IEEE JOURNAL OF EMERGING AND SELECTED TOPICS IN POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 10, NO.
4, AUGUST 2022 3917
SMO-Based Position Sensorless SRM Drive for
Battery-Supported PV Submersible Pumps
Amarnath Yalavarthi , Member IEEE, and Bhim Singh , Fellow IEEE
Abstract— The position sensor is a major cost contributing
factor of switched reluctance motor (SRM) drive and it is highly
unreliable in the case of submersible pumps. Therefore, this
article aims at the development of sliding mode observer (SMO)-
based position sensorless control for SRM drive for PV-battery
standalone submersible pumps. Unlike lookup table-based
methods or artificial intelligence-based algorithms, SMO-based
algorithm offers simple and robust architecture and does not
require any prestored magnetic data. In this article, the SMO
algorithm employs instantaneous online calculation of phase
inductance, constructed as a function of both rotor position and
measured phase current, and uses the derivative of the same to
serve as an error function for the observer. Besides implementing
SMO for position estimation, a two-phase excitation-based
algorithm is integrated into SRM control to guarantee the
unidirectional operation during starting. A laboratory-scale
prototype is developed and the performance of the drive is
discussed to justify its suitableness for submersible pumps.
Index Terms— Battery energy storage, sensorless control, slid-
ing mode observer (SMO), solar water pump, switched reluctance
motor (SRM).
I. I NTRODUCTION
I N DEVELOPING economies where agriculture is a pri-
mary occupation, solar energy is the best suited solution
for powering irrigation pumps, as the majority of the rural
life is out of reach the grid facilities. Most of the nations are
subsidizing to replace the poorly efficient dc motors to reduce
the burden on distribution companies and to make the sector
primarily rely on green energy [1]. Over the past decade, there
has been a significant improvement in solar PV technology
and the motors used for pumping systems [2]. The research is
toward the development of low-cost and highly efficient pump
drives to meet the irrigation requirements in an affordable
manner.
Switched reluctance motor (SRM) can be a most promising
contender in this aspect when compared with the existing
Manuscript received 7 October 2020; revised 30 December 2020 and
9 February 2021; accepted 15 March 2021. Date of publication 22 March
2021; date of current version 2 August 2022. This work was supported in
part by the MHRD and Shakti Pumps (India), Ltd., industry partner, through
the Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana Project, under Grant RP03222, in part by the
J. C. Bose Fellowship under Grant RP03128, in part by the Indo-USASSIST
Project under Grant RP03443, and in part by the FIST Project under Grant
RP03195G. Recommended for publication by Associate Editor Qianwen Xu.
(Corresponding author: Amarnath Yalavarthi.)
The authors are with the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Delhi,
New Delhi 110016, India (e-mail: amaryalavarthi@gmail.com).
Color versions of one or more figures in this article are available at
https://doi.org/10.1109/JESTPE.2021.3067955.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/JESTPE.2021.3067955
2168-6777 © 2021 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
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permanent magnet (PM) motors, such as PM brushless dc
motors and PM synchronous motors [3]. SRMs are highly
economical since they neither have windings on the rotor nor
uses magnets. Operational advantages of SRM include: being
dc fed machine SRM does not use brushes, zero maintenance
cost; SRM phases are magnetically isolated, and therefore,
its operation is unaffected in case of phase faults; unlike
voltage source converters, SRM converters are fault-tolerant
inherently. These advantages of SRM drives can motivate a
researcher to develop a reliable irrigation system at a low cost.
Even though the SRM drive facilitates a highly reliable
system at a low cost, its immature and comparatively complex
control technology is a major concern. These drives require
position information of the rotor at every instant to control the
motor. The position information can be obtained by employing
a resolver, encoder, or Hall-effect sensors. However, this
comes with an additional cost, and also this approach is
unreliable in a harsh environment like submersible pumps.
Moreover, position sensor accounts for 10%–30% cost of the
overall drive system and are highly sensitive to temperature
and shaft vibrations. Hence, the elimination of mechanical sen-
sors reduces the cost burden and improves system reliability
to a greater extent. There is considerable research available on
open-loop (mechanical position sensor-based) control of SRM
water pump drives [4]. Whereas, there is not much literature
on sensorless controlled SRM drives for solar water pumping.
Therefore, this article focuses on the elimination of mechanical
position sensors for submersible SRM pump drives.
Ruling out these mechanical sensors, a significant amount
of research is carried out in developing the sensorless
algorithms for SRM drives [5], [6]. These are classified into
three main categories: magnetic characteristics-based methods
[7], [8], observer-based methods [9], [10], and artificial
intelligence-based methods [11], [12]. The machine magnetic
characteristics-based methods, which use flux/inductance
models, are highly laborious as they require the machine’s
magnetic data stored in the lookup table. Moreover, artificial
intelligence-based methods, such as fuzzy logic, artificial
neural networks, are so complex and require high knowledge
of machine parameters. Observer-based methods estimate
the unknown desired quantities from the known inputs
by developing a machine (plant) model. These methods
