Condition based maintenance optimization for wind power generation systems under continuous monitoring

By utilizing condition monitoring information collected from wind turbine components, condition based maintenance (CBM) strategy can be used to reduce the operation and maintenance costs of wind power generation systems. The existing CBM methods for wind power generation systems deal with wind turbine components separately, that is, maintenance decisions are made on individual components, rather than the whole system. However, a wind farm generally consists of multiple wind turbines, and each wind turbine has multiple components including main bearing, gearbox, generator, etc. There are economic dependencies among wind turbines and their components. That is, once a maintenance team is sent to the wind farm, it may be more economical to take the opportunity to maintain multiple turbines, and when a turbine is stopped for maintenance, it may be more cost-effective to simultaneously replace multiple components which show relatively high risks. In this paper, we develop an optimal CBM solution to the above-mentioned issues. The proposed maintenance policy is defined by two failure probability threshold values at the wind turbine level. Based on the condition monitoring and prognostics information, the failure probability values at the component and the turbine levels can be calculated, and the optimal CBM decisions can be made accordingly. A simulation method is developed to evaluate the cost of the CBM policy. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the proposed CBM approach. A comparative study based on commonly used constant-interval maintenance policy demonstrates the advantage of the proposed CBM approach in reducing the maintenance cost.     

Physics of Failure approach to wind turbine condition based maintenance

Wind turbine condition monitoring systems provide an early indication of component damage, allowing the operator to plan system repair prior to complete failure. However, the resulting cost savings are limited because of the relatively low number of failures that may be detected and the high cost of installing the required measurement equipment. A new approach is proposed for continuous, online calculation of damage accumulation using standard turbine performance parameters and Physics of Failure methodology. The wind turbine system is assessed in order to identify the root cause of critical failure modes and theoretical damage models are developed to describe the relationship between the turbine operating environment, applied loads and the rate at which damage accumulates. Accurate estimates may then be made in real time concerning the probability of failure for specific failure modes and components. The methodology is illustrated for a specific failure mode using a case study of a large wind farm where a significant number of gearbox failures occurred within a short space of time. Such an approach may be implemented at relatively low cost and offers potential for significant improvements in overall wind turbine maintenance strategy. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

风力机状态监测与故障诊断技术研究

介绍了风力发电机组的基本构成,对风力机常用状态监测技术及主要测量参数进行了分析研究,并分析了风力机部件的常见故障,研究了部件的故障机理,最后,分析研究了适合于风力机的多种故障诊断方法,对国内外风力机状态监测、诊断技术和系统应用现状进行了概述。研究结果对保证风力发电机组安全运行,减少故障发生率,提高风力发电机组的运行可靠性．实现基于状态维修起到了指导作用。     

风电场的组合维修策略研究

为降低风电场维修成本,提出针对风电场的风电机组部件组合维修策略。在各部件故障率服从威布尔分布的基础上,确定各部件的最优预防性维修周期,进而确定各部件后续预防性维修的实施时刻。将未来一段时间内的全部维修任务按分组方案组合为多个维修组,单一维修组内包含的全部维修任务采用分层优化方法安排给多支维修队一起执行,以使在风电机组停机时间最短情况下维修队工作时间最短。对比组合维修策略与预防性维修策略的维系成本,以分组方案节约维修成本为适应度,使用遗传算法求解最优分组方案。仿真结果验证了该策略可有效减少风电机组的停机时间,降低风电场维修成本。     

基于多状态空间划分的风电机组非完美维修决策

对风电机组的合理维护维修是减少风电场运维成本的重要方式。同一风电场的多台风力发电机构成了一个典型的多部件系统,各风力发电机的运行性能共同决定了系统整体的运行效率和维修需求。同时,对各风力发电机的维修效果也将影响到系统后续的可利用率和维修决策。该文以同一风电场中多台风力发电机的主轴组成的同型多部件系统为对象,在考虑非完美维修的条件下制定基于周期检测的视情机会维修策略;构建考虑非完美维修的多状态退化空间划分模型,以定义系统状态与维修需求的表示及关系,并归纳推导系统维修需求概率的计算模型和非完美维修干预下的系统退化及维修恢复过程中的状态转移概率;在此基础上,建立系统平均费用率解析模型,以确定最优的检测周期和维修阈值。通过某风电场的主轴实际运行数据进行数值实验,验证策略和模型的正确性和有效性,并对参数进行灵敏度分析以说明模型的适用性。结果表明该策略能有效减少风电场的运维成本。     

