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Primary Frequency Control Using Motor Drives For Short Term Grid Disturbances

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Received 12 August 2020; revised 3 November 2020; accepted 30 December 2020.

Date of publication 29 January 2021;


date of current version 19 February 2021. The review of this article was arranged by Associate Editor Shafiq Odhano.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/OJIA.2021.3055415

Primary Frequency Control Using Motor Drives


for Short Term Grid Disturbances
TAYLOR L. SHORT (Student Member, IEEE), SHUYAO WANG (Student Member, IEEE),
LEON M. TOLBERT (Fellow, IEEE), JINGXIN WANG (Member, IEEE), YIWEI MA (Member, IEEE),
YUNTING LIU (Member, IEEE), AND FRED WANG (Fellow, IEEE)
(Invited Paper)
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, The University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, TN 37996 USA
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: LEON M. TOLBERT (e-mail: tolbert@utk.edu)
This work was supported in part by the Engineering Research Center Program of the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy under NSF Award
EEC1041877 and the CURENT Industry Partnership Program and in part by the DOE EERE Office of Advanced Manufacturing Program under DOE Award
DE-EE0007304.

ABSTRACT Industrial motor systems make up a quarter of all electric sales in the United States. Variable
speed drives (VSDs) can provide energy efficiency savings to the customer by regulating motor speed based
on specific and varying needs. In addition to the benefits provided to the customer, VSDs can provide
support to the grid through ancillary services. The Center for Ultra-Wide-Area Resilient Electric Energy
Transmission Networks (CURENT) developed a power electronics converter-based grid emulator to allow
testing of various power system architectures and demonstration of key technologies in monitoring, control,
actuation, and visualization. This paper proposes using an active front-end VSD’s connected motor load to
provide frequency regulation to a large scale power grid. Each part of the emulator is described including
motor and power electronics model and control. The proposed frequency regulation is implemented in VSDs
and modeled in both a transmission system in EMTDC/PSCAD and verified on CURENT’s hardware testbed.

INDEX TERMS Converters, motor drives, power grids, power system dynamics, variable speed drives.

I. INTRODUCTION
Industrial induction motors are considered the workhorse for
industry because of their low cost and robust construction.
Induction motors are used in a wide range of industries,
such as oil, mining, power, marine, paper, and wastewater.
Applications include fans, pumps, compressors, grinding
mills, metal rolling, mine hoists, refiners, and propulsion. An
induction motor can be connected directly to the 60 Hz power FIGURE 1. Motor drive basic schematic.