are simple and do not use any prestored data. There are
many other methods, such as numerical methods-based
estimation [13], back EMF-based estimation [14], inductance
gradient-based methods [15], or estimation by finding the
3918 IEEE JOURNAL OF EMERGING AND SELECTED TOPICS IN POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 10, NO. 4, AUGUST 2022
overlapping portion of phase inductance [16]. Each has its
own merits and demerits. Of all these methods, sliding mode
observer (SMO)-based methods are simple and intolerant to
system dynamics. There are numerous modifications to the
SMO-based SRM position estimation technique available in
the literature. Divandari et al. [17] have presented a hybrid
model, which employs two-running algorithms of both
flux-based and current-based SMOs for wide-speed range
operation. Khalil et al. [18] have presented a four-quadrant
operation with an SMO-based algorithm. However, pumping
is a unidirectional operation in which, care must be taken
to avoid reverse rotation of the shaft. Islam et al. [19] have
used a flux model-based SMO using magnetizing curves
and assuming the monotonically increasing function for
flux linkages. Islam et al. [19] have used a strictly positive
position-dependent periodic function with even symmetry,
for estimating the phase current and the error is fed to
the observer model. Li et al. [20] have also used a flux-
model-based SMO and developed a Fourier expression for
flux linkages using flux-excitation-position data. In [20],
an error in flux measurement is fed to the observer model
for rotor position estimation. However, none of the sensorless
algorithms includes provision for starting the drive.
In this article, a current model-based SMO is implemented
by assuming phase inductance as a function of both measured
phase current and estimated rotor position. For successful
operation, the drive must employ two independent algorithms
for starting and running conditions. There are several sen-
sorless starting schemes available in the literature and each
of them has its own limitations. Those methods are majorly
categorized as: open-loop method [21], inductance profile-
based methods [22], flux-characteristics-based methods [23],
pulse injection-based method [24], and current model-based
methods [25]. Apart from initial rotor position detection tech-
niques, there are rotor position initialization methods in which,
the rotor is excited such that it reaches the aligned position,
and then the motor is started [21]. Even this method faces
discontinuity at an unaligned position. The major concern of
sensorless operation of SRM is starting hesitation, which is
also addressed in this article.
The major contributions of this article are as follows.
1) Development of modified SMO-based position/speed
sensorless SRM drive for solar water pumping appli-
cation with improved response.
2) Modeling of online phase inductance profile calculation
function eliminating the use of prestore magnetic data.
3) Adding a battery energy storage through bidirectional
dc–dc converter (BDDC) to support pumping at the
rated operation during PV-shaded conditions or after-
light operations.
4) Eliminating starting hesitation and also preventing
reverse rotation by facilitating two-phase excitation of
SRM.
5) Design of a pump emulator to imitate the pump load
characteristics on the SRM shaft to validate the drive
model experimentally.
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II. S YSTEM D ESCRIPTION
The overall standalone-sensorless SRM water pump drive
consists of a PV array, a BDDC, midpoint SRM converter
(MPC), 4-ph SRM, and a water pump, as shown in Fig. 1. The
converter with device pairs (S A , D A ), (SB , D B ), (SC , DC ), and
(SD , D D ) constitutes MPC. Each leg (semiconductor switch
and a diode) is employed for controlling the corresponding
phase. The system also includes battery storage to support
pumping when the solar is unavailable. The switches (S1 , D1 )
and (S2 , D2 ) constitute BDDC to regulate the dc-link voltage
and for battery power management. The system eliminates
the speed/position sensor employing a sensorless control of
the reluctance motor, which reduces the cost and complexity
of the system. To validate the model experimentally, a pump
emulator is designed to mimic pump characteristics. The pump
emulator consists of a conventional boost converter, which
controls the armature current, whose reference is updated from
the shaft speed formulated by using the affinity laws of the
pump. This forces the coupled dc machine to exert the pump
torque characteristics on the shaft.
III. C ONTROL A LGORITHMS
Every converter in the system has its own dedicated algo-
rithm for uninterrupted operation of the overall drive system.
The control architecture of each converter is discussed in detail
in Section III-A–III-C.
A. Sensorless Control of SRM
The SMO estimates the desired unknown state variables by
using the plant model. The states are estimated by feeding
the measured input quantities of the plant. For SRM, phase
voltage fed by the converter is served as input and phase
currents are treated as reference quantities. To design an
observer model of a system, initially one needs to define
states by developing a plant model from system differential
equations. The electromechanical dynamic equations of SRM
with independent phases are given as
dλk
= Vk − i k Rk (k = 1, 2, . . . , N) (1)
dt
dω 1
= [(Te − TL ) − Bω] (2)
dt J
N 2
where Te = (1/2) k i k (d L k (i k , θ )/dθ )
dθ
=ω (3)
dt
i k = L −1
k (i k , θ )λk (4)
where N is the number of phases.
To develop a plant model of SRM, one requires an induc-
tance model of the machine, as shown in Fig. 2. Therefore,
phase inductance of SRM is assumed as a Fourier series
expression of cosine terms by considering the coefficients as
dependant on phase current. The L-function is given by

