A Regional Phase-Locked Loop-Based Low-Speed Position-Sensorless Control Scheme for General-Purpose Switched Reluctance Motor Drives

Abstract

In this article, a general-purpose low-speed position estimation scheme using pulse injection is proposed for sensorless switched reluctance motor (SRM) drives. For the conventional low-speed sensorless control methods, magnetic characteristics are often used for position estimation, but it requires offline measurement and reduces the generality of sensorless control algorithms. To solve the issue, a new position estimator based on a regional phase-locked loop (RPLL) is designed. The approach utilizes a self-commissioning process to capture the unsaturated inductance adaptively at the initial stage. The RPLL is then adopted to estimate the full-cycle rotor position from the idle-phase inductance during sensorless operation. The speed-reversible sensorless control capability is also realized by a simple heterodyne design. Furthermore, stability analyses and parameter design are given to prove the robust local stability and convergence. Finally, comparative experimental validation is conducted on a 5.5-kW 12/8 SRM setup to verify the proposed method's effectiveness under both no-load and load conditions.