Example engineering dissertation topic 5:

A study of a power management system for a wind power system in County Durham

This dissertation utilises a MATLAB/Simulink simulation model for the power management system for a wind power system. It offers a variety of scenarios that include changes in weather and load demand, and uses data from the Meteorological Service to add verisimilitude. The projected wind farm would be sited in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham and the turbines would range in height from 100 to 125 metres. The power management plan would include data on power flows as well as storage. Finally, the study will include a literature review of recent wind farm installations in the UK and compare the projected results of the Newton Aycliffe wind farm with those of the wind farms in Tow Law, and East Hedleyhope, Co. Durham.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Caisheng, W. and Nehrir, M.H. (2008) ‘Power management of a stand-alone wind/photovoltaic/fuel cell energy system’, IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, Vol. 23(3), pp. 957-967.
• Rodriguez-Amenado, R.L., Arnalte, S. and Burgos, J.C. (2002) ‘Automatic generation control of a wind farm with variable speed wind turbines’, IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, Vol. 17(2), pp. 279-284.