Incorporating Power Electronic Converters Reliability Into Modern Power System Reliability Analysis

Abstract

This paper aims to incorporate the reliability model of power electronic converters into power system reliability analysis. The converter reliability has widely been explored in device-and converter-levels according to physics of failure analysis. However, optimal decision-makings for design, planning, operation and maintenance of power electronic converters require system-level reliability modeling of power electronic-based power systems. Therefore, this paper proposes a procedure to evaluate the reliability of power electronic based power systems from the device-level up to the system-level. Furthermore, the impact of converter failure rates including random chance and wear-out failures on power system performance in different applications such as wind turbine and electronic transmission lines is illustrated. Moreover, due to a high calculation burden raised by the physics of failure analysis for large scale power electronic systems, this paper explores the required accuracy for reliability modeling of converters in different applications. Numerical case studies are provided employing modified versions of the Roy Billinton Test System (RBTS). The analysis shows the converter failures may affect the overall system performance depending on its application. Therefore, an accurate converter reliability model is, in some cases, required for reliability assessment and management in modern power systems.

System-Level Design for Reliability and Maintenance Scheduling in Modern Power Electronic-Based Power Systems

“…In the power systems, the concept of reliability is more general. The power system reliability is measured by its ability to supply its customers with power under different uncertainties [56], [57]. These uncertainties may be induced by planned outages, e.g., for maintenance, or unplanned outages such component failure, short circuits, and so on.…”

“…However, for maintainable applications such as in power systems, this solution may not be an economically feasible approach. This is due to the fact that in this application availability is the measure of system performance [56]. Availability is defined as the probability of being in the operating state at instant t given that the system starts operation at t = 0 regardless of any failure occurrence in this period [64].…”

Lifetime Estimation of Grid-Connected Battery Storage and Power Electronics Inverter Providing Primary Frequency Regulation

“…Research in power electronic reliability shows that the main components within the VSCs subject to failure due to wear are the IGBT modules and the DC-link electrolytic capacitors [22]- [25]. Additionally, Lithium-ion based batteries have a limited lifetime, strongly influenced by the cycling pattern [26], and which generally spans from 3000 to 10000 cycles, depending on the lithium technology and the cycling conditions [27].…”

“…However, power electronic plays a significant role in BESSs, being the enabler technology used to interface the electrochemical storage with the AC grid. Above all, the PE wear constitutes an important factor to be evaluated when studying BESS's lifetime [25].…”

Operation of Meshed Hybrid Microgrid During Adverse Grid Conditions With Storage Integrated Smart Transformer

“…Various solutions for improving the reliability of ST are proposed such as, the improved SiC device based MV technologies [18], modular power converter structure [19], power routing based on thermal loading [20], etc. Moreover, various other solutions proposed for improving power converter reliability can also be incorporated with ST [21], [22]. All these research methods are expected to improve the reliability of ST in the future applications.…”