Cardiff School of Engineering: Flexible Power Flow Control in Meshed HVDC Grids (PhD Studentship)
Reference Number: R846
Key Studentship Information
Project Title: Flexible Power Flow Control in Meshed HVDC Grids
Project Description: This 3 year PhD studentship gives students an opportunity to become a part of the multi-disciplinary Institute of Energy team at Cardiff University, to contribute to research challenges through both theoretical study and technical demonstration via test facilities and to participate in a research programme involving several national and international industrial partners.
HVDC grids are a promising technology for the integration of offshore wind power and the interconnection of AC grids in Europe. A meshed HVDC grid will greatly increase the reliability of power transfer. However the power flow within the HVDC grid is determined passively by the resistance of branches (DC cables/lines). There is a significant inefficiency of the branch utilization with variable wind power generation, especially under (n-1) or (n-2) reliability criteria.
Series devices will be proposed to reschedule the power flow in HVDC grids to increase the utilisation of DC branches, improve the efficiency, and avoid bottle-necks in meshed HVDC grids. This project will propose a design method to determine the power flow of the HVDC grids based on Multi-Objective Optimisation. The design objectives include maximum wind power injection, AC load requirements, and maximum utilisation of HVDC branches. The optimization is subject to constraints of HVDC grids, such as DC voltage limitation, converter power ratings and branch current ratings.
Flexible power flow control will be achieved by using the series devices. A HVDC grid model and series device model will be developed. Simulation using DigSilent will be performed to verify the power flow control. Experiments on a 4-terminal HVDC test rig will be used to further test the feasibility of the proposed design method and the effectiveness of the series control device.
Supervisor: Dr J Laing
Start Date: 1 October 2012.
Funding
The award will cover tuition fees at the Home/EU fee rate and will provide a stipend at the UK Research Council rate (£13,590 in 2011/12). Please note that overseas candidates will be required to fund the difference between the Home/EU and overseas fee rate themselves.
Eligibility
Academic Criteria: Applicants should have an electrical engineering background and should be able to demonstrate strong academic performance in the area of power electronic, optimisation and power systems. The applicant should also be able to supply evidence of a significant recent individual research project in an engineering or science discipline.
How to Apply
If you would like to submit an application, please apply online.
Please quote reference JL-EPSRC1-2012 on your application
Application Deadline: 1st September 2012
Further information
For further information please contact:
Dr J Laing
Email: liangj1@Cardiff.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)29 2087 0666