基于深度卷积自编码器的风电机组故障预警方法研究

通过风电机组状态监测进行故障预警,可防止故障进一步发展,降低风场运维成本。为充分挖掘风电机组监控与数据采集（SCADA）各状态参数时序信息,以及不同参数之间的非线性关系,该文将深度学习中自动编码器（AE）与卷积神经网络（CNN）相结合,提出基于深度卷积自编码（DCAE）的风电机组状态监测故障预警方法。首先基于历史SCADA数据离线建立基于DCAE的机组正常运行状态模型,然后分析重构误差确定告警阈值,使用EMWA控制图对实时对机组状态监测并进行故障预警。以北方某风电场2 MW双馈型风电机组叶片故障为实例进行实验分析,结果表明该文提出DCAE状态监测故障预警方法,可有效对机组故障提前预警,且优于现有基于深度学习的风电机组故障预警方法,可显著提升重构精度、减少模型参数和训练时间。     

Minimizing maintenance cost for offshore wind turbines following multi-level opportunistic preventive strategy

Cost of energy generated from offshore wind is impacted by maintenance cost to a great extent. Cost of maintenance depends primarily on the strategy for performing maintenance. In this paper a maintenance cost model for offshore wind turbine components following multilevel opportunistic preventive maintenance strategy is formulated. In this strategy, opportunity for performing preventive actions on components is taken while a failed component is replaced. Two kinds of preventive actions are considered, preventive replacement and preventive maintenance. In the former, components that undergo that action become as good as new (i.e., the replaced components, are not just as good as new, but are actually new), but in the latter, ages of components are reduced to some degree depending on the level of maintenance action. Total cost associated with maintenance depends on the setting of age groups that determine which component should be preventively maintained and to what degree. Through optimum selection of the number of age groups, cost of maintenance can be minimized. A model is formulated where total maintenance cost is expressed as a function of number of age groups for components. A numerical study is used to illustrate the model. The results show that total cost of maintenance is significantly impacted by number of age groups and age thresholds set for components.     

Design structure matrix (DSM) method application to issue of modeling and analyzing the fault tree of a wind energy asset

The perpetual energy production of a wind farm could be accomplished (under proper weather conditions) if no failures occurred. But even the best possible design, manufacturing, and maintenance of a system cannot eliminate the failure possibility. In order to understand and minimize the system failures, the most crucial components of the wind turbines, which are prone to failures, should be identified. Moreover, it is essential to determine and classify the criticality of the system failures according to the impact of these failure events on wind turbine safety. The present study is processing the failure data from a wind farm and uses the Fault Tree Analysis as a baseline for applying the Design Structure Matrix technique to reveal the failure and risk interactions between wind turbine subsystems. Based on the analysis performed and by introducing new importance measures, the “readiness to fail” of a subsystem in conjunction with the “failure riskiness” can determine the “failure criticality.” The value of the failure criticality can define the frame within which interventions could be done. The arising interventions could be applied either to the whole system or could be focused in specified pairs of wind turbine subsystems. In conclusion, the method analyzed in the present research can be effectively applied by the wind turbine manufacturers and the wind farm operators as an operation framework, which can lead to a limited (as possible) design‐out maintenance cost, failures' minimization, and safety maximization for the whole wind turbine system.     

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.     

Condition monitoring of spar‐type floating wind turbine drivetrain using statistical fault diagnosis