m
L ph = f (i, θ ) = An cos(n Nr θ ). (5)
n=0
YALAVARTHI AND SINGH: SMO-BASED POSITION SENSORLESS SRM DRIVE FOR BATTERY-SUPPORTED PV SUBMERSIBLE PUMPS 3919

Fig. 1. Standalone solar water pump drive overall architecture.

The measured currents and estimated currents from (4) are

then compared and fed as input to the observer, as shown
in Fig. 4. Even though there are three state variables in
the SRM plant model, the flux estimation is considered to
be accurate, thereby reducing the system to a second-order
observer design. The SMO state equations are given as
d ω̂ 1 B 
= (Te − TL ) − ω̂ + kω sgn e f (8)
dt J J
d θ̂ 
= ω̂ + kθ sgn e f (9)
dt
where

N
 
Fig. 2. Phase Inductance (L) versus excitation (I ) versus rotor position (θ ). ef = L k î k , θ̂ î k − i k . (10)
i=0

Since pumping is a unidirectional speed application, phase

inductance function, L(î , θ̂ ) in (5), is chosen as an error
function such that e f and eθ have the same sign in motoring
operation [18]. In (8), since the damping term, (B/J ) and the
net torque (Te − TL )/J , are too small in comparison with the
kω term, they are omitted for further analysis. Therefore, (8)
and (9) are reduced as follows:
d ω̂ 
= kω sgn e f (11)
dt
d θ̂ 
Fig. 3. Phase inductance profile as a function of excitation at different rotor = ω̂ + kθ sgn e f . (12)
positions (0◦ , 15◦ , and 30◦ ). dt
The error dynamics equations are given as
 
To find the phase inductance profile, inductance values corre- ėθ = θ̇ − θ̂˙ = ω − ω̂ + kθ sgn e f = eω − kθ sgn e f (13)

sponding to rotor position and excitation are to be measured at ˙
ėω = ω̇ − ω̂ = −kω sgn e f . (14)
three positions, namely, aligned position, unaligned position,
To find the reaching condition of the observer and to find
and any intermediate position, as shown in Fig. 3. Later, the
the limits of observer gains, the Lyapunov stability analysis
Fourier coefficients of (5) are obtained as
  is adopted. The Lyapunov function V , which is a positive
1 1 1 definite, is given by
A0 = = (L a + L u ) + L i ; A1 = (L a − L u );
2 2 2 1
  V = eθ2 > 0. (15)
1 1 2
A2 = (L a + L u ) − L i (6)
2 2 To prove the asymptotic stability of the error system, consider
 
where L a = nk=0 ak i k |θ =aligned ; L i = nk=0 bk i k |θ =intermediate ; V̇ ≤ 0
n
L u = k=0 u k i |θ =unaligned .
k  
V̇ = eθ ėθ = eθ eω − kθ sgn e f ≤ 0. (16)
The phase inductance profiles of other phases can be
obtained by shifting the function by a stoke angle The limitations for the observer gains to maintain the system
  stability are obtained as [19]
2π
L k = L ph Nr θ − (k − 1) k = 1, 2, . . . , N. (7)
N kθ ≥ |eω |; kω ≥ |eω |max + γ (γ > 0) (17)

