Active Damping of a DC Network with a Constant Power Load: An Adaptive Passivity-based Control Approach

Abstract: This paper proposes a nonlinear, adaptive controller to increase the stability margin of a direct-current (DC) small-scale electrical network containing a constant power load, whose value is unknown. Due to their negative incremental impedance, constant power loads are known to reduce the effective damping of a network, leading to voltage oscillations and even to network collapse. To tackle this problem, we consider the incorporation of a controlled DC-DC power converter between the feeder and the constant power load. The design of the control law for the converter is based on the use of standard Passivity-Based Control and Immersion and Invariance theories. The good performance of the controller is evaluated with numerical simulations.