grid and will operate at a relatively constant speed. Motor


drives consist of two conversion phases– AC to DC and DC
to AC or rectifier and inverter respectively. The rectifier and systems are referred to as adjustable speed drives (ASDs) or
inverter are connected by a DC link capacitor. See Fig. 1 variable speed drives (VSDs).
for an example of a basic motor drive topology. The motor
drive consists of two parts: the inverter and the rectifier. The
inverter and rectifier are connected through a DC capacitor A. MOTOR DRIVES BENEFITS AND ADVANTAGES
link. The three-phase AC side of the inverter is connected to According to a study done by the International Energy Agency
the motor load, and the three-phase AC side of the rectifier in 2011, 64% of all electric consumption is industrial motor
is connected to the three-phase power grid. Most motor drive loads. Large electric motors with more than 375 kW output
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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power make up about 23% of all motor power consump- B. ANCILLARY SERVICES
tion [1]. According to an assessment done by DOE in 2002, Ancillary services can support basic grid functions such as
only 8% of all industrial motor systems have variable speed generating capacity, energy supply, and power delivery. This
drives (VSDs). However, in this same study, it was determined support is often provided by distributed energy resources
that nearly two-thirds of all potential energy efficiency savings (DER) or distributed generation (DG). However, with the in-
set forth by the Consortium for Energy Efficiency are accom- tegration of power electronic interfaced loads, many of the
plished by system improvements, such as VSDs or bypass support functions provided by DG ancillary services can also
loops in pumping systems [2]. Pumps, fans, and compressors be provided by flexible loads. Currently, independent system
show considerable efficiency improvements when VSDs are operators’ requirements do not allow much room for loads
implemented. A VSD can regulate the flow of water or gas to operate in the regulatory market. For example, Califor-
without the use of traditional mechanical equipment, which nia Independent System Operators (CAISO) requires at least
introduce significant loss into the system [3]. 0.5 MW power capacity to be able to participate in the fre-
The survey suggests that a conservative estimate for energy quency regulation market [9]. The focus of most interest in
savings from a VSD is 787 GWh/year for fan systems, 1366 flexible loads is centered around air conditioning units and
GWh/year for air systems, and 6421 GWh/year for pump other residential loads. However, a medium voltage motor can
systems. The mid-range estimates for these savings are nearly have an operating capacity of near 5 MW, allowing a larger
twice that of the conservative estimates [2]. controllable capacity.
As of 2002, while 8% of industrial motor systems were By 2009, both New York Independent System Operator
equipped with a VSD, 90% of those were 20 hp or less. (NYISO) and PJM Interconnect LLC (PJM) had a demand
However, DOE estimated that 18-25% of total manufacturing side ancillary service program [10]. For NYISO, demand side
motor system energy could add VSDs cost effectively [2]. The resources could participate in regulation and synchronous and
average payback time-frame on the investment of VSDs is non-synchronous reserve. PJM allows participation in reg-
only a year and a half. In addition to an increase in energy ulation, synchronous reserve, and day ahead scheduling re-
efficiency, VSDs lower starting currents and can effectively serves [10].
regulate the speed and power at or below nominal ratings [4], The use of loads to regulate the grid is referred to as demand
[5]. Inherent drawbacks of VSDs are the PWM voltage change response. Most demand response programs adjust the load by
(switching action) effect on motors because the multiple, rapid an ON or OFF option. This happens one of two ways: (1) the
dV/dt produced by inverters can result in causing bearing customer gives the utility permission to interrupt their load
currents or lead to motor winding insulation breakdown; how- during a designated time or (2) the customer is incentivised
ever, motor manufacturers have modified motor designs such to reduce load during a time period. However, with the intro-
that they can reliably run with front-end VSDs. duction of VSDs, loads’ speed’- and therefore load- can be
In addition to energy efficiency savings, a VSD-connected varied over time. Large industrial fans and pumps are espe-
motor can provide potential benefits to the grid. The same cially advantageous for this application because these loads
reduction of the inrush current also improves stability of can often be reduced for a short time and will not interrupt
the power grid during motor startup [4]. Additionally, loads any production processes.
such as fans, air compressors, and pumps can be controlled There are two major regulatory services that can be pro-
to provide support to the power grid, which are the same vided by industrial VSDs: frequency regulation and voltage
systems that find the majority of energy efficiency benefits regulation. This paper focuses on frequency regulation. Fre-
from VSDs. The speed of (and power drawn from the utility) quency regulation provides active power or absorbs active
fans, air compressors and pumps can often be reduced without power depending on the grid frequency. If the frequency is
affecting the primary production process. These loads make above the reference value, active power from the load is
up roughly 11% of all industrial motor loads [2]. This is a huge increased. If frequency is below the reference value, active
untapped resource for utilities. These loads could respond to power from the load is reduced. Primary frequency regulation
grid fluctuations and assist in making the grid more reliable. happens within 30 seconds of the initial frequency fluctuation.
Load-side participation in frequency regulation provides After 30 seconds, generation secondary control takes over
possible advantages in faster response, lower fuel consump- regulation. Fig. 2 shows the typical response for frequency
tion and emission, and better localization of disturbances [6]. regulation.
VSDs are particularly equipped to implement frequency regu-
lation, because load can be changed by changing motor speed.
This is unique; most loads are controlled to be either on or C. GRID FREQUENCY SUPPORT USING VARIABLE
off [7]. Whereas the availability of ancillary services is more MOTOR SPEED
unpredictable from loads than from traditional ancillary ser- Adjustable speed drives are generally controlled using con-
vice sources such as those provided by distributed generation, stant V/ f control [12]. Using this method of control, the
the development of VSDs and the increase in energy prices power from the motor can be reduced by reducing the mo-
may provide an opening for load side participation into the tor speed. The inertia response of a line connected motor is
regulation market [8]. emulated using the frequency response control. However, this

2 VOLUME 2, 2021
FIGURE 2. A sudden drop in system frequency triggers automated
response to correct the frequency, followed by manual interventions from FIGURE 4. VSC inertia emulation control [14].
power system operators. Ancillary services provide these responses [11].

