Energy is an essential ingredient of socio-economic development and economic growth. Renewable energy sources like wind energy is indigenous and can help in reducing the dependency on fossil fuels. Wind is the indirect form of solar energy and is always being replenished by the sun. Wind is caused by differential heating of the earth's surface by the sun. It has been estimated that roughly 10 million MW of energy are continuously available in the earth's wind. Wind energy provides a variable and environmental friendly option and national energy security at a time when decreasing global reserves of fossil fuels threatens the long-term sustainability of global economy. This paper reviews the wind resources assessment models, site selection models and aerodynamic models including wake effect. The different existing performance and reliability evaluation models, various problems related to wind turbine components (blade, gearbox, generator and transformer) and grid for wind energy system have been discussed. This paper also reviews different techniques and loads for design, control systems and economics of wind energy conversion system.

A review of wind energy technologies

The primary objective of the insteady aerodynamics experiment was to provide information needed to quantify the full-scale, three-dimensional aerodynamic behavior of horizontal-axis wind turbines. This report is intended to familiarize the user with the entire scope of the wind tunnel test and to support the use of the resulting data.

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Unsteady Aerodynamics Experiment Phase VI: Wind Tunnel Test Configurations and Available Data Campaigns

AeroDyn is a set of routines used in conjunction with an aeroelastic simulation code to predict the aerodynamics of horizontal axis wind turbines. These subroutines provide several different models whose theoretical bases are described in this manual. AeroDyn contains two models for calculating the effect of wind turbine wakes: the blade element momentum theory and the generalized dynamic-wake theory. Blade element momentum theory is the classical standard used by many wind turbine designers and generalized dynamic wake theory is a more recent model useful for modeling skewed and unsteady wake dynamics. When using the blade element momentum theory, various corrections are available for the user, such as incorporating the aerodynamic effects of tip losses, hub losses, and skewed wakes. With the generalized dynamic wake, all of these effects are automatically included. Both of these methods are used to calculate the axial induced velocities from the wake in the rotor plane. The user also has the option of calculating the rotational induced velocity. In addition, AeroDyn contains an important model for dynamic stall based on the semi-empirical Beddoes-Leishman model. This model is particularly important for yawed wind turbines. Another aerodynamic model in AeroDyn is a tower shadow model based on potentialmore » flow around a cylinder and an expanding wake. Finally, AeroDyn has the ability to read several different formats of wind input, including single-point hub-height wind files or multiple-point turbulent winds.« less

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AeroDyn Theory Manual

This article considers an adaptive control scheme previously developed for region 2 control of a variable speed wind turbine. In this paper, the question of theoretical stability of the torque controller is addressed, showing that the rotor speed is asymptotically stable under the torque control law in the constant wind speed input case and L/sub 2/ stable with respect to time-varying wind input. Further, a method is derived for selecting /spl gamma//sub /spl Delta/M/ in the gain adaptation law to guarantee convergence of the adaptive gain M to its optimal value M*.

Control of variable-speed wind turbines: standard and adaptive techniques for maximizing energy capture

1066-033X/06/$20.00©2006IEEE W ind energy is the fastest-growing energy source in the world, with worldwide wind-generation capacity tripling in the five years leading up to 2004 [1]. Because wind turbines are large, flexible structures operating in noisy environments, they present a myriad of control problems that, if solved, could reduce the cost of wind energy. In contrast to constantspeed turbines (see “Wind Turbine Development and Types of Turbines”), variable-speed wind turbines are designed to follow wind-speed variations in low winds to maximize aerodynamic efficiency. Standard control laws [2] require that complex aerodynamic properties be well known so that the variable-speed turbine can maximize energy capture; in practice, uncertainties limit the efficient energy capture of a variable-speed turbine. The turbine used as a model for this article’s research is the Controls Advanced Research Turbine (CART) pictured in Figure 1. CART is located in Golden, Colorado, at the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s National Wind Technology Center (see “The National Renewable Energy Laboratory and National Wind Technology Center”). A modern utility-scale wind turbine, as shown in Figure 2, has several levels of control systems. On the uppermost level, a supervisory controller monitors the turbine and wind resource to determine when the wind speed is sufficient to start up the turbine and when, due to high winds, the turbine must be shut down for safety. This type of control is the discrete if-then variety. On the middle level is turbine control, which includes generator torque control, blade pitch control, and yaw control. Generator torque control, performed using the power electronics, determines how much torque is extracted from the turbine, specifically, the high-speed shaft. The extracted torque opposes the aerodynamic torque provided by the wind and, thus, indirectly regulates the turbine speed. Depending on the pitch actuators and type of generator and power electronics, blade pitch control and generator torque control can operate quickly relative to the rotor-speed time constant. STANDARD AND ADAPTIVE TECHNIQUES FOR MAXIMIZING ENERGY CAPTURE

