Characteristics on Stand-alone Operation of a Doubly-fed Induction Generator Applied to Adjustable Speed Gas Engine Cogeneration System

An application of doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG), which is one of adjustable speed generators, to a gas engine cogeneration system has been investigated. To operate during a blackout as an emergency power supply is one of important roles for the gas engine cogeneration system. However, the DFIG requires initial excitation for startup during a blackout because the DFIG has no excitation source. In this paper, we propose the “blackout start” as a new excitation method to generate a rated voltage at the primary side during a blackout. In addition, a stand-alone operation following a blackout has been investigated by using experimental setup with a real gas engine. Power flows in the generating set with the DFIG at the stand-alone operation have been investigated experimentally. Experimental investigation of the power flow suggests that the generating set with DFIG has optimal speed in minimizing whole system losses.