AC transmission grid are used to regulate the grid frequency.


This control method is shown in Fig. 4. The Vdc,re f changes
according to the deviation of the grid frequency, which can be
expressed in (1):
Kc · ( fmeas − fnom ) + Vdc,nom = Vdc,re f (1)
where Kc is the proportional control parameter of the voltage
source converter (VSC), fnom is the initial frequency refer-
ence, fmeas is the real time grid frequency, and Vdc,nom is the
initial DC link voltage reference. The active power contribu-
tion of the DC link capacitor after a grid disturbance can be
expressed in (2):
NCVdc,nom dVdc,re f
PV SC (p.u.) = ·
SV SC dt
NKcCVdc,nom dfmeas
= · (2)
SV SC dt
FIGURE 3. The block diagram of the primary controller 3(a), inertia where N is the number of the DC link capacitors, C is the
emulator 3(b), and the speed controller 3(c) [12].
capacitance of each dc link capacitor, SV SC is the rated power
of the VSC. For a 2.5 kW motor, the KC would be optimized
TABLE 1. Derived Coefficients for Induction Motors [13] to 77.16 and the LPF would be set at 30 Hz [14].

D. HARDWARE TESTBED
The Center for Ultra-Wide-Area Resilient Electric Energy
Transmission Networks (CURENT) developed a power elec-
control adds the primary frequency control. The frequency tronics converter-based grid emulator, known as the Hard-
control reference in [12] uses a phase-lock loop (PLL) to ware Testbed (HTB), to allow testing of various power sys-
measure the grid frequency. The grid frequency and the initial tem architectures and demonstration of key technologies in
motor speed are the inputs for the system. The control scheme monitoring, control, actuation, and visualization [15]. Using
is shown in Fig. 3. The control includes primary frequency reconfigurable voltage source inverters, the HTB emulates
control (Fig. 3(a)), inertia emulator (Fig. 3(b)), and the speed interconnected generation and loads. The HTB is designed
controller (Fig. 3(c)). fgrid is the PLL measured value for the with the converters connected to a DC bus on one side and the
grid frequency, Rl refers to the droop gain, ωr,re f is the pre- AC grid emulation on the other, as shown in Fig. 5. The DC
event motor reference speed, and C1 and C2 are coefficients link is supplied by the real power grid through a transformer
based on induction motor parameters [13]. Some common and an active rectifier. The power flows from the DC link to
values for C1 and C2 are shown in Table 1. The time constants the AC grid emulation for the generator emulators and from
for the primary frequency control LPF and the inertia emulator the AC grid emulation to the DC link for the load emulators.
LPF are set to 1 s and 0.1 s, respectively. Converter based emulators can be designed to have a
Another method for grid frequency support is inertia emu- bandwidth of several kHz, which allows the converters
lation using the DC voltage link in the VSD. This is a method to accurately emulate voltage and current dynamics of
commonly used for wind turbines or multi-terminal HVDC the actual power system components. The HTB emulates
(MTDC) systems [14]. In this method when used for MTDC, the resiliency of the system by incorporating real time
both the electric energy stored in the DC link capacitors and communication, protection, control, and cybersecurity; and it
the energy transferred from the remote grid side to the main has the capability to examine many scenarios including line

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TABLE 2. Values for Designed VSD and Motor Emulation

FIGURE 7. Average model of VSD in dq coordinates [25].


