Hardware in the loop emulation of synchronous generators for aircraft power systems

Testing a piece of equipment under realistic operating conditions typical of a complex power system such as those for more electric aircraft application requires a significant effort in terms of costs and complexity of the experimental test rig. Significant advantages can be achieved by using the Power Hardware in-the-Loop (HIL) concept whereby the performances of a device under test are evaluated in an emulated environment of the remaining components of a complete system. This paper describes the application of the Power HIL concept to the emulation of a wound field synchronous generator of the type used in aircraft power systems. Modeling assumptions are detailed in the paper together with an experimental procedure for parameter extraction. The emulation is realized by a bespoke three phase MOSFET based inverter with appropriate output filters controlled by an FPGA based solution used for real time emulation.