Methods of advanced grid and microgrid support functionalities through hybrid fuel cell systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10756546-B2
Application number	US-201816059807-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 9, 2018
Priority date	Aug 10, 2017
Publication date	Aug 25, 2020
Grant date	Aug 25, 2020

Abstract

A method of controlling an inverter having a three phase output and a plurality of single phase loads connected to respective one of the three phases of the three phase output includes determining if a first phase of the three phase output has a heavier load than a second phase of the three phase output, and providing a higher output power from the inverter to the first phase than to the second phase if it is determined that the first phase has a heavier load than the second phase.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of controlling an inverter having a three phase output and a plurality of single phase loads connected to respective one of the three phases of the three phase output, comprising:
determining if a first phase of the three phase output has a heavier load than a second phase of the three phase output; and
providing a higher output power from the inverter to the first phase than to the second phase if it is determined that the first phase has a heavier load than the second phase.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inverter has a three phase input connected to an output of a direct current (DC) distributed power source.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising controlling the inverter to draw more power from the DC distributed power source on a first phase of the three phase input connected to the DC distributed power source which corresponds to the first phase of the three phase output of the inverter than to a second phase of the three phase input which is connected to the DC distributed power source which corresponds to the second phase of the three phase output.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the DC distributed power source includes one or more of a fuel cell system, a solar array, thermoelectric device or wind turbine with alternating current (AC) to DC rectifier.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the DC distributed power source comprises a fuel cell system which includes a power storage device.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein:
the plurality of single phase loads are part of an AC microgrid; and
the microgrid further includes a three phase load connected to the three phase output of the inverter.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
detecting at least one first power characteristic at the three phase input of the inverter using at least one first sensor; and
detecting at least one second power characteristic at the three phase output of the inverter using at least one second sensor;
wherein the higher output power from the inverter to the first phase is provided based on the at least one first power characteristic or the at least one second power characteristic.

8. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first power characteristic comprises power available from the DC distributed power source, and the second power characteristic comprises load power demands on each phase of the three phase output.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining whether to modify the three phase output based on information associated with one or more power quality characteristics,
wherein the higher output power provided from the inverter to the first phase is based on the information associated with one or more power quality characteristics, and
wherein the one or more power quality characteristics include one or more of a phase imbalance, power factor, or harmonics.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the higher output power from the inverter to the first phase than to the second phase comprises redirecting electric grid AC power from the second phase to the first phase by the inverter.

11. An electric power system, comprising:
direct current (DC) distributed power source;
a DC to alternating current (AC) inverter;
an AC microgrid comprising a plurality of single phase loads;
first, second and third DC lines electrically connecting an output the DC distributed power source to an input of the inverter;
first, second and third AC lines connecting an output of the inverter to an input of the microgrid, wherein each of the plurality of single phase loads is connected to a respective one of the first, second and third AC lines; and
a processor configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:
determining whether to provide more output power from the inverter to a first AC line than to a second or third AC line based on one or more monitored power quality variables detected on the first, second and third AC lines; and
providing a higher output power to the first AC line than to the second or third AC line in response to the step of determining.

12. The electric power system of claim 11 , wherein the power quality variables are selected from one or more of phase imbalance, power factor, or harmonics.

13. The electric power system of claim 12 , wherein the power quality variables comprise phase imbalance in which the first AC line has a heavier load than the second and third AC lines.

14. The electric power system of claim 13 , wherein the DC distributed power source includes one or more of a fuel cell system, a solar array, thermoelectric device or wind turbine with alternating current (AC) to DC rectifier.

15. The electric power system of claim 14 , wherein the DC distributed power source a fuel cell system which includes a power storage device.

16. The electric power system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising controlling the inverter to draw more power from the DC distributed power source on the first DC line which corresponds to the first AC line at the output of the inverter than to the second DC line which corresponds to the second AC line at the output of the inverter.

17. The electric power system of claim 11 , wherein the microgrid further includes a three phase load connected to the first, second and third AC lines, and the first, second and third AC lines are connected to a node of an electric grid.

18. The electric power system of claim 11 , further comprising at least one first sensor located at the input of the inverter and at least one second sensor located at the output of the inverter, wherein the at least one first sensor is configured to detect available power form the DC distributed power source, and the at least one second sensor is configured to separately detect a loads on the first, second and third AC lines.

19. The electric power system of claim 11 , further comprising a transformer located on the first, second and third AC lines between the inverter and the microgrid.

20. The electric power system of claim 11 , further comprising a neutral line connecting the output of the inverter to the input of the microgrid.

Assignees

• Bloom Energy Corp

Inventors

• Pmsvvsv Prasad
• Gurunathan Ranganathan
• Venkataraman Swaminathan
• Ballantine Arne
• Balakrishnan Deepak

Classifications

• H02J2101/30

  Fuel cells · CPC title

• H02J2101/28

  Wind energy · CPC title

• H02J2101/24

  Photovoltaics · CPC title

• H02J2101/20

  Dispersed power generation using renewable energy sources · CPC title

• H02J3/46 Primary

  Controlling the sharing of generated power between the generators, sources or networks · CPC title