Development of a 20 kW wind turbine simulator with similarities to a 3 MW wind turbine

As the use of wind power has steadily increased, the importance of a condition monitoring and fault diagnosis system is being emphasized to maximize the availability and reliability of wind turbines. To develop novel algorithms for fault detection and lifespan estimation, a wind turbine simulator is indispensible for verification of the proposed algorithms before introducing them into a health monitoring and integrity diagnosis system. In this paper, a new type of simulator is proposed to develop and verify advanced diagnosis algorithms. The simulator adopts a torque control method for a motor and inverter to realize variable speed-variable pitch control strategies. Unlike conventional motor–generator configurations, the simulator includes several kinds of components and a variety of sensors. Specifically, it has similarity to a 3 MW wind turbine, thereby being able to acquire a state of operation that closely resembles that of the actual 3 MW wind turbine operated at various wind conditions. This paper presents the design method for the simulator and its control logic. The experimental comparison between the behavior of the simulator and that of a wind turbine shows that the proposed control logic performs successfully and the dynamic behaviors of the simulator have similar trends as those of the wind turbine.     

风力发电机组的自适应转矩控制及载荷优化

针对变速变桨风力发电机组(variable speed variable pitch,VSVP)如何在低风速时最大限度捕获风能以及在额定风速以上降低传动链载荷进行研究。低风速时在研究了传统风能追踪控制策略的基础上,文中提出通过改变最优增益系数来追踪最佳风能利用系数的自适应转矩控制策略。同时针对风力发电机组传动链的扭转振动,提出了基于发电机转速反馈滤波的转矩纹波控制方式。以2MW变速变桨风力发电机组为验证对象,基于Blade软件平台对所采用的控制策略进行仿真研究。结果表明：所提出的自适应转矩控制策略能够更好的追踪最大功率点,同时采用转矩纹波能够降低传动链载荷     

Open‐loop frequency response analysis of a wind turbine using a high‐order linear aeroelastic model

Wind turbine controllers are commonly designed on the basis of low‐order linear models to capture the aeroelastic wind turbine response due to control actions and disturbances. This paper characterizes the aeroelastic wind turbine dynamics that influence the open‐loop frequency response from generator torque and collective pitch control actions of a modern non‐floating wind turbine based on a high‐order linear model. The model is a linearization of a geometrically non‐linear finite beam element model coupled with an unsteady blade element momentum model of aerodynamic forces including effects of shed vorticity and dynamic stall. The main findings are that the lowest collective flap modes have limited influence on the response from generator torque to generator speed, due to large aerodynamic damping. The transfer function from collective pitch to generator speed is affected by two non‐minimum phase zeros below the frequency of the first drivetrain mode. To correctly predict the non‐minimum phase zeros, it is essential to include lateral tower and blade flap degrees of freedom. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multivariable control strategy for variable speed, variable pitch wind turbines

Reliable and powerful control strategies are needed for wind energy conversion systems to achieve maximum performance. A new control strategy for a variable speed, variable pitch wind turbine is proposed in this paper for the above-rated power operating condition. This multivariable control strategy is realized by combining a nonlinear dynamic state feedback torque control strategy with a linear control strategy for blade pitch angle. A comparison with existing strategies, PID and LQG controllers, is performed. The proposed approach results in better power regulation. The new control strategy has been validated using an aeroelastic wind turbine simulator developed by NREL for a high turbulence wind condition.     

基于量子进化在线序贯极限学习机的变桨系统故障检测

针对复杂工况下风电机组变桨系统故障检测问题,采用在线序贯极限学习机建立变桨系统状态监测模型,利用ReliefF算法进行模型的特征选择,通过量子进化算法优化在线序贯极限学习机的超参数集,并引入马氏距离函数计算变桨系统状态监测模型的残差,判断风电机组变桨系统的异常。以辽宁某风电场1.5 MW双馈风电机组变桨系统为例,将所提出的模型分别与粒子群优化极限学习机、粒子群优化支持向量机、随机权神经网络、极限学习机和反向传播神经网络模型进行对比,结果表明所提出的模型精度优于其他模型,所提方法的故障检测正确率高于3σ阈值法和核主成分分析方法。     

An investigation of variable power collective pitch control for load mitigation of floating offshore wind turbines