FIGURE 5. Power circulation within the HTB [20].

bulky and expensive LCL filter [23]. However, given the con-
trol flexibility and reduction of line harmonics, an AFE-VSD
topology is the focus of this study.
Each emulator on the HTB has the same inner current loop
for the VSI, using a basic PI current control. In this case,
id,re f and iq,re f are the calculated reference values from the
active front-end VSD. The final output of the emulator is the
duty cycle reference for the HTB VSI. DC voltage control
is implemented in the rectifier, and grid frequency control is
FIGURE 6. Active front end motor drive topology for emulation. implemented in the inverter of the VSD.
A three-phase induction motor is the dominant power sys-
tem load, particularly for industrial systems. An accurate em-
and bus faults [16]–[19]. The HTB and PSCAD are used to
ulator should include dynamic behaviors in order to emulate
evaluate the model and grid system response.
overall power system behaviors. References [20] and [24]
The structure of the paper is organized as follows:
outline the model used for the HTB emulation. The values
Section II introduces the topology, modeling for VSD, and
for the induction motor used in this emulation are shown in
the grid frequency regulation control. Section III-A provides
Table 2.
the experimental results on the HTB platform that verify the
The VSD design uses an active front-end VSD topology,
VSD model. Section III-B presents multiple scenarios tested
shown in Fig. 6. Table 2 shows the base values for the VSD
in EMTDC/PSCAD using the frequency support provided by
emulator. These values were based on a commercial medium
the VSD model.
voltage motor and the corresponding values for a VSD rated
for a motor of that size. The back end of a VSD is connected
II. LOAD MODELING FOR THE POWER EMULATOR ON to the induction motor load and can be modeled by a voltage
THE HTB source inverter (VSI). The average model for VSD including
The electrical topology shown in Fig. 6 was chosen for the the rectifier and VSI is shown in Fig. 7 [25].
VSD and induction motor emulator. The implementation of For an active front end VSD, the DC voltage control is done
active front-end (AFE) has become increasingly popular be- in the rectifier. The DC link voltage control isolates the grid
cause of the decreasing cost of power switches [21]. AFE- voltage from the motor output voltage. This emulator uses
VSDs draw near sinusoidal line current with less harmonic a basic PI control, shown in Fig. 8 [26]. Using the average
distortion compared with that of the diode front-end (DFE) model, shown in Fig. 7, the PI parameters were designed using
VSDs. In addition to reducing the harmonic distortion, AFE- Matlab/Simulink.
VSDs allow for more control and for grid regulation. The
inverter can control the motor, and rectifier controls provide A. MOTOR CONSTANT V/F CONTROL
grid support. AFE-VSDs are becoming the standard solution Constant V/ f control is an open loop control scheme, widely
for large-power medium-voltage VSDs [22]. While AFE has used because of its cost-effectiveness. It is a cost effective
some benefits compared to DFE, there are some disadvan- technique because: (1) an advanced microprocessor is not
tages, including complicated control, potential resonance, and needed, and (2) there are less electrical sensors needed to