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3920 IEEE JOURNAL OF EMERGING AND SELECTED TOPICS IN POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 10, NO. 4, AUGUST 2022
Fig. 4. SMO implementation.
Fig. 5. BDDC control algorithm.
where |eω |max is the worst case error in speed, which may
occur during starting.
B. BDDC Control Algorithm
The battery energy storage is chosen in support of a PV sys-
tem to meet the irrigation requirements both during low-light
and no-light conditions. Usually, the PV array is designed to
match the water pump demand. The BDDC control algorithm
tracks the PV array parameters at every instant to initiate the
charging/discharging modes of the battery storage. Therefore,
the battery is charged when the pump is operated at low speed
or when it is completely shut down. The charge/discharge
cycle control of the battery involves two PI-controller loops.
The outer loop is responsible for maintaining dc-link voltage,
whereas the inner loop controls the current flow through the
battery.
During the daylight, the reference voltage of the dc-link
capacitor is set by the maximum power point (MPP) algorithm,
whereas it has to be set manually (usually rated voltage of the
∗
SRM, VDC = 300 V) when PV array power is unavailable. The
error in the reference voltage and the measured dc-link voltage
is fed to the outer PI-controller, which generates the reference
current command and sends it as input to the inner loop
Ib∗ (k) = Ib∗ (k − 1) + k p1 (Verr (k) − Verr (k − 1)) + ki1 Verr (k)Ts
(18)
∗
where Verr (k) = VDC (k)−VDC (k), and Ts is the sampling time.
The error in reference current command and the measured
battery current is fed to the inner PI-controller and the duty
ratio is obtained as output from the PI-block
d(k) = d(k − 1) + k p2 (Ierr (k) − Ierr (k − 1)) + ki2 Ierr (k)Ts
(19)
where Ierr (k) = Ib∗ (k) − Ib (k).
Then, the pulses are generated by comparing the duty ratio
with a saw-tooth wave and fed to the bidirectional converter
power semiconductor switches, as shown in Fig. 5.
C. Pump Emulation
The laboratory prototype of SRM is mechanically coupled
to a dc shunt machine. During real-time validation, the pump
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Fig. 6. Armature control of coupled dc machine.
load characteristics are obtained by armature current control
of the dc machine, as shown in Fig. 6. The reference armature
current command is obtained from estimating the load torque.
The estimated torque of pump load (desired torque) is given
by
Tpump = kpump ω̂2 . (20)
The shaft torque of the dc shunt machine is given as
TG = k G Ia (21)
where TG is the torque exerted by the generator and k G =
k, constant. The armature reference current is generated by
equating the desired torque and the machine torque as
Ia∗ = k ω̂2 (22)
where k is a constant (K pump /k G ).
Therefore, (22) gives the actual amount of current that
should pass through the armature to obtain the desired pump
torque exerted on the shaft.
The error between the obtained reference armature current
command in (22) and the measured armature current is fed to
the PI-controller whose output is the duty ratio of the dc–dc
converter

dl (k) = dl (k − 1) + k p5 Ia_err (k) − Ierr (k − 1)
+ ki5 Ia_err (k)Ts (23)
where Ia_err (k) = Ia∗ (k) − Ia (k).
When the speed of the shaft is changed, correspondingly,
the reference armature current is updated and the dc machine
exhibits pump load characteristics on the coupled shaft.
IV. S MALL S IGNAL A NALYSIS OF D RIVE S YSTEM
Stability analysis of the overall drive system is carried-
out considering the averaged state–space models of the indi-
vidual sections and the control-to-output transfer functions
are formulated. Detailed analysis of the modeling of con-
verters and controllers of the drive system is presented in
Sections IV-A–IV-C.
A. Bidirectional DC–DC Converter
To study the dynamic response of BDDC, its equivalent
circuit is derived, as shown in Fig. 7. In this analysis, I O
is treated as the net current passing through the dc link. I O
positive represents that the power is fed by the battery through
BDDC which is acting in boost mode and I O negative states
that the net current flow is into the BDDC which is acting as
a buck converter, charging the battery.
Small signal analysis of BDDC is developed to study the
dynamic behavior of the converter. The first-order differential
YALAVARTHI AND SINGH: SMO-BASED POSITION SENSORLESS SRM DRIVE FOR BATTERY-SUPPORTED PV SUBMERSIBLE PUMPS 3921

