The role of capacitance in a wind-electric water pumping system
- West Texas A&M Univ., Canyon, TX (United States)
- Conservation and Production Research Lab., Bushland, TX (United States)
The development of controllers for wind-electric water pumping systems to enable the use of variable voltage, variable frequency electricity to operate standard AC submersible pump motors has provided a more efficient and flexible water pumping system to replace mechanical windmills. A fixed capacitance added in parallel with the induction motor improves the power factor and starting ability of the pump motor at the lower cut-in frequency. The wind-electric water pumping system developed by USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Bushland, TX, operated well at moderate wind speeds (5-12 m/s), but tended to lose synchronization in winds above 12 m/s, especially if they were gusty. Furling generally did not occur until synchronization had been lost and the winds had to subside before synchronization could be reestablished. The frequency needed to reestablish synchronization was much lower (60-65 Hz) than the frequency where synchronization was lost (70-80 Hz). As a result, the load (motor and pump) stayed off an excessive amount of time thus causing less water to be pumped and producing a low system efficiency. The controller described in this paper dynamically connects additional capacitance of the proper amount at the appropriate time to keep the system synchronized (running at 55 to 60 Hz) and pumping water even when the wind speed exceeds 15 m/s. The system efficiency was improved by reducing the system off-line time and an additional benefit was reducing the noise caused by the high speed blade rotation when the load was off line in high winds.
- Research Organization:
- American Wind Energy Association, Washington, DC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 570104
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-970608-PROC.; ON: DE98001975; TRN: 98:001071-0059
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WindPower `97: annual conference and exhibition of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), Austin, TX (United States), 15-18 Jun 1997; Other Information: PBD: [1997]; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings: American Wind Energy Association; PB: 636 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Pump controller testing on wind turbines used in water pumping
Determining the proper motor size for two wind turbines used in water pumping