4 VOLUME 2, 2021
FIGURE 8. DC link voltage control [26].

feed back information to the control. Constant V/ f control is


used to change voltage at the terminal of the induction motor
proportionally to the change of motor reference speed [27],
i.e.,
Vnom
Vdinv,re f = · fre f (3)
fnom
where Vdinv,re f is the output reference voltage for the inverter
and fre f is the desired frequency of the motor.
The value of Vnom and fnom are set to 1 p.u., because all
emulator controls are done in per unit values. Therefore, in
the per unit system the control is simplified to:
FIGURE 9. VSD frequency regulation control.
Vdinv,re f = fre f (4)
TABLE 3. WECC System and HTB: Power and Voltage Bases
B. GRID FREQUENCY REGULATION
TRANSMISSION SYSTEM
The frequency regulation for the transmission system simply
reduces or increases the load based on the value of the grid
frequency error. The motor frequency reference is limited to
50% to 100% of the nominal operating speed, and a response scheme was chosen because it limits the effect on the load,
is triggered when the measured error of the grid frequency while maximizing the benefit to the grid.
goes outside the deadband of ±60 mHz. The grid frequency Due to the variability of frequency on a transmission grid,
regulation can run for a maximum of 30 seconds, after which a proportional (P) or proportional integral (PI) control would
the speed ramps back to the nominal value at a rate of 3%/ introduce too much variability to the load response, especially
second. with high power loads. Every time there is a small change in
Fig. 9 describes the VSD control used for the grid fre- the grid frequency, the change would be reflected in the VSD
quency regulation. As illustrated in Fig. 9(a), the control uses power response. To mitigate this, a wide deadband would have
the change in grid frequency to trigger the motor reference to be used, which limits the benefits to the grid frequency
speed to ramp to 50% of the nominal value, when the grid nadir, or a low proportional constant could be used. This
frequency goes outside the deadband of 60 mHz. Since this would limit the amount of regulation the motor could provide.
ramp is achieved with an open loop V/Hz control, the ramp However, if a set triggered ramp response is used, like the
rate must be limited to ensure the ramp rate is achievable and one used in this case, the response can be triggered within a
reliable. A fast ramp rate could cause a loss of control or may smaller deadband and allow for a larger regulation range.
not be achievable with this design. In this case, a 10 Hz/s
motor ramp speed is chosen to minimize negative affects to III. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
the motor, while providing significant grid support. The motor The proposed frequency regulation is implemented in
speed will ramp back to its nominal speed, when either the VSDs and modeled in both a transmission system in
grid frequency goes above the deadband, or the frequency EMTDC/PSCAD and verified on the HTB platform. The de-
regulation has run for 30 seconds. The relationship between fault power system scale for the Western Electricity Coordi-
the grid frequency and fmotor,re f explained above is illustrated nating Council (WECC) power network and the HTB’s power
in Fig. 9(b). Fig. 9(c) shows the case when the grid frequency and voltage bases are displayed in Table 3. The simulations in
goes above the deadband of 60 mHz. For example, if there was PSCAD/EMTDC are done in the WECC power and voltage
a line loss on the grid, grid frequency would increase above bases. However, when implemented on the HTB platform, all
the specified deadband. For this case, the motor speed was models must be converted to the HTB bases before being sent
assumed to be at 85% of the maximum value. Such control to the inner current loop control of the HTB’s VSIs.

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FIGURE 12. One line diagram of aggregate model of WECC system.

the VSD capacity, meaning the frequency cannot return to


FIGURE 10. VSD model response on HTB platform and simulation 60 Hz without additional frequency regulation provided by
benchmark model during frequency regulation. other generation sources or loads in the system.

