesel microgrids by means of a fuel cell/electrolyzer (FC/ELZ) system. In this regard, an autonomous hybrid power system, including a diesel generator and a fixed-speed wind turbine (FSWT) equipped with a FC/ELZ system, has been investigated. The main aim of employing the FC/ELZ system is to reduce fuel consumption and mitigate the aerodynamic effects of wind turbine (i.e., tower shadow, wind shears, yaw error, and turbulence) on power quality in the microgrid. To conduct a comprehensive study, the detailed models of the devices are used. The aerodynamic and mechanical aspects of WT are simulated using AeroDyn and FAST, and the thermodynamic and electrochemical aspects of FC/ELZ are simulated using models validated by experimental data. Furthermore, control of power electronic interfaces for the FC/ELZ system, including a bidirectional dc/ac voltage source converter (VSC), a dc/dc converter to boost the FC output voltage, and a dc/dc converter to reduce input voltage to the ELZ, is presented. The studied system was implemented in a MATLAB/Simulink software environment. The simulation results demonstrate the efficacy of the FC/ELZ system in reducing the flicker level and suppressing the voltage fluctuations induced by yaw error and turbulence.