Robles Rivera, Emmanuel

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    Power hardware-in-the-loop platform for interconnected DC microgrids with geographical separation
    (2024-05-10) Robles Rivera, Emmanuel; Aponte, Erick E.; College of Engineering; Darbali-Zamora, Rachid; Andrade-Rengifo, Fabio; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Patarroyo-Montenegro, Juan F.
    Distributed Energy Resources with renewable energy assets are becoming increasingly used on the industry, and research for integrating these new technologies should result in a more efficient and reliable grid. A significant amount of energy is stored and converted in distributed energy sources as Direct Current (DC). Direct Current MGs (MGs) are being studied as an alternative to Alternating Current (AC) MGs due to their simplicity of control and efficiency. MGs are controlled usually by broadband communications, but several forms of autonomous control have been developed to be used as contingency for when loss of communications occur. These previously developed autonomous controls have been shown to work well for close distance interconnected MGs. However, geographical distance (via tie-lines) between assets is generally not considered. In addition, testing for geographical separation between DC MGs can be difficult and inconvenient, as this usually requires the use of large runs of cable inside a testing facility or site. A DC testbench enabled by Power Hardware in the Loop (PHIL) has been developed and implemented at the Sandia National Labs (Sandia) Distributed Energy Technologies Laboratory (DETL). Its purpose is to facilitate the integration of virtual MGs with real hardware components, as well creating physical line emulations to study the interaction with bidirectional DC sources. This thesis presents a literary review, work justification with its respective objectives, a methodology, and finishes with test results from simulation and PHIL for interconnecting and testing DC MGs that are geographically separated through aerial and underground power lines, with the use of bidirectional converters. Results using the testbench with PHIL show how different line lengths and models have different effects on voltage drop and transient response while transferring power. The emulation of different tie-lines using the bidirectional sources facilitated line testing and serves as an additional tool to improve upon interconnecting MGs that are geographically separated.