Fault quantifcation and mitigation method for energy management in microgrids using MPC reconfiguration

Abstract

The current energy situation and the possibility of exhausting fossil fuels in a relatively near period, have led to investing efforts in the development of techniques that use renewable energy sources for power generation. A configuration that allows renewable energy sources to be integrated into the overall power system, advocates dividing the grid into distributed systems incorporating small-scale generation and storage. Microgrids are a well-known type of these systems. Control systems help maintain the reliability of the energy supply while minimizing costs. In addition, it must be taken into account that faults can occur in the processes that make up the microgrid. In some cases, the control system can mask these faults, even allowing the fault to reach an irreparable level. In this context, fault-tolerant control is a tool that enables control objectives to be maintained even in the presence of faults. If necessary, the control objectives are adapted to the fault. Furthermore, the fault tolerant control system needs to be able to detect faults, quantify their intensity and act accordingly. In this way it is avoided that small faults, that in other circumstances would remain hidden by the control loop, cause faults of a greater magnitude. This article proposes a fault quantification method based on parity equations and structured residuals that, together with a fault accommodation tolerance mechanism, mitigates the consequences of possible faults in this type of system.