This paper investigates the loads on offshore floating wind turbines and a new control method that can be used to reduce these loads. In this variable power collective pitch control method, the rated generator speed, which is the set point that the collective pitch control attempts to drive the actual generator speed towards, is no longer a constant value but instead is a variable that depends on the platform pitch velocity. At a basic physical level, this controller achieves the following: as the rotor of a floating turbine pitches upwind, the controller adjusts so as to extract more energy from the wind by increasing the rated generator speed and thus damps the motion; as the rotor pitches downwind, less energy is extracted because the controller reduces the rated generator speed and again damps the motion. This method is applied to the NREL 5 MW wind turbine model, in above rated conditions where the platform motion is most problematic. The results indicate significant load reductions on key structural components, at the expense of minor increases in power and speed variability. The loads on the blades and tower are investigated more generally, and simple dynamic models are used to gain insight into the behavior of floating wind turbine systems. It is clear that for this particular design, aerodynamic methods for reducing platform motion and tower loads are likely inadequate to allow for a viable design, so new designs or possibly new control degrees of freedom are needed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An investigation of variable power collective pitch control for load mitigation of floating offshore wind turbines

This paper investigates the loads on offshore floating wind turbines and a new control method that can be used to reduce these loads. In this variable power collective pitch control method, the rated generator speed, which is the set point that the collective pitch control attempts to drive the actual generator speed towards, is no longer a constant value but instead a variable that depends on the platform pitch velocity. At a basic physical level, this controller achieves the following: as the rotor of a floating turbine pitches upwind, the controller adjusts so as to extract more energy from the wind by increasing the rated generator speed and thus damps the motion; as the rotor pitches downwind, less energy is extracted because the controller reduces the rated generator speed and again damps the motion. This method is applied to the NREL 5 MW wind turbine model, in above‐rated conditions where the platform motion is most problematic. The results indicate significant load reductions on key structural components, at the expense of minor increases in power and speed variability. The loads on the blades and tower are investigated more generally, and simple dynamic models are used to gain insight into the behavior of floating wind turbine systems. It is clear that for this particular design, aerodynamic methods for reducing platform motion and tower loads are likely inadequate to allow for a viable design, and so new designs or possibly new control degrees of freedom are needed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Power generation control of a hydrostatic wind turbine implemented by model‐free adaptive control scheme

The hydrostatic wind turbine (HWT) is a type of wind turbine that uses hydrostatic transmission (HST) drivetrain to replace the traditional gearbox drivetrain. Without the fragile and expensive gearbox and power converters, HWT can potentially reduce the maintenance costs owing to the gearbox and power converter failures in wind power system, especially in offshore cases. We design an MFAC torque controller to regulate the pump torque of the HWT and compared with an torque controller. Then we design an MFAC pitch controller to stabilise the rotor speed of HWT and compared with a gain‐scheduling proportional‐integral (PI) controller and a gain‐scheduling PI controller with antiwindup (PIAW). The results indicate that MFAC torque controller provides more effective tracking performance than the controller and that MFAC pitch controller shows better rotor speed stabilisation performance in comparison with the gain‐scheduling PI controller and PIAW.     

基于阻尼滤波的大型风电机组柔性振动控制技术

主要针对如何减小机组载荷,增加阻尼的柔性振动控制技术进行研究.首先分析了引发大型变速变距风电机组振动的原因和各振动的激励源所在;然后针对1.5MW SUT-1500机组的设计进行可能存在的振动情况分析,并进行桨距、转矩阻尼滤波PID控制器的设计;最后在Bladed软件中进行仿真验证,得到塔架振动控制、传动链扭曲振动控制的有效方法.     

Optimization of wind turbine energy and power factor with an evolutionary computation algorithm

An evolutionary computation approach for optimization of power factor and power output of wind turbines is discussed. Data-mining algorithms capture the relationships among the power output, power factor, and controllable and non-controllable variables of a 1.5 MW wind turbine. An evolutionary strategy algorithm solves the data-derived optimization model and determines optimal control settings. Computational experience has demonstrated opportunities to improve the power factor and the power output by optimizing set points of blade pitch angle and generator torque. It is shown that the pitch angle and the generator torque can be controlled to maximize the energy capture from the wind and enhance the quality of the power produced by the wind turbine with a DFIG generator. These improvements are in the presence of reactive power remedies used in modern wind turbines. The concepts proposed in this paper are illustrated with the data collected at an industrial wind farm.     