B. GRID IMPLEMENTATION
The active front end VSD and grid frequency regulation
was applied to an aggregate model of the WECC area
system, shown in Fig. 12. The system was simulated in
EMTDC/PSCAD. All the generators are represented by syn-
chronous generators, and there is a VSD at Bus 10 and Bus
11. The remaining loads are represented as ZIP loads.
FIGURE 11. Grid frequency during real power ZIP load increase on HTB
platform with frequency regulation (compensated) and without frequency
High power motors generally have high inertia, which
regulation (uncompensated). changes the dynamic response of the VSD power. For this
case, the inertia constant of the motor is set to H = 1 s.
Fig. 13 shows the motor and VSD characteristics when the
A. VSD MODEL VERIFICATION IN HTB VSD is providing frequency regulation. Each of the graphs
The VSD model was verified by comparing the results on are expressed in the per unit value with regard to the WECC
the HTB platform and a benchmark simulation for a two bus system base values, shown in Table 3. Once the grid frequency
system. To verify the behavior of the VSD and the frequency goes outside the specified deadband, the control begins to
regulation on the HTB, it was tested in a single area cabinet. ramp the inverter voltage. Due to the V/ f control method, this
The results show the response of the VSD during frequency results in the motor speed ramping down at the same rate. Due
regulation on both the HTB platform and the simulation en- to the torque speed characteristics of an induction motor, when
vironment. The grid frequency on the HTB platform is shown the motor speed begins to ramp, the motor electrical torque
in the two cases of compensated and uncompensated. In the will decrease, which can be seen at 15 s in Fig. 13. Once
compensated response, frequency regulation is active in the the motor speed stops ramping at 50% of its nominal speed,
VSD and responds to the control described in Section II-B. the torque increases, which is shown at 25 s. The behavior
The rate of change for the VSD rotational motor speed is happens in reverse once the motor speed begins to ramp to its
6 Hz/s. For the uncompensated case, the VSD responds as it nominal value, shown at 35 s – the torque initially increases
would if there was no frequency regulation active. and then decreases once the motor speed ramping has stopped.
A constant-impedance, constant-current, and constant- The torque behavior is then reflected in the DC link current
power (ZIP) model is used to represent static load type com- and VSD active power.
pared with the performance of the dynamic VSD load. For In this case, high power motor systems represent roughly
these examples, the inertia constant, H, for the induction mo- 10% of the total load. According to the United States In-
tor is 1 s, which represents a large industrial motor. Fig. 10 dustrial Electric Motor Systems Market Opportunities As-
shows the simulated and emulated values for the VSD during sessment performed in 2002, industrial motor systems above
frequency regulation. This shows that the model on HTB 200 hp make up 44.6% of the total industrial motor energy
platform is consistent with the benchmark model. Fig. 11 consumption. According to this same report, industrial motor
shows the results from the HTB for a ZIP load increase from systems make up 25% of the total energy consumption in the
0.095 p.u. to 0.3 p.u. with and without frequency regulation United States [2]. Therefore, it can be estimated that industrial
compensation. The ZIP load change is significantly larger than motors above 200 hp make up roughly 11% of the total load on

6 VOLUME 2, 2021
FIGURE 14. Frequency of generators 4 and 7 during 530 MW ZIP load
increase at Bus 7 comparing with frequency regulation (compensated) and
without frequency regulation (uncompensated).

FIGURE 13. VSD power and induction motor stator voltage and current for
grid frequency regulation on the WECC system.

the WECC system, so a 10% penetration is a good represen-


tation of the large motors driving a fan, pump, or compressor
on the system. There are two aggregate VSD models on the
system. For simplification, it is assumed that one model with
a larger power consumption can represent multiple smaller
systems. Due to the fact that frequency is fairly global for a
localized part of the grid, then the frequency control can be
accurately represented by one system.
In order to test the response of VSD connected medium
voltage induction motors, the value of the inertia constant,
H, was set to 1 s for these test cases. This is the commonly
accepted value for large induction motors above 200 hp. Au-
tomatic generation control (AGC) for frequency is also active FIGURE 15. Frequency of generators 6 and 7 during 485 MW ZIP load
increase at Bus 4 comparing with frequency regulation (compensated) and
in generator 4 and generator 6. AGC activates 4 seconds after without frequency regulation (uncompensated).
the initial frequency event and remains active for the rest of
the test case. The frequency response is initiated by adding a
ZIP step load that is equal to 10% of the amount of generation the nominal value of 60 Hz quicker. Fig. 15 shows a simi-
at the time of the event. lar response, where the ZIP load increase happens at Bus 4.
The frequency deviation from the nominal during the event
is reduced for Buses 6 and 7. Fig. 16 shows the case where
IV. DISCUSSION there is a load loss on the system because of the outage of a
When there is a ZIP load increase near a bus with a VSD, transmission line that serves a large load center.
the frequency response throughout the system is improved. Table 4 shows the frequency nadir after the load increase for
Fig. 14 shows that the minimum frequency during the event all the generators on the system. There are three cases shown
is reduced at Bus 4 and Bus 6, and the frequency returns to in the table – a load increase at Bus 4, a load increase at Bus 7,

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TABLE 4. Frequency Nadir for Generators During Frequency Event on


WECC System With and Without VSD Frequency Compensation

FIGURE 16. Frequency of generators 6 and 7 during 360 MW ZIP load loss
at Bus 4 comparing with frequency regulation (compensated) and without
frequency regulation (uncompensated).