B. Small Signal Analysis of Linearized SRM

The per-phase model of SRM is considered for analysis
since all four phases are independently operated and continu-
ous operation is achieved by sequentially triggering the phase
switches (S A , SB , SC , and SD ) at a phase shift of stroke angle.
The averaged model of (1) in the Laplace domain is expressed
as
VDC VDC
Fig. 7. Equivalent circuit of BDDC. ds (s) − (1 − ds (s)) = Rk i k (s) + s L k i k (s)
2 2
d Lk
equations obtained from the ON – OFF modes of the switch +ω i k (s). (30)
are represented in standard state–space form, whose state and dt
input matrices are given as The control-to-output transfer function of SRM is given as
⎡ ⎤ 
1 ⎡ ⎤ i k (s)  VDC
− G id (s) = = (31)
ds (s) V̂DC =0
0 0 0
⎢ L ⎥ ⎥ Req + s L k
A1 = ⎢⎣ 1 ; A2 = ⎣ 1 ⎦
1 ⎦ 0 −
− Req C where ds is the duty ratio of the phase excitation. The
C Req C transfer function, G id (s) has moving poles since both Req
⎡ ⎤
1 and L k are varying. There are the terms where the states of
⎣
B1 = B2 = L ⎦ (24) SRM are multiplied together making the system nonlinear.
0 Therefore, it is necessary to linearize the SRM model to
synthesize the speed and further current controllers. In the
where Req is the equivalent resistance offered by SRM which
linearized model of SRM, phase inductance, L k (θ, i k ), which
is given by
is a range-bound positive function, is assumed to be constant
d Lk and (d L k (θ, i k )/dt), is considered to have a small variation
.
Req = Rk + ω (25)
dθ over the entire excitation period of the phase. On performing
The control-to-output transfer function of the converter is a small-signal analysis on the mechanical equation of SRM
obtained by the averaged state–space model and is given (2) at a steady-state operating point, the residual terms are
as [26] expressed as [27]
d ω̃
G xd = (s I − A)−1 {(A1 − A2 )X + (B1 − B2 )Vb } (26) J= −B ω̃ + K b ĩ k − T̃l (32)
dt
−1
where X = −A BVb and where K b is a back EMF constant and is given as
A = m A1 + (1 − m)A2 ; B = m B1 + (1 − m)B2 d Lk
 Kb = ik .
d, for Buck mode dθ
where m = .
1 − d, for Boost mode Upon linearizing, (32) is expressed as
The transfer functions G Id (s) and G VI (s) can be obtained
1 
easily from (26) and are given as G ω (s) = K b ĩ k − T̃l (33)
B + sJ
ĩ(s) 1 + τ1 s
G Id (s) = = kid · (27) where B and J are the net damping coefficient and moment
d̃(s) 1 + 2ξ s + s 2 ωn2 of inertia of SRM and coupled dc motor.
where kid = ((2 · Vb )/Req )m 3 , τ1 = (Req C/2), 2ξ =
(L/Rm 2 ), and ωn2 = (LC/m 2 ) C. Control-to-Output Stability of System
ṽ(s) 1 + τ2 s To study the stability of the overall system, the transfer func-
G V I (s) = = kvi · (28)
ĩ(s) 1 + τ1 s tion of individual sections is obtained, as shown in Fig. 8(a).
As shown in Fig. 8(b), the pump load system is reduced by
where kvi = (2/Req m), τ2 = (−L/Req m 2 ), G cv (s) and G ci1 (s) the block reduction method and is expressed as
are the transfer functions of voltage and current PI controllers,
respectively, whose gain values are presented in the Appendix. G Id2 (s) · G ci3 (s)
G l (s) = K G · k · . (34)
The transfer function G Id2 (s) of the boost converter used to 1 + G Id2 (s) · G ci3 (s)H I 3 (s)
emulate pump characteristics is similar to (27) and is given as For ease of analysis, all the feedback paths HV (s), HI1 (s),
ĩ l (s) 1 + τl s HI2 (s), HI3 (s), and Hω (s) are treated as unity gain filters.
G Id2 (s) = = kidl · (29) Fig. 9(a)–(d) shows the Bode plots of system transfer functions
d̃l (s) 1 + 2ξl s + s 2 ωnl
2
for individual sections. Fig. 9(a) and (b) presents the frequency
where kidl = (2/Rl dl3 ), τl = (Rl Cl /2), 2ξl = (L l /Rl dl2 ), and response plot of the BDDC converter when operating in the
ωnl
2
= (L l Cl /dl2 ), where dl is the duty ratio of the load-side boost mode and buck mode, respectively. The response time
boost converter. of the inner current controller is kept nearly 50 times faster

