Abstract:
In this thesis are addressed the issues specific to the field of
pumping systems (PS) powered by renewable energy sources
(RES). After a brief review of the state-of-the-art of the research
in the field, it is addressed the modelling of an isolated PS
powered by photovoltaic or wind energy conversion systems
(PECS or WECS). It has been developed, implemented and
validated the customized control structures for driving the
induction motor of a centrifugal pump at fixed (nominal) speed
using a soft starter, and at variable speed, variable discharge
(flow rate), variable pressure (pumping head) or variable power
absorption using a variable frequency drive. Based on these
customized control structures, the control strategies of a PS
powered by PECS or WECS were developed and implemented for
driving the PS so that its absorbed power tracks the power
produced by the PECS or WECS at partial load and controls the
pressure (pumping head) of the PS according to its reference at
full load. A monitoring system is developed and implemented to
determine the performance of a PS powered by a PECS that
measures and stores the transducers values using a non-intrusive
acquisition and logging system. At the end of the thesis, the
performances and contributions brought by the proposed control
structures and strategies are determined based on the
simulations results and the data collected with the proposed
monitoring system.