Proactive control of wind turbine with blade load constraints

This paper describes an easy-to-implement, proactive control strategy for wind turbines, incorporating constraints on blade loads. The control strategy is aimed for rejecting wind gusts and is based on upwind speed measurements and a new statistical wind gust detection mechanism. The control action comprises simultaneous driveline and collective pitch control with constraints on flapwise bending moment. The controller is evaluated by simulation on a transient between two steady-state operational modes of the wind turbine. A new driveline backstepping-based controller with integral action for compensation of steady-state errors is also proposed and verified by simulations

An overview of proactive wind turbine control

Recent achievements in the proactive turbine control, based on the upwind speed measurements, are described in a unified framework (as an extension of the tutorial [1]), that in turn represents a systematic view of the control activity carried out within the Swedish Wind Power Technology Center (SWPTC). A new turbine control problem statement with constraints on blade loads is reviewed. This problem statement allows the design of a new class of simultaneous speed and pitch control strategies based on the preview measurements and look-ahead calculations. A generation of a piecewise constant desired pitch angle profile which is calculated using the turbine load prediction is reviewed in this article as one of the most promising approaches. This in turn allows the reduction of the pitch actuation and the design of the collective pitch control strategy with the maximum possible actuation rate. Two turbine speed control strategies based on one-mass and two-mass models of the drivetrain are also described in this article. The strategies are compared to the existing drivetrain controller. Moreover, postprocessing technique that can be used for estimation of the turbine parameters with improved performance is also discussed. Postprocessing-based estimation of the turbine inertia moment is given as an example. All the results are illustrated by simulations with a wind speed record from the H\uf6n\uf6 turbine, located outside of Gothenburg, Sweden. Recent achievements in the proactive turbine control, based on the upwind speed measurements are described in a unified framework that in turn represents a systematic view of the control activity carried out within the Swedish Wind Power Technology Center (SWPTC)

Frequency Regulation in Smart Microgrids Based on Load Estimation

The desired frequency is maintained in Smart Microgrid (SMG) when the generated power matches the grid load. Variability of wind power and fluctuations of the load are the main obstacles for performance improvement of frequency regulation in SMG. Active Power Control (APC) services provided by wind power generators is one of the main sources for performance improvement in frequency regulation. New coordinated APC architecture, which involves simultaneous speed and pitch control actions delivers desired power to the grid despite significant variations of the wind power. A tool-kit with discrete-time input estimation algorithms, which estimate input quantity using output measurements is presented. Unmeasurable load fluctuations are estimated with input estimation method using measurements of grid frequency deviation. Desired power for APC is driven by estimated and a priori known loads. This observer-based control method reduces the risk of overshoots and oscillations in frequency regulation loop compared to PID controllers driven directly by the frequency deviation. The stability of the closed loop frequency control system is proved, and simulation results show that observer-based control architecture provides significant improvement of the frequency regulation in SMG

Development of a Condition Monitoring System for an Articulated Wave Energy Converter

ESREL 2016: European Safety and Reliability Conference 2016, Glasgow, UK, 25-29 September, 2016This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher.Condition monitoring systems (CMS) in renewable energy devices allow for the detection of oncoming faults, providing data to undertake pre-emptive maintenance. By defining a systems functional re-quirements and identifying of critical failure modes, proactive maintenance strategies to be produced. The lack of operational data in the marine energy industry, and lack of consensus in operating principles between devic-es, means that a non-standardised CMS package is available for wave energy converters (WECs). In this study a Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is undertaken in order to identify the critical failure modes of an articulated WEC, measurement priorities are identified and a set of monitoring solutions provided. Installing a CMS provides the framework for collecting quality component reliability data, however further development is required for building a proactive maintenance strategy and for continuous reliability improvement

Occupational safety and health in the wind energy sector - European Risk Observatory

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