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3922 IEEE JOURNAL OF EMERGING AND SELECTED TOPICS IN POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 10, NO. 4, AUGUST 2022
Fig. 8. Block diagram showing transfer functions of individual sections of
drive. (a) Control-to-output transfer functions of BDDC and SRM. (b) Sim-
plified model of SRM-pump load for stability analysis.
Fig. 9. Frequency response of control-to-output transfer functions of
(a) BDDC operating in boost mode, (b) BDDC operating in buck mode,
(c) showing SRM moving poles at three-rotor position (0◦ , 15◦ , and 30◦ )
and (d) SRM speed control, including load control.
in comparison with the outer voltage controller. As the dc-
link voltage control is achieved through BDDC, the control-
to-output transfer function of SRM is obtained from small
signal analysis by considering VDC as a constant. Fig. 9(c)
shows the moving poles of the SRM transfer function, G id
whose corner frequency is given by ωc = Req /L k . Fig. 9(d)
shows the stability of SRM, including the pump load.
V. S IMULATION R ESULTS
The simulation of the presented sensorless drive is carried
in MATLAB/Simulink environment. The PV array is modeled
in Simulink such that it has VPV = 300 V and IPV = 7.35 A
at MPP and delivers a peak power of 2.35 kW at 1000 W/m2 ,
whereas the battery storage is designed for 240-V and 100-AH
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Fig. 10. Simulated performance of overall drive system.
capacity. The performance of the overall drive system is pre-
sented in this section and the response of individual sections
is discussed at different abnormal conditions. The steady-state
and dynamic performances of the sensorless algorithm are also
presented showing the robustness of the control technique.
Fig. 10 shows the overall drive performance at different
modes. When the solar insolation is 1000 W/m2 , both the
pump load and the battery are being supplied by the PV array.
However, when insolation is varied from 1000 to 500 W/m2 ,
the battery power intake is adjusted such that the pump perfor-
mance is unaffected and it operates at the desired speed. When
the PV power is unavailable (zero insolation), the battery
begins to act as a primary source fulfilling the pump demand.
The estimation of SMO state variables λa , Iph(a) , N (rpm), and
θ (in degrees) at starting, steady state, and during dynamic
speed change are shown in Fig. 11. Fig. 11(a) shows the
starting behavior of the drive. The machine is initially started
in the open-loop method since the SMO observer requires
some time to converge with the actual rotor position. When
the observer estimated position converges with the actual rotor
position the control is then shifted to SMO, which takes the
charge of the drive and maintains the desired set speed. It is
observed that the estimated position is converged with an
actual position at lower speeds usually less than 100 rpm.
Fig. 11(b) shows the estimation of states at 1200 rpm. It can
be observed that the phase current is controlled in the current
chopping mode (CCM) at low speed, whereas the single pulse-
mode (SPM) is seen at high speeds, as shown in Fig. 11(c).
In Fig. 11(d), the response of the observer during a change
in reference speed is shown. It is seen that the SMO quickly
adapts to the change during dynamics and effectively tracks
the actual position of the rotor.
VI. E XPERIMENTAL VALIDATION
A simulated sensorless standalone water pump drive is
validated on a laboratory scale prototype. Experimental set-
up includes an AMETEK PV emulator acting as a solar
array, DSPACE Micro-Lab box controller, 240 V–42 AH
YALAVARTHI AND SINGH: SMO-BASED POSITION SENSORLESS SRM DRIVE FOR BATTERY-SUPPORTED PV SUBMERSIBLE PUMPS
Fig. 11. Estimation of SMO states. (a) During starting. (b) During steady-
state operation @1500 rpm. (c) During change in speed from 1500 to
1200 rpm. (d) During steady-state operation @1200 rpm.
Fig. 12. Experimental setup.
battery storage, single-leg IGBT module for BDDC, boost dc–
dc converter, MPC, and 1-hp, 1500-rpm SRM mechanically
coupled with a dc shunt machine, as shown in Fig. 12. The
solar emulator is designed to maintain 300 V at MPP at
standard atmospheric conditions (25 ◦ C, 1000 W/m2 ). The
pump load characteristics are obtained from the armature
current control of the dc generator. The parameter estimation
and performance of the overall drive system are discussed in
Sections VI-A–VI-E.
A. Performance of Drive During Starting
The starting response of the algorithm is shown in Fig. 13.
Initially, SRM is started in the open-loop method, later
switched to sensorless operation. To eliminate starting hesita-
tion, two-phase excitation is employed during starting, which
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3923
Fig. 13. Starting of SRM drive. (a) Transition from two-phase excitation to
single-phase excitation. (b) Convergence of SMO algorithm.
Fig. 14. Showing estimation of states (λ̂a , θ̂ , and ω̂) and phase inductance
function at steady state (@1500 rpm).
accounts for fixed directional operation, as shown in Fig. 13(a).
It can be seen from Fig. 13(b), that SMO takes a few initial
cycles to converge the estimated position with the actual
position of SRM. It is designed such that, when the estimated
position is converged, the control of the SRM is instantly
transferred from starting algorithm to the running algorithm.
B. Sliding Mode Observer Performance
The response of the SMO algorithm is presented and the
estimation of state variables is shown during steady state and