Operation and maintenance costs are significant for large‐scale wind turbines and particularly so for offshore. A well‐organized operation and maintenance strategy is vital to ensure the reliability, availability, and cost‐effectiveness of a system. The ability to detect, isolate, estimate, and perform prognoses on component degradation could become essential to reduce unplanned maintenance and downtime. Failures in gearbox components are in focus since they account for a large share of wind turbine downtime. This study considers detection and estimation of wear in the downwind main‐shaft bearing of a 5‐MW spar‐type floating turbine. Using a high‐fidelity gearbox model, we show how the downwind main bearing and nacelle axial accelerations can be used to evaluate the condition of the bearing. The paper shows how relative acceleration can be evaluated using statistical change‐detection methods to perform a reliable estimation of wear of the bearing. It is shown in the paper that the amplitude distribution of the residual accelerations follows a t‐distribution and a change‐detection test is designed for the specific changes we observe when the main bearing becomes worn. The generalized likelihood ratio test is extended to fit the particular distribution encountered in this problem, and closed‐form expressions are derived for shape and scale parameter estimation, which are indicators for wear and extent of wear in the bearing. The results in this paper show how the proposed approach can detect and estimate wear in the bearing according to desired probabilities of detection and false alarm.     

An engineering condition indicator for condition monitoring of wind turbine bearings

Condition monitoring (CM) of wind turbine becomes significantly important part of wind farms in order to cut down operation and maintenance costs. The large amount of CM system vibration data collected from wind turbines are posing challenges to operators in signal processing. It is crucial to design sensitive and reliable condition indicator (CI) in wind turbine CM system. Bearing plays an important role in wind turbine because of its high impact on downtime and component replacement. CIs for wind turbine bearing monitoring are reviewed in the paper, and the advantages and disadvantages of these indicators are discussed in detail. A new engineering CI (ECI), which combined the energy and kurtosis representation of the vibration signal, is proposed to meet the requirement of easy applicability and early detection in wind turbine bearing monitoring. The quantitative threshold setting method of the ECI is provided for wind turbine CM practice. The bearing run‐to‐failure experiment data analysis demonstrates that ECI can evaluate the overall condition and is sensitive to incipient fault of bearing. The effectiveness in engineering of ECI is validated though a certain amount of real‐world wind turbine generator and gearbox bearing vibration data.     

Risk analysis of maintenance ship collisions with offshore wind turbines

A large number of offshore wind farms are planned to be built in remote deep-sea areas over the next five years. Though offshore wind sites are often located away from commercial ship traffic, the increased demand for repair or replacement services leads to high traffic densities of “maintenance ships”. To date, the risk analysis of collision between maintenance ship vessels and offshore wind turbines has received very little attention. In this paper, we propose a methodology to evaluate and prioritise the collision risks associated with various kinds of ships used for carrying out maintenance tasks on different subassemblies of wind turbines in an offshore wind farm. It is also studied how the risks of ship collision with wind turbines are distributed between two main types of maintenance tasks, namely corrective and preventative. The proposed model is tested on an offshore wind turbine with seventeen components requiring five kinds of ships to perform the maintenance tasks. Our results indicate that collision risks are mostly associated with maintenance of few components of the wind turbine and in particular, those undergoing a corrective maintenance (replacement). Finally, several mitigation strategies are introduced to minimise the risk of maintenance ship collisions with offshore wind turbines.     

The extended Betz–Lanchester limit

A proposal for an extended formulation of the power coefficient of a wind turbine is presented. This new formulation is a generalization of the Betz–Lanchester expression for the power coefficient as function of the axial deceleration of the wind speed provoked by the wind turbine in operation. The extended power coefficient takes into account the benefits of the power produced and the cost associated to the production of this energy.By the simple model proposed is evidenced that the purely energetic optimum operation condition giving rise to the Betz–Lanchester limit (maximum energy produced) does not coincide with the global optimum operational condition (maximum benefit generated) if cost of energy and degradation of the wind turbine during operation is considered.The new extended power coefficient is a general parameter useful to define global optimum operation conditions for wind turbines, considering not only the energy production but also the maintenance cost and the economic cost associated to the life reduction of the machine.     

Aeroelastic design of large wind turbine blades considering damage tolerance

Modern offshore turbine blades can be designed for high fatigue life and damage tolerance to avoid excessive maintenance and therefore significantly reduce the overall cost of offshore wind power. An aeroelastic design strategy for large wind turbine blades is presented and demonstrated for a 100 m blade. High fidelity analysis techniques like 3D finite element modeling are used alongside beam models of wind turbine blades to characterize the resulting designs in terms of their aeroelastic performance as well as their ability to resist damage growth. This study considers a common damage type for wind turbine blades, the bond line failure, and explores the damage tolerance of the designs to gain insight into how to improve bond line failure through aeroelastic design. Flat‐back airfoils are also explored to improve the damage tolerance performance of trailing‐edge bond line failures. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于威布尔分布的风机齿轮箱元件最优更换时间

