Sistema de regulação de velocidade em micro central hidrelétrica (MCH)

Abstract

Micro Hydroelectric Central (MCH) are emerging in small and medium-sized farms, where there is no water potential and difficulty of dealerships carry transmission lines to these remote locations. These plants are installed synchronous generators in power generation turbines with a capacity of up to 120 KVA. One of the problems encountered is maintaining a stable frequency of 60 Hz when load changes occur. To maintain the constant frequency, usually, one method is to maintain the angular speed of the generator shaft also constant. This paper proposes a system of regulation where the speed of the generator speed is kept constant by adjusting the flow of water entering the turbine. The speed control system uses a microcontroller to get the speed of the generator through an encoder and operates through a drive circuit for an electric motor, which connects to a butterfly valve that adjusts the flow inlet turbine. The proposed system was implemented and tested on a MCH showing properly regulate the generator speed and hence the frequency of the generated voltage.