Test Bench tests regulators, turbines, and alternators.April 24, 2008 -
Designed to meet needs of electrical utilities, RT-LAB BERTA enables engineer to accurately set speed regulator PID gains, assessing stable behavior of generating unit without taking unit offline from overall power system. System conducts real-time simulation at power plant, directly on ac generator, while recording signal data needed to effectively model turbine and regulator under test. In addition, RT-LAB BERTA can drive generator as if it were actually operating in islanded mode.
(Archive News Story - Products mentioned in this Archive News Story may or may not be available from the manufacturer.)
Original Press release
Opal-RT Technologies
1751 Richardson, Suite 2525
Montreal, QC, H3K 1G6
Canada
Opal-RT Introduces RT-LAB BERTA Test Bench for Regulators, Turbines and Alternators
Estimate Turbine Model Parameters Using Actual Test Results
Emulate AC Generator Speed Disturbances
Adjust Speed Regulator PID Settings Faster and Easier
MONTREAL, April 21 /- Opal-RT Technologies Inc. (http://www.opal-rt.com/) today announced the RT-LAB BERTA Test Bench for Real-Time Testing of Regulators, Turbines and Alternators. Designed to meet the needs of electrical utilities, RT-LAB BERTA enables the engineer to accurately set speed regulator PID gains, in turn assessing the stable behavior of the generating unit. RT-LAB BERTA achieves this without taking the generating unit under test offline from the overall power system, and ensuring that simulated power system disturbances used by BERTA do not place the engineer or overall power system at risk.
RT-LAB BERTA combines a Real-Time Digital Simulator, based on Opal-RT's eMEGAsim Real-Time Digital Power Grid Simulator technology, and the reprogrammable LabVIEW-based GUI of Opal-RT's TestDrive testing system.
The announcement comes at the IEEE PES Transmission & Distribution Conference & Exposition, taking place at McCormick Place in Chicago April 21-24. Opal-RT is conducting demonstrations of RT-LAB BERTA and the eMEGAsim Real-Time Digital Power Grid Simulator in Booth #547 at the event, and will be conducting a presentation on the company's Real-Time Digital Power Grid Simulation technologies on Wednesday April 23rd at 1:00pm CDT in Room #501BC at McCormick Place.
RT-LAB BERTA represents the best tool available today for solving speed regulation problems at the source, and at the lowest possible cost. The product conducts Real-Time simulation at the power plant, directly on the actual AC generator, while recording signal data needed in order to effectively model the turbine and regulator under test. In addition, RT-LAB BERTA can drive the actual generator as if it were actually operating in islanded mode.
"Accurately assessing the behavior of turbines, alternators, and regulators and conducting effective testing and adjustments has long been a challenge for electrical engineers. Identifying modeling parameters has required either making highly accurate calculations using data that manufacturers may be reluctant to provide, or conducting very costly and time-consuming on-site tests. This impacts both the productivity of the engineer and the efficiency of the overall power system," said Jean Belanger, President of Opal-RT Technologies Inc.
"With the launch of RT-LAB BERTA, it is now possible for the engineer to make regulators and turbines react as though they were operating in an islanded power system. This allows high precision validation and setting of regulator and turbine models to occur during the same test session, saving valuable time, while improving overall power system performance with each subsequent test session," said Marc Langevin, inventor and primary developer of RT-LAB BERTA. Marc Langevin is a power system stability specialist with over 30 years of industry experience at Hydro Quebec and has acted as consultant on several international power system projects.
How RT-LAB BERTA Works
Until now, model and parameter identification tests have proven to be very expensive and do not provide an accurate and robust model of a turbine. The process is time-consuming and arduous requiring the following steps be performed for each machine:
-- Preliminary settings based on specifications provided by the constructor of the dam and manufacturers of the turbine and generator;
-- Model and parameter identification tests in the power station;
-- Off-line stability studies to recommend the appropriate settings, based on the models and parameters as determined by tests carried out in the power station;
-- A return to the power station to implement new appropriate settings on the speed governor.
