Control strategies to alleviate dynamic loads of wind turbine system

• Main Author: Chua, Liza Wan Yuan.
• Other Authors: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Alternative, renewable energy sources; DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Control engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/53433
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

With the depletion of fossil fuel as the main non-renewable energy resource, and growing concern on the environmental issues, trends are growing towards renewable energies, with wind energy emerging as the fastest growing renewable energy sources in the world. Wind turbine control is necessary to maximise the useful life of the wind turbine by reducing the damage to the wind turbine caused by fatigue, and regulating generator power in high wind speed operating regions preventing overheating of the generator. In this project, the control objectives are to regulate the rotor speed to maintain constant output power, and reducing the load experienced by the drive-train for wind turbine operating in region 3. Two methods that will be looked into control design are the classical control method and the state-space method. Classical control design involves the design of a Proportional-Integral (PI) controller for collective pitch control, assuming a rigid model of the wind turbine. State-space method involves designing of a full-state feedback control with Integral action through pole placement using a three-state linearized model of the wind turbine. State-space method investigated in the controller designs for collective pitch control and the incorporation of generator torque control. The effects of poles placement on the damping of first drive-train torsional mode, as well as influence of Integral action on different linearization output are discussed. The feasibility of the control designs are tested on the Control Advanced Research Turbine (CART) using a FAST-Simulink model.