Development of a novel wind turbine simulator for wind energy conversion systems using an inverter-controlled induction motor

A wind turbine simulator for wind energy conversion systems has been developed with a view to design, evaluate, and test of actual wind turbine drive trains including generators, transmissions, power-electronic converters and controllers. The simulator consists of a 10-hp induction motor (IM) which drives a generator and is driven by a 10-kW variable speed drive inverter and real-time control software. In this simulator, a microcontroller, a PC interfaced to LAB Windows I/O board, and an IGBT inverter-controlled induction motor are used instead of a real wind turbine to supply shaft torque. A control program based on C language is developed that obtains wind profiles and, by using turbine characteristics and rotation speed of IM, calculates the theoretical shaft torque of a real wind turbine. Comparing with this torque value, the shaft torque of the IM is regulated accordingly by controlling stator current demand and frequency demand of the inverter. In this way, the inverter driven induction motor acts like a real wind turbine to the energy conversion system. The drive is controlled using the measured shaft torque directly, instead of estimating it as conventional drives do. The experimental results of the proposed simulator show that this scheme is viable and accurate. This paper reports the operating principles, theoretical analyses, and test results of this wind turbine simulator.     

风力发电实验用模拟风力机

在风力发电机控制、风力机最大功率点追踪控制(MPPT，Maximum Power Point Tracking)等相关的研究中，风力机是必备的实验设备，但是，在没有风的情况下，或在实验室，就无法进行这些实验和研究。作者开发了一种模拟风力机，有了它，就可以在实验室随心所欲地进行风力发电的初期实验研究工作，从而缩短研发的周期和减小实验研究的费用。首先用6次多项式来拟合风力机的转矩特性曲线。然后根据当前的风速和风力机转速来计算风力机的转矩，将此转矩作为转矩指令控制感应电机来模拟风力机，感应电机通过控制逆变器来驱动。最后，给出了用此模拟风力机所做的MPPT实验研究结果，验证了该模拟风力机的良好特性。     

Static and dynamic wind turbine simulator using a converter controlled dc motor

This paper describes a new wind turbine simulator for dynamic conditions. The authors have developed an experimental platform to simulate the static and dynamic characteristics of real wind energy conversion system. This system consists of a 3 kW dc motor, which drives a synchronous generator. The converter is a 3 kW single-phase half-controlled converter. MATLAB/Simulink real time control software interfaced to I/O board and a converter controlled dc motor are used instead of a real wind turbine. A MATLAB/Simulink model is developed that obtains wind profiles and, by applying real wind turbine characteristics in dynamics and rotational speed of dc motor, calculates the command shaft torque of a real wind turbine. Based on the comparison between calculated torques with command one, the shaft torque of dc motor is regulated accordingly by controlling armature current demand of a single-phase half-controlled ac–dc converter. Simulation and experimental results confirm the effectiveness of proposed wind turbine simulator in emulating and therefore evaluating various turbines under a wide variety of wind conditions.     

风力机叶片覆冰状态监测基准值与分级诊断标准研究

以2 MW风力机为研究对象,基于实际风力机状态(SCADA)系统大数据,选取叶片正常状态和覆冰状态下的风速、功率、桨距角和偏航角数据,采用核密度-均值数据处理方法,得到叶片覆冰状态监测基准值及其定量表达式。同时,根据叶片不同覆冰时期桨距角和功率值随风速的变化情况,提出叶片覆冰状态分级诊断标准。应用结果表明,根据桨距角随风速的变化情况可判断在叶片覆冰过程中机组最大功率追踪情况以及气动性能损失情况,根据风速-功率值分布情况可较准确地判别叶片的覆冰状态。     

Power curve tracking in the presence of a tip speed constraint

This paper considers the problem of power regulation for a variable speed wind turbine in the presence of a blade tip speed constraint, for example to limit noise emissions. The main contribution of the paper is the formulation of a policy for the regulation of the machine in the transition region between the classical regions II and III that accommodates the tip speed constraint, and the derivation of associated wind schedules for the rotor speed, blade pitch and aerodynamic torque. To exemplify the possible use of such wind schedules in the design of control laws, model-based controllers are formulated in this paper that are capable of performing power curve tracking throughout all wind speeds, in contrast with commonly adopted approaches that use switching controllers to cover the various operating regimes of the machine. The proposed regulation policies and control laws are demonstrated in a high fidelity simulation environment for a representative 3 MW machine.     