http://ecee.colorado.edu/~pao/anonftp/JohnsonPaoBalasFingersh_IEEE_CSM.pdf

Standard and adaptive techniques for maximizing energy capture

This assessment of approximate modeling of aerodynamic loads on the UAE rotor indicates that it can be reasonably accurate when it is based on reliable 2D wind tunnel data, and when flow about the rotor blades is unstalled. This includes loads which figure importantly in the yawing of smaller wind turbines out of higher winds to minimize overshoots in power and loads. A welcome but by no means obvious finding is that the assumption of locally two dimensional flow about substantially yawed rotor blades appears to be reasonably valid even in the presence of the complex induction field due to the skewed wake effects. Dynamic stall, expanding skewed wake effects, and effects due to vortices shed inboard into the wake where the onset of deep stalled flow occurs must be accounted for to better predict side force and center of thrust location on the rotor. Rotational effects on rotor thrust, torque, and blade out-of-plane moments must be accounted for in deep stalled flow as it spreads outboard on the blades at higher wind speeds. These effects appear to be more severe at smaller rotor yaw angles, and lower tip speed ratios. Approximate modeling of these effects at zero yaw appears to be improved with the approach to and onset of fully deep stalled flow about the blades when blade aspect ratio and shape effects on non rotating section aerodynamic characteristics are included in the modeling. This matter requires substantial further study.

An Assessment of Approximate Modeling of Aerodynamic Loads on the UAE Rotor

The effects of wind shear and turbulence on rotor fatigue and loads control are explored for a large horizontal axis wind turbine in variable speed operation from 4 to 20 m/s. Two and three blade rigid rotors are considered over a range of wind shear exponents up to 1.25 and a range of turbulence intensities up to 17%. RMS blade root flatwise moments are predicted to be very substantially increased at higher wind shear, and resultant fatigue damage is increased by many orders of magnitude. Smaller but similar trends occur with increasing turbulence levels. In-plane fatigue damage is driven by 1P gravity loads and exacerbated by turbulence level at higher wind speeds. This damage is higher by one to two orders of magnitude at the roots of the three blade rotor. Individual blade pitch control of fluctuating flatwise moments markedly reduces flatwise fatigue damage due to this source, and to a lesser degree the in-plane damage due to turbulence. The same is true of fluctuating rotor torque moments driven by turbulence and transmitted to the drive train. Blade root moments out of the plane of rotation aggregate to create rotor pitching and yawing moments transmitted to the turbine structure through the drive train to the yaw drive system and the tower. These moments are predicted to be relatively insensitive to turbulence level and essentially proportional to the wind shear exponent for the two blade rotor. Fluctuating moments are substantially reduced with individual blade pitch control, and addition of a teeter degree of freedom should further contribute to this end. Fluctuating pitching and yawing moments of the three blade rotor are substantially less sensitive to wind shear, more sensitive to turbulence level, and substantially lower than those for the two blade rotor. Mean rotor torque and hence power are essentially the same for both rotors, independent of wind shear, and somewhat reduced with individual blade pitch control of fluctuating flatwise moments. The same is true of mean rotor thrust, however fluctuations in rotor thrust are substantially reduced with individual blade pitch control. It appears, on balance, that higher wind shear coupled with turbulence effects should be accounted for in the fatigue design of large, long life turbines. Much more work is required on this problem.

Wind Shear and Turbulence Effects on Rotor Fatigue and Loads Control

Modeling of yawing and furling behavior of small wind turbines

Accurate prediction of the center of thrust location as well as the magnitude of thrust are critical to satisfactory modeling of rotor yawing loads. Of the two, the prediction of the center of thrust location upwind of the center of a skewed rotor disc appears to be most uncertain and potentially in serious error. A study of this uncertainty and potential error was initiated using the vortex wake model of Coleman, et al which was generalized to account for induction effects due to inboard as well as outboard vortices shed into the skewed wake of a rotor. The model also lends itself to the calculation of azimuthal variation in blade root flat wise bending moment. Results of this study are compared with predictions based on the dynamic inflow model employed in the YawDyn code.

Skewed wake induction effects on thrust distribution on small wind turbine rotors

Active aerodynamic control, in the form of closed-loop actuation of blade-tip ailerons or all-movable blades, is investigated as a means of increasing the structural fatigue life of HAWT rotors. The rotor considered is upwind and teetered, with two blades of diameter 29.2 m., fiberglass construction and other properties representative of modern light-weight construction. The paper begins with a review of prior work which studied the problem for an essentially rigid structure. For that and the present research, two loading conditions were invoked: exposure to a Rayleigh distribution of operating winds with vertical shear and a 15 percent superimposed spectrum of turbulence; and occasional exposure to 62 m/s hurricanes. Accounted for herein is the effect of flatwise bending flexibility on the loads spectra of root flatwise bending moment, thrust, and torque (both open loop and closed loop). Using Miner`s rule, the moments are converted to fatigue lives. With aerodynamic control, RMS flatwise moments for the flexible blade in turbulence are found to be less than {1/2} of those without control. At a fixed blade weight of 540 kg when hurricane loads are added, the aileron-controlled blade is designed by that limit-load condition. In contrast, the all-movable blade can be feather controlledmore » in the high wind so that its life is dominated by turbulent loads. Simplified fatigue analysis permits weight reductions to be estimated which yield controlled blades capable