研究了考虑单位时间系统维护费用最低的风电机组齿轮箱重要组成元件最优更换时间的计算问题。文章对风机齿轮箱的原理和结构进行了简单介绍,并将齿轮箱作为不可修系统对其构成元件的故障率分布进行了分析;建立了风机齿轮箱重要组成元件的最优更换时间计算模型,该模型的原理是对更换成本和故障成本进行平衡,使系统单位时间的维护费用最低;最后,采用文中建立的模型对某地实际风机齿轮箱齿轮、中速轴承和高速轴承的最优更换时间进行求解,结果表明,此方法得到的最优更换方案能够极大地降低风电机组齿轮箱维护费用。     

风力发电机组振动故障分析技术

振动故障分析技术是风力发电机组预测性维护和降低维护成本至关重要的手段之一．文章介绍了当前应用于风力发电机组传动链的部分振动分析技术,以及这些振动分析技术的基本原理和优缺点。以期帮助振动分析者能够更好地利用振动状态监测系统分析和了解风力发电机组传动链的运行和振动状态．     

考虑时间窗约束的海上风电机组运维方案优化

降低运维成本是保障海上风电经济效益的关键,运维方案优化对降低海上风电机组运维成本和提高发电量起着双重作用。根据风电机组零部件的可靠度模型,计算出每台风电机组最佳维修时机对应的时间窗,考虑提前维修和故障后维修的经济损失,建立包含时间窗约束的海上风电机组运维方案优化模型,然后设计基于参数优化的改进遗传算法计算出最优运维方案。最后采用某海上风电场内风电机组运维案例验证模型和算法,结果表明考虑时间窗约束的运维方案可大幅度提高海上风电的经济效益,改进遗传算法比传统遗传算法具有更强的寻优能力。     

Vibration response of a 2.3 MW wind turbine to yaw motion and shut down events

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is a process of implementing a damage detection strategy for a mechanical system. Wind turbine machinery stands to benefit from SHM significantly as the ability to detect early stages of damage before significant malfunction or structural failure occurs would reduce costs of wind power projects by reducing maintenance costs. Vibration analysis of dynamic structural response is an approach to SHM that has been successfully applied to mechanical and civil systems and shows some promise for wind turbine application. Traditionally, a setback to turbine vibration‐based SHM techniques has been the unavailability of turbine vibration response data. This study begins to address this issue by presenting vibration response for a commercial 2.3 MW turbine to a limited number of operating conditions. A database of acquired vibration response signals detailing turbine response to yaw motion, start‐up, operation and shutdown has been assembled. A Daubechies sixth‐order wavelet was used to perform an eight‐level discrete wavelet decomposition such that general trends and patterns within the signals could be identified. With further development, the presented analysis of vibration response may be integrated into routines to reduce downtime and failure frequency of utility scale wind turbines. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Copula‐based model for wind turbine power curve outlier rejection

Power curve measurements provide a conventional and effective means of assessing the performance of a wind turbine, both commercially and technically. Increasingly high wind penetration in power systems and offshore accessibility issues make it even more important to monitor the condition and performance of wind turbines based on timely and accurate wind speed and power measurements. Power curve data from Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system records, however, often contain significant measurement deviations, which are commonly produced as a consequence of wind turbine operational transitions rather than stemming from physical degradation of the plant. Using such raw data for wind turbine condition monitoring purposes is thus likely to lead to high false alarm rates, which would make the actual fault detection unreliable and would potentially add unnecessarily to the costs of maintenance. To this end, this paper proposes a probabilistic method for excluding outliers, developed around a copula‐based joint probability model. This approach has the capability of capturing the complex non‐linear multivariate relationship between parameters, based on their univariate marginal distributions; through the use of a copula, data points that deviate significantly from the consolidated power curve can then be removed depending on this derived joint probability distribution. After filtering the data in this manner, it is shown how the resulting power curves are better defined and less subject to uncertainty, whilst broadly retaining the dominant statistical characteristics. These improved power curves make subsequent condition monitoring more effective in the reliable detection of faults. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.