dynamic conditions.
1) Estimation of SMO State Variables: The steady state
values of SMO states λa , N, and θ of (1)–(3) along with the
estimated L-function at an operating speed of 1500 rpm are
shown in Fig. 14. From the machine parameters, coefficients
of the L-function of (6) are chosen to have an unaligned
inductance of 12 mH and aligned inductance of 130 mH.
2) Phase Current Tracking and Position Estimation at Dif-
ferent Speeds: The tracking of phase current at different
speeds say 1500, 1200, and 1000 rpm is shown in Fig. 15.
Fig. 15(a) and (d) shows the measured and estimated phase
currents corresponding to the SPM and Fig. 15(d) shows the
actual and estimated rotor positions (resetting for every rotor
pitch) at 1500 rpm. The waveforms in Figs. 15(b) and 15(e)
show the same for 1200 rpm. In Fig. 15(c), the measured
and estimated currents exhibit CCM operation and Fig. 15(f)
shows the position information at 1000 rpm. Fig. 16 shows
the dynamic response of SMO in tracking the phase current
when the speed reference command is changed from 1200 to
1000 rpm. Even though the phase current of SRM alters
shape corresponding to the speed, it is observed that the SMO
technique effectively follows the actual current waveform.
C. Performance of Drive
A laboratory-scale prototype of the overall drive
system is developed for experimental validation. The
3924 IEEE JOURNAL OF EMERGING AND SELECTED TOPICS IN POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 10, NO. 4, AUGUST 2022
Fig. 15. SMO parameter estimation at different speeds. (a) Showing measured
and estimated phase currents @1500 rpm. (b) Showing measured and esti-
mated phase currents @1200 rpm. (c) Showing measured and estimated phase
currents @1000 rpm. (d) Actual and estimated rotor position @1500 rpm.
(e) Actual and estimated rotor position @1200 rpm. (f) Actual and estimated
rotor position @1000 rpm.
Fig. 16. Showing response of SMO current estimation during the change in
speed from 1200 to 1000 rpm.
performance of the drive at different modes is discussed in
Sections VI-C.1 and VI-C.2.
1) Operation of Drive When PV Generation is Available:
The PV emulator is set to deliver the designed rated values of
the system, the parameters of which are given in the Appendix.
Fig. 17 shows the PV parameters and the tracking efficiency of
the MPP. The PV array delivers 300 V and 3.8 A at standard
atmospheric conditions with 99.8% MPP tracking efficiency,
which is shown in Fig. 17(a). Similarly, Fig. 17(b) shows that
the PV system delivers 288 V and 2.98 A at 750 W/m2 with
99% tracking efficiency. Figs. 18 and 19 show the response
of the drive corresponding to the change in system dynamics
when the PV array power is available. Before turning ON the
PV power, the battery is supplying the pump load. At the
instant of availability of PV power, the battery starts charging
and the PV array is supplying both the pump and the battery.
Therefore, it establishes an effective communication between
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Fig. 17. PV array parameters at different insulations. (a) 1000 W/m2 with
99.8% tracking efficiency. (b) 750 W/m2 with 99% tracking efficiency.
Fig. 18. Change in battery behavior when PV array is turned ON.
Fig. 19. Performance of the overall water pump drive in the presence of PV
power. (a) Showing power-sharing between PV and battery storage system
during partial shading or cloudy conditions. (b) Increase in battery charging
current when pump reference speed is decreased. (c) Decrease in battery
charging current when pump speed is increased. (d) Showing the change
in SRM phase current and change in battery charging current when speed
reference is changed.
the sources with smooth change in behavior of the battery
corresponding to the change in PV power, as shown in Fig. 18.
When PV power is reduced, the battery comes in aid of PV
array with the net required energy to meet the pump demand
as shown in Fig. 19(a). When the SRM speed reference is
reduced, the net change in demand results in increasing the
charging current of the battery as shown in Fig. 19(b). Sim-
ilarly, when the pump speed increases (increases the energy
demand), the charging current of the battery decreases or may
even enter discharging mode to meet the load demand as
shown in Fig. 19(c). Fig. 19(d) shows the SRM phase current
profile when speed changes from 1000 rpm to 1500 rpm.
YALAVARTHI AND SINGH: SMO-BASED POSITION SENSORLESS SRM DRIVE FOR BATTERY-SUPPORTED PV SUBMERSIBLE PUMPS
Fig. 20. Performance of drive in the absence of PV power. (a) Initiating
discharging mode when PV is turned-off. (b) Increase in battery discharge
current when pump speed is increased. (c) Decrease in battery discharging
current during decrease in pump speed. (d) Change in SRM phase current
and increase in battery current when pump speed is increased.
Fig. 21. Armature control of coupled dc generator showing the change in
reference current corresponding to change in speed and measured armature
currents of dc machine. (a) When speed is reduced from 1200 to 750 rpm.
(b) SRM phase currents during the speed change, showing transition from
SPM to CCM. (c) When speed is increased from 750 to 1000 rpm. (d) SRM
phase currents during the speed change, showing transition from CCM to
SPM.
2) Operation of Drive when PV Power is Unavailable:
When PV generation is unavailable, the battery starts discharg-
ing, acting as a primary source for pump operation, as shown
in Fig. 20(a). Fig. 20(b) shows the decrease in discharging