Online particle‐contaminated lubrication oil condition monitoring and remaining useful life prediction for wind turbines

The widespread deployment of industrial wind projects will require a more proactive maintenance strategy in order to be more cost competitive. This paper describes an ongoing research project on developing online lubrication oil condition monitoring and degradation detection tools using commercially available online sensors. In particular, an investigation on particle contamination of lubrication oil is reported. Methods are presented for online lubrication oil condition monitoring and remaining useful life prediction using viscosity and dielectric constant sensors along with particle filtering technique. Physical models are derived in order to establish the mathematical relationship between lubrication oil degradation and particle contamination level. Laboratory experiments are performed to validate the accuracy of the developed models by comparing viscosity and dielectric constant sensor outputs of different particle concentration levels with those simulated by the lubricant deterioration physical models. A case study on lubrication oil degradation detection and remaining useful life prediction is provided. Discussions on the potential for extrapolating the presented methods to typical wind turbine gearbox oil and the practical implementation of particle filter‐based approach for online wind turbine gearbox oil remaining useful life prediction are also included. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of a wind speed estimator for effective hub‐height and shear components

Estimates of the effective wind speed disturbances acting on a wind turbine are useful in a variety of control applications. With some simplifications, it is shown that for zero yaw error, any wind field interacting with a turbine can be equivalently described using a hub‐height (uniform) component as well as linear horizontal and vertical shear components. A Kalman filter‐based wind speed estimator is presented for estimation of these effective hub‐height and shear components. The wind speed estimator is evaluated in the frequency domain using the FAST aeroelastic simulator with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's 5 MW reference wind turbine model and realistic hub‐height and shear disturbances. In addition, the impact of the inflow model, used to simulate the rotor aerodynamics, on the Kalman filter performance is investigated. It is found that the estimator accuracy strongly depends on the inflow model used. In general, the estimator performs well up to a bandwidth of 1 Hz when the inflow model used for simulation matches the model used to create the linear Kalman filter model and blade pitch angle remains close to the linearization operating point. However, inaccuracies in the linear model of the turbine when dynamic inflow is used for simulation as well as nonlinearities in the turbine dynamics due to blade pitch actuation cause performance to degrade. Finally, the improvement gained by employing a non‐causal wind speed estimator is assessed, showing a minor increase in performance. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

风电主齿箱系统低温待机方案的研究

以1.5 MW风力发电机组为例,对目前风电主齿箱系统低温环境待机困难的现状进行研究,通过该类主齿箱系统待机时加热与散热的计算,对循环周期内各时段润滑油的温度进行推算,根据推算结果,解释了主齿箱系统低温环境待机困难的主要原因,并提出了低温待机方案的改进策略.     

Dynamic response and viscous effect analysis of a TLP-type floating wind turbine using a coupled aero-hydro-mooring dynamic code

This paper presents a coupled dynamic motion response analysis of a floating wind turbine using an in-house code, CRAFT (Coupled Response Analysis of Floating wind Turbine). Viscous drag forces on horizontal pontoons are carefully calculated, and a nonlinear spectral method is applied to efficiently solve the coupled tendon dynamics. Viscous drag forces and tendon dynamics are two important factors when assessing a tension-leg platform (TLP)-type floating wind turbine in a time-domain simulator. The analysis object is the NREL 5 MW Wind Turbine, which is supported by a three-leg mini-TLP platform. Simulations of the free decay and response amplitude operator (RAO) tests are conducted using CRAFT as well as FAST, another commonly used code. The obtained results are compared with experimental results to verify the capability of CRAFT. Viscous drag force induces higher harmonic pitch resonance, which is most prominent when the wave period is three times the natural period of the pitch and the wave height reaches a threshold. Springing motion is identified and found to be caused by this resonant pitch motion. Time-domain statistics show that extreme increases in tendon loads caused by springing as well as pitch and tendon tension probability distributions are non-Gaussian in random sea states. In addition, the resonant pitch motion is significantly reduced by aerodynamic damping.