Modeling and control of a variable speed variable pitch angle prototype wind turbine

This paper focuses on modeling, control and simulation of a 500 KW horizontal axis prototype wind turbine that is being developed in the context of the MILRES (National Wind Energy Systems) Project in Turkey. The prototype turbine is designed as variable speed variable pitch angle wind turbine due to its advantages in efficiency and the structure. Aerodynamic, mechanical and electrical subsystems along with pitch and torque controllers are designed in both Matlab/Simulink and S4WT simulation environments. The main control purpose is to generate a power curve that is close to the ideal power curve where the energy efficiency is maximized below the nominal wind speed of 11 m/s and the power is limited to the nominal value above the nominal wind speed. Turbsim is integrated with both environments to generate a realistic wind profile of Kaimal turbulence model. The performance analysis of the prototype turbine is done under the power production scenario in both environments. Start up, emergency stop, shut down and parked scenarios are also implemented in S4WT

Wind turbines controllers design based on the super-twisting algorithm

The continuous increase in the size of wind turbines (WTs) has led to new challenges in the design of novel torque and pitch controllers. Today’s WT control design must fulfill numerous specifications to assure effective electrical energy production and to hold the tower vibrations inside acceptable levels of operation. Hence, this paper presents modern torque and pitch control developments based on the super-twisting algorithm (STA) by using feedback of the fore- aft and side-to-side acceleration signals of the WT tower. According to numerical experiments realized using FAST, these controllers mitigate vibrations in the tower without affecting the quality of electrical power production. Moreover, the proposed controllers’ performance is better than the baseline controllers used for comparison.Postprint (author's final draft

Acceleration-based fault-tolerant control design of offshore fixed wind turbines

Wind turbines (WTs) are basically controlled by varying the generator load torque (with the so-called torque control) and the blade pitch angles (with the so-called pitch control) based on measurement of the generator shaft speed. These two controllers unitedly work to satisfy the control objectives, and it is crucial that they are tolerant to possible faults in the WT system. Passive fault-tolerant control comprises the design of robust controllers against disturbances and uncertainties. This enables the controller to counteract the effect of a fault without requiring reconfiguration or fault detection. In this regard, the main contribution of this paper is to propose new control techniques that not only provide fault tolerance capabilities to the WT system but also improve the overall performance of the system in both fault-free and faulty conditions. Coupling nonlinear aero-hydro-servo-elastic simulations of an offshore WT with jacket platform is carried out for several pitch actuator faults. The jacket platform motions and structural loads caused by fault events with the proposed controllers are compared with loads encountered during normal operation and with respect to a well-known baseline controller in the literature. The proposed controllers are based in the super-twisting algorithm by using feedback of the generator shaft speed as well as the fore-aft and side-to-side acceleration signals of the WT tower.Preprin

H-infinity Variable-Pitch Control for Wind Turbines Based on Takagi-Sugeno Fuzzy Theory

When the wind speed is above the rated value, the output power of the wind turbine should be maintained at the rated value in order to prevent the power generation system from overheating. In addition, the natural wind speed will fluctuate randomly in a large range of values, making the traditional control effect not ideal. This paper presents a novel H-infinity (H∞) pitch control strategy for Wind Turbine Generators (WTGs), which can make the rotor speed and output power constant when the wind speed changes in a large range. In order to shorten response time and reduce overshoot, in the specific solution, the control method combines the H∞ theory and the Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy theory. Firstly, the linearized models of several operating points were obtained with the T-S fuzzy theory. Then, a robust controller was designed for each linear sub-system based on the H∞ control theory. Furthermore, the controllers of the sub-systems were superimposed into a global controller for the entire system through the membership function. Finally, modeling and simulation were carried out in MATLAB/SIMULINK. The simulation results show that when the wind speed changes above the rated speed, the rotor speed can be maintained at the rated value, and the output power also can be maintained at the rated value. Compared with the optimal control, the response speed of this method is faster and the overshoot is smaller. It provides a new idea for the pitch angle control of wind turbine