RT-LAB BERTA allows these operations to take place in a single test run from within the power station, translating into significant returns on investment including:
-- Improved accuracy of speed regulator settings in islanded mode ensuring that each machine has a stabilizing effect on the overall power system;
-- Improved stability of and reduced demand on servomotors by applying appropriate settings;
-- Shorter tests in the power station due to RT-LAB BERTA's ease of use.
-- Improved accuracy of regulator and turbine models
-- Productivity gains for model identification and control settings;
RT-LAB BERTA can conduct Real-Time simulation of the unit under test allowing the engineer to quickly and accurately set regulator parameters to ensure the frequency stability of the unit when operated in an islanded power system. This also improves the unit's contribution to power system stability when it is synchronized with a large power system.
The integrated Real-Time Digital Simulator generates a speed error signal corresponding to the behavior of the generator in an islanded power system. Injecting this signal into the regulator while the unit is generating power in the system sets up a closed loop, simulating the operation in an islanded system, even though the AC generator is actually synchronized to a multi-machine power grid. The speed error signal is added to the actual frequency signal so that the regulator still reacts to an actual system frequency variation.
Turbine model parameters can change over time because of turbine wear and water head variation. By using test and measurement results, RT-LAB BERTA enables the engineer to precisely estimate adequate turbine and speed regulator models. Such precision also allows for more accurate offline simulation and adjustment of speed regulator settings.
RT-LAB BERTA is also equipped with a PID controller that can be used instead of the actual PID controller of the regulator. The output signal of this controller replaces the output signal of the actual controller directly driving the gate servomotor chain allowing several optimization tests to be conducted without modifying the actual regulator settings.
This overall approach produces results that increase in precision with each subsequent test session and that are virtually identical to those expected from an actual islanded power system, but requiring only a fraction of the time, compared to traditional test methods.
RT-LAB BERTA is currently under evaluation for use in multiple power stations in North America and is now available directly from Opal-RT Technologies Inc.
About eMEGAsim Real-Time Digital Power Grid Simulator
Introduced by Opal-RT in 2007, eMEGAsim is a fully digital real-time power grid simulator for the study, test, and simulation of large in-land power grids, industrial power systems, commercial and military ships, and electrical train traction systems and feeding networks.
eMEGAsim is designed to meet the real-time simulation and testing needs of engineers and researchers across the power generation industry, from university researchers studying renewable energy sources to electrical utilities seeking ways to manage an increasingly diverse range of power generation and distribution systems.
About Opal-RT Technologies Inc.
Founded in 1997, Opal-RT is the leading supplier of integrated software and hardware solutions for real-time simulation and hardware-in-the-loop testing of electrical, power electronic, and mechanical systems. Opal-RT's unique approach integrates parallel, distributed computing with commercial-off-the-shelf technologies. Opal-RT's customers perform rapid-prototyping, system integration and hardware-in-the-loop testing of mechatronics, automotive, transportation, spacecraft and aircraft systems, as well as electric drives, power electronics and power distribution networks used in manufacturing and by electrical utilities. Opal-RT simulators are used by major electrical system manufacturers worldwide including ABB (China) Limited, BHEL (India), General Electric, (USA, China, India and Germany), Hitachi, Mitsubishi, by automotive OEM and tier-one suppliers such as AISIN, BMW, Daimler Chrysler, Delphi, DENSO, Ford, General Motors, and Toyota as well as by major aerospace organisations such as the Canadian Space Agency, DLR, EADS, Embraer and by several universities.
For Additional Product Information & Related Technical Papers: http://www.opal-rt.com/productsservic...
RT-LAB, RT-LAB BERTA, TestDrive and eMEGAsim are trademarks of Opal-RT Technologies Inc.
CONTACT: Daniel Coyle, Director of Marketing, Opal-RT Technologies Inc., North America: +1-877-935-2323, x299, Outside North America: +1-514-935-2323, x299, dcoyle@opal-rt.com
Web site: http://www.opal-rt.com/
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