current when pump speed decreases and the corresponding
change happens when the pump speed increases, as shown
in Fig. 20(c). The SRM phase current and the battery response
are shown in Fig. 20(d) when the speed is increased from
1000 to 1500 rpm.
D. Pump Emulation
To obtain the pump load characteristics, the armature
current of the dc machine is controlled using a boost converter.
The reference value of the armature current is set by (22).
It can be observed from the waveforms shown in Fig. 21 that
whenever the speed of the shaft changes, the reference
armature current is updated to exert the pump load on the
shaft. In Fig. 21(a) and (c), the speed is changed from 1200 to
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3925
Fig. 22. Response of the different SMO techniques during system dynamics.
750 rpm and then back to 1000 rpm. The SRM phase current
waveforms during this change are shown in Fig. 21(b) and (d),
respectively. This arrangement resembles the pump model,
whose power demand is dependent on the speed of the shaft.
E. Comparison With Existing Methods
The dynamic response of the proposed method is compared
with the existing SMO algorithms applied for SRM drives and
is presented in Fig. 22. It is observed that the presented model
shows a relatively quick response and also fast convergence
in comparison to some of the existing SMO techniques during
the system dynamics.
VII. C ONCLUSION
The battery integrated PV standalone position sensorless
SRM drive is tested in the laboratory and the response of the
drive at different operating modes is discussed in detail. The
pump load profile is achieved experimentally by the armature
control of the dc machine to validate the drive performance.
The drive is tested for the speed range of 750–1500 rpm, which
is suitable for low-power pumping and the performance of the
drive is found to be promising especially during the dynamics.
SRM together with position sensorless scheme cuts the cost
of the overall drive by 15%–30%. Furthermore, this system
eliminates the extra wiring required for position information
and is highly suitable for submersible applications where the
motor has to be employed for underground operation and is
unreachable for maintenance. A simple and reliable two-phase
starting scheme is implemented for the fixed directional oper-
ation of the pump and a seamless transfer of control from start
to the running algorithm is observed. Moreover, the battery-
supported system has provided uninterrupted operation of
the drive during low-light conditions. Finally, the proposed
SMO model is compared with some of the existing methods,
which shows a better performance during system changes.
The inherent advantages of the SRM drive along with the
presented sensorless control make the system the best solution
for domestic and irrigation applications.
A PPENDIX
Solar Array Parameters @1000 W/m2 :
Open circuit voltage (module) = 350 V, short circuit current
(module) = 4 A, voltage @MPP (module) = 300 V, current
@MPP (module) = 3.79A, and peak PV power @MPP
(module) = 1.15 kW.
3926 IEEE JOURNAL OF EMERGING AND SELECTED TOPICS IN POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 10, NO. 4, AUGUST 2022
SRM Parameters:
Number of phases = 4, pole configuration = 8/6, dc-
link voltage = 300 V, shaft speed = 1500 rpm, unaligned
inductance (Lu) = 10 mH @9 A, and aligned inductance =
110mH @9A.
Battery Parameters:
Voltage = 240 V and capacity = 42 Ah.
Control Parameters:
Sensorless SRM Control: kθ = 160 and kω = 2000. Speed
PI constants: K p = 0.01 and K i = 0.01.
Battery Control Block: kpi = 0.05, kii = 1e-4, kpd = 0.02,
kid = 1e-4, k G = 1.15, kpump = 1.94e-4, and f sw = 10 kHz.
Pump Emulator Block: kpp = 0.015, and kip = 1e-4.
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Amarnath Yalavarthi (Member, IEEE) was born
in Avanigadda, India, in 1993. He received the B.E.
degree in electrical engineering from the Andhra
University College of Engineering, Visakhapatnam,
India, in 2014, and the M.Tech. degree in power
electronics and drives from the Motilal Nehru
National Institute of Technology Allahabad, Alla-
habad, India, in 2016. He is currently pursuing
the Ph.D. degree with the Department of Electrical
Engineering, IIT Delhi, New Delhi, India.
His research interests include design of special
electrical machines, sensorless drives for special electrical machines, and
renewable energy applications.
Bhim Singh (Fellow, IEEE) was born in Rahamapur,
India, in 1956. He received the B.E. degree in elec-
trical engineering from the IIT Roorkee, Roorkee,
India, in 1977, and the M.Tech. degree in power
apparatus and systems and the Ph.D. degree from
IIT Delhi, New Delhi, India, in 1979 and 1983,
respectively.
In 1983, he joined the Department of Electrical
Engineering, IIT Roorkee, as a Lecturer. In 1990,
he joined as an Assistant Professor with the Depart-
ment of Electrical Engineering, IIT Delhi, where he
became an Associate Professor in 1994 and a Professor in 1997. He has
been the J. C. Bose Fellow of Department of Science and Technology (DST),
Government of India, New Delhi, since 2015. He has guided 96 Ph.D.
dissertations and 168 M.E./M. Tech./M.S.(R) theses. He holds 73 patents.
He has executed more than 90 sponsored and consultancy projects. He has
coauthored a textbook on power quality—Power Quality Problems and
Mitigation Techniques (Wiley, 2015). His research interests include solar
PV grid systems, microgrids, power quality mitigation, PV water pumping
systems, and improved power quality ac–dc converters.