and a load decrease at Bus 4. Percent improvement was found


using:
fcomp − funcomp
Percent Improvement = 100 ∗ (5)
60 − funcomp
You can see from this data that the improvement in the
frequency nadir is the greatest the furthest from the event.
The frequency nadir at the bus where the event occurred only
improved by around 20% for both cases where there was a
load added. However, at the buses furthest from the event, the
frequency nadir was improved by around 70%. For the case
where a load was lost, the greatest improvement was at Gener-
ator 6 at around 35%. However, there was little improvement
in the frequency nadir at Generator 4, which is the bus location
of the load loss. This loss of load could be caused by a loss of
transmission line on the grid.
While the high inertia loads allow significant improvements
to the frequency nadir, they can introduce more variability into This paper has evaluated the advantages and disadvantages
the system. The high inertia causes the power to change fairly of implementing a frequency regulation method using an open
drastically when the motor is changing speed. When the fre- loop motor drive control. The open loop constant V/f control
quency regulation is first triggered at 15 seconds, this actually was chosen because of its cost effectiveness. This limits the
can assist the grid in reducing the frequency nadir. However, additional hardware and control design needed for customers
since the motor speed is limited to only reducing its speed by to participate in frequency regulation. With the constant V/f
50%, the motor speed stops ramping at 25 seconds, causing control, a PI frequency regulation, which is commonly used,
an additional fluctuation in the power. This fluctuation causes was determined to bring too much variability to the load.
a ripple in the grid frequency. While this ripple still remains Because even with a broad deadband, the grid frequency con-
lower than the initial frequency nadir without compensation, tained too much variability to design a reliable PI controlled
it still adds variability to the grid frequency. This same effect frequency regulation. The control shown in Fig. 9 allows for a
can be seen after the load event recovers at 35 seconds. The more predictable load response.
motor speed will ramp until it reaches its nominal value of The results show that this control method can help with the
60 Hz. When the speed stops ramping, there will be a jump in initial frequency change, counteracting the generation-load
VSD power to its nominal value. unbalance; however, if the ramping of the motor speed stops

8 VOLUME 2, 2021
before the load recovers, the inertia causes more variability in current to change rapidly. This is reflected in the VSD power,
the system. Ongoing and future research at CURENT include which can cause a change in the grid frequency.
the modeling and the grid frequency support functions of VSD
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VOLUME 2, 2021 9
SHORT ET AL.: PRIMARY FREQUENCY CONTROL USING MOTOR DRIVES FOR SHORT TERM GRID DISTURBANCES

[21] M. Fioretto, G. Raimondo, L. Rubino, N. Serbia, and P. Marino, “Power JINGXIN WANG (Member, IEEE) received the
losses analysis in AC/DC conversion based on active front end systems,” B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering
in Proc. Int. Symp. Power Electron., Elect. Drives, Automat. Motion, from the China University of Mining and Technol-
2010, pp. 210–215. ogy, Xuzhou, China, and the Ph.D. degree in elec-
[22] L. Moran, J. Espinoza, M. Ortiz, J. Rodriguez, and J. Dixon, “Practical trical engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong Uni-
problems associated with the operation of ASDs based on active front versity, Shanghai, China, in 2003, 2006, and 2011,
end converters in power distribution systems,” in Proc. IEEE Ind. Appl. respectively. He is currently a Research Associate
Conf., 2004, pp. 2568–2572. with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN,
[23] L. Wei, Y. Patel, and C. S. N. Murthy, “Evaluation of LCL filter inductor USA. His research interests include high perfor-
and active front end rectifier losses under different PWM method,” in mance motor control, three-phase converter design,
Proc. IEEE Energy Convers. Congr. Expo., 2013, pp. 3019–3026. power flow control, and renewable energy.
[24] P. Krause, O. Wasynczuk, S. Sudoff, and S. Pekarek, Analysis of Elec-
tric Machinery and Drive Systems, Hoboken, NJ, USA: Wiley, 2013.
[25] S. Hiti, “Modeling and control of three-phase PWM converters,” Ph.D.
dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacks- YIWEI MA (Member, IEEE) received the B.S.
burg, Virginia, Jul. 1995. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from
[26] P. Verdelho and G. D. Marques, “DC voltage control and stability Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, in 2009 and
analysis of PWM-voltage-type reversible rectifiers,” IEEE Trans. Ind. 2011, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in electri-
Electron., vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 263–273, Apr. 1998. cal engineering from the University of Tennessee,
[27] B. Akin and N. Garg, “Scalar (V/f) control of 3-phase induction mo- Knoxville, TN, USA, in 2019. He is currently a Re-
tors,” Texas Instrum., Appl. Rep. SPRABQ8, Jul. 2013. [Online]. Avail- search Engineer with Electric Power Research In-
able: https://www.ti.com/lit/an/sprabq8/sprabq8.pdf stitute, Knoxville, TN, USA. His research interests
[28] S. Wang, Y. Ma, T. Short, L. M. Tolbert, and F. Wang, “Power emulator include modeling and control of power electron-
of variable speed drive with grid frequency support in multi-converter ics interfacing converters for the renewable energy
based power grid emulation system,” in Proc. IEEE Energy Convers. sources, multilevel converters, and microgrids.
Congr. Expo., Oct. 2020, pp. 1694–1701.

YUNTING LIU (Member, IEEE) received the B.S.


TAYLOR L. SHORT (Student Member, IEEE) re- degree in electrical engineering from Huazhong
ceived the B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical University of Science and Technology, Wuhan,
engineering from the University of Tennessee, China, in 2013, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical
Knoxville, TN, USA, in 2018 and 2020, respec- engineering from Michigan State University, East
tively. During the time at the University of Ten- Lansing, MI, USA, in 2019. In 2019, she joined
nessee, she participated in research for the Cen- the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA,
ter for Ultra-Wide-Area Resilient Electric Energy as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. Her research
Transmission Networks (CURENT). She is cur- interests include renewable energy integration,
rently working toward the Ph.D. degree in engi- modular multilevel converters, solid-state vari-
neering education with The Ohio State University, able capacitors, and dual-active-bridge and dc-dc
Columbus, OH, USA. converters.

SHUYAO WANG (Student Member, IEEE) re-


ceived the B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical en-
gineering from North China Electric Power Uni- FRED WANG (Fellow, IEEE) received the B.S. de-
versity, Beijing, China, in 2013 and 2016, respec- gree in electrical engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong
tively. Since 2016, she has been working toward University, Xi’an, China, the M.S. and Ph.D. de-
the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering with the grees in electrical engineering from the University
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA. Her of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA, in
research interests include modular multilevel con- 1982, 1985, and 1990, respectively. Since 2009, he
verters, HVDC transmission system, power grid has been with the University of Tennessee and Oak
ancillary services, and power electronics based de- Ridge National Laboratory, Knoxville, TN, USA,
vices modeling. as a Professor and the Condra Chair of Excellence
in Power Electronics. He is a Founding Member
and the Technical Director of the Multi Univer-
LEON M. TOLBERT (Fellow, IEEE) received the sity NSF/DOE Engineering Research Center for Ultra-Wide-Area Resilient
bachelor’s, M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical Electric Energy Transmission Networks (CURENT) led by the University of
engineering from the Georgia Institute of Tech- Tennessee. His research interests include power electronics, power systems,
nology, Atlanta, GA, USA, in 1989, 1991, and and motor drives.
1999, respectively. He is currently a Chancellor’s
Professor and the Min H. Kao Professor with the
Department of Electrical Engineering and Com-
puter Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville,
TN, USA. He is a Founding Member for the NSF
or DOE Engineering Research Center, CURENT
(Center for Ultra-wide-area Resilient Electric En-
ergy Transmission Networks). He is also an Adjunct Participant with Oak
Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA. He is a Registered Pro-
fessional Engineer with the State of Tennessee. His research interests include
the utility applications of power electronics, microgrids, electric vehicles, and
wide bandgap semiconductors.

10 VOLUME 2, 2021

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