A Review of Control Techniques for Wind Energy Conversion System

Wind energy is the most efficient and advanced form of renewable energy (RE) in recent decades, and an effective controller is required to regulate the power generated by wind energy. This study provides an overview of state-of-the-art control strategies for wind energy conversion systems (WECS). Studies on the pitch angle controller, the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller, the machine side controller (MSC), and the grid side controller (GSC) are reviewed and discussed. Related works are analyzed, including evolution, software used, input and output parameters, specifications, merits, and limitations of different control techniques. The analysis shows that better performance can be obtained by the adaptive and soft-computing based pitch angle controller and MPPT controller, the field-oriented control for MSC, and the voltage-oriented control for GSC. This study provides an appropriate benchmark for further wind energy research

Active sensor fault tolerant output feedback tracking control for wind turbine systems via T-S model

This paper presents a new approach to active sensor fault tolerant tracking control (FTTC) for offshore wind turbine (OWT) described via Takagi–Sugeno (T–S) multiple models. The FTTC strategy is designed in such way that aims to maintain nominal wind turbine controller without any change in both fault and fault-free cases. This is achieved by inserting T–S proportional state estimators augmented with proportional and integral feedback (PPI) fault estimators to be capable to estimate different generators and rotor speed sensors fault for compensation purposes. Due to the dependency of the FTTC strategy on the fault estimation the designed observer has the capability to estimate a wide range of time varying fault signals. Moreover, the robustness of the observer against the difference between the anemometer wind speed measurement and the immeasurable effective wind speed signal has been taken into account. The corrected measurements fed to a T–S fuzzy dynamic output feedback controller (TSDOFC) designed to track the desired trajectory. The stability proof with H∞ performance and D-stability constraints is formulated as a Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) problem. The strategy is illustrated using a non-linear benchmark system model of a wind turbine offered within a competition led by the companies Mathworks and KK-Electronic

Maximum power extraction from wind turbines using a fault-tolerant fractional-order nonsingular terminal sliding mode controller

This work presents a nonlinear control approach to maximise the power extraction of wind energy conversion systems (WECSs) operating below their rated wind speeds. Due to nonlinearities associated with the dynamics of WECSs, the stochastic nature of wind, and the inevitable presence of faults in practice, developing reliable fault-tolerant control strategies to guarantee maximum power production of WECSs has always been considered important. A fault-tolerant fractional-order nonsingular terminal sliding mode control (FNTSMC) strategy to maximize the captured power of wind turbines (WT) subjected to actuator faults is developed. A nonsingular terminal sliding surface is proposed to ensure fast finite-time convergence, whereas the incorporation of fractional calculus in the controller enhances the convergence speed of system states and simultaneously suppresses chattering, resulting in extracted power maximisation by precisely tracking the optimum rotor speed. Closed-loop stability is analysed and validated through the Lyapunov stability criterion. Comparative numerical simulation analysis is carried out on a two-mass WT, and superior power production performance of the proposed method over other methods is demonstrated, both in fault-free and faulty situations

Maximum power point tracking controller using Lyapunov theorem of wind turbine under varying wind conditions

Due to the instantaneous variation in wind speed, it is necessary to identify the optimal rotational speed that ensures maximum energy efficiency and system stability. We proposed a controller based on the Lyapunov theorem to extract the maximum power from wind speed and to ensure the overall stability of the controlled system under random operating conditions imposed by wind speed and parameter variations. The control of the Tip speed ratio is based on the Lyapunov theorem (TSR_LT), which is a controller based on Lyapunov's theory and the definition of a positive, energetic function, to ensure the stability of the system being controlled, the dynamics of this function must be negative. The viability of this work is demonstrated by MATLAB-based mathematical and simulation models and a comparison with the results obtained using proportional integral (PI) controller-based tip speed ratio control (TSR_PI controller). The simulation results demonstrate the controller's effectiveness

Modelling and region stability analysis of wind turbines with battery energy storage system based on switched system with multi-equilibriums

This paper deals with the modelling and control for wind turbine combined with a battery energy storage system (WT/BESS). A proportional-integral (PI) controller of pitch angle is applied to adjust the output power of WT, and a method for battery scheduling is presented for maintaining the state of charging (SOC) of BESS. When the battery level is below the lower limit, we increase the expected output power of wind turbine through raising the operation point to charge the battery. Considering the effect of charging/discharging, a switched linear system model with two equilibriums is presented firstly for such WT/BESS system. The region stability is analyzed and an approach for estimating the corresponding stable region is also given. The effectiveness of the proposed results is demonstrated by a numerical example