Opal-RT Demonstrates Industry-leading Benchmark for Real-Time Simulation of Power Electronic Devices
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Opal-RT Technologies Inc. (www.Opal-RT.com), the leading developer of open, PC-based Real-Time Simulators for electrical, mechanical and power electronic systems this week will unveil a new benchmark for PC-based Real-Time Simulation of fast-switching power electronic devices found in large power systems. July 27, 2009 - Calgary, Alberta, CANADAOpal-RT Technologies Inc. (www.Opal-RT.com), the leading developer of open, PC-based Real-Time Simulators for electrical, mechanical and power electronic systems this week will unveil a new benchmark for PC-based Real-Time Simulation of fast-switching power electronic devices found in large power systems.
The company is a sponsor of this week’s 2009 IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meeting, taking place in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where they will demonstrate Real-Time Simulation of a Voltage Source Converter (VSC)-based STATCOM, comprised of a total of 192 IGBT switches, achieving a minimum simulation time-step of 45 microseconds, and with a timing accuracy in the order of a few microseconds. The simulation is performed on Opal-RT’s eMEGAsim Real-Time Simulator. eMEGAsim, specifically designed for Real-Time Simulation of very large power grids and associated fast-switching power electronic devices, leverages commercially available Intel multi-core processor technology and Xilinx FPGA co-processors to conduct analysis and study of power systems that was previously only possible using large, expensive, custom hardware and software.
Opal-RT’s breakthrough in the simulation of a VSC-based STATCOM comprised of such a large number of IGBT power electronic switches is particularly significant for power electronic device manufacturers that are evolving their technology towards the use of very flexible and easy to control VSCs and multi-pulse topologies.
“The integration of power electronic devices with power grids has accelerated rapidly over the last quarter century, changing the very nature of how power is generated, distributed and transmitted to the customer. This trend has presented challenges for manufacturers and utilities that must ensure power electronic design quality as well as efficient operation of devices, once deployed,” said Jean Bélanger, CEO and Co-founder of Opal-RT Technologies.
“This benchmark demonstrates that by using eMEGAsim, power electronic engineers can confidently and correctly study transient and switching phenomena involved in their product designs on a simulation platform that is both easily scalable and affordable, even for smaller organization.”
Manufacturers are increasingly using very flexible and easier to control voltage source converters (VSC) with multi-levels and interlaced firing pulsed to reduce harmonics to a very low level. Until now, power electronic system manufacturers have been forced to use downscaled analog simulators since they lacked confidence in the capacity of digital simulators to correctly represent transient and switching phenomena. The Opal-RT benchmark demonstrates that even systems with a large number of power electronic devices can be simulated with high fidelity. This enables to test complex power electronic systems controller in real-time with an exponentially larger number of tests to be conducted in a shorter time period, resulting in the design of a more reliable end-product, brought to market in a shorter period of time.
Benchmark Model
The benchmark simulation is conducted on an eMEGAsim simulator target equipped with dual Intel® CoreTM 2 Quad Processors, 2.3GHz, 2 GB RAM. The Windows-based PC host used for the test is equipped with an Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo CPU, 2GHz, 2 GB RAM.
eMEGAsim software tools used include ARTEMiS, a Simulink blockset included with eMEGAsim that enables the simulation of SimPowerSystems models in Real-Time; and RTeDrive, a Simulink blockset library developed by Opal-RT, which enables detection and compensation of switching events that occur between time steps.
The benchmark model is of a power system created in the MATLAB/Simulink modeling environment with the SimPowerSystems blockset. The EHV (Extremely High Voltage) portion of the system is rated 500 kV, 50 Hz with a nominal generation power of about 8000 MVA and the HV (high voltage) section is rated 220 kV, 50 Hz with a total generation of 4500 MVA. The multi-level, 192-pulse STATCOM is modeled using VSC converter models that include an interpolation algorithm and time stamping technique to reach a firing accuracy in the order of a few microseconds
Complete details of this benchmark are available at http://www.opal-rt.com/video/15-bus-192-pulse-statcom-emegasim.
About eMEGAsim Power Grid Real-Time Simulator
eMEGAsim is a fully digital Real-Time Simulator for the study, test, and simulation of large in-land power grids, industrial power systems, commercial and military ships, and electrical train traction systems and feeding networks. eMEGAsim is used to test the functionality and performance of protection system and power electronic control systems prior to their installation in the field or to explain and find solutions to problems detected during system commissioning or after major system collapses.
Larger power grids can be simulated in Real-Time by connecting multiple eight-core eMEGAsim Simulators together with very fast 10-Gbits/s DOLPHIN communication links. eMEGAsim Simulators with 24 and 32 INTEL processor cores and XILINX FPGA chips have already been delivered for the simulation of large distributed power systems embarked on electrical ships. Over one hundred eDRIVEsim and eMEGAsim electrical system simulators equipped with 2 to 4 processor cores have already been delivered to large organizations including General Electric, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Toyota, General Motors, as well as to universities and research centres around the world, illustrating the scalability and affordability of Opal-RT simulators.
About Opal-RT Technologies Inc.
Founded in 1997, Opal-RT is the leading developer of open Real-Time Digital Simulators and hardware-in-the-loop testing systems for electrical, power electronic and electro-mechanical systems. Opal-RT's unique approach integrates parallel, distributed computing with commercial-off-the-shelf technologies. Opal-RT's customers perform Rapid Control Prototyping, System Integration, and Hardware-in-the-Loop testing of electric drives, electronic controllers and power distribution networks used in manufacturing, electric train networks, and by electrical utilities. Companies using Opal-RT Simulators include ABB, BHEL, Denso, GE, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, GM and Toyota.
-30- eDRIVEsim and eMEGAsim, ARTEMiS, and RTeDrive are trademarks of Opal-RT Technologies Inc. Intel Core2, SimPowerSystems, Simulink, and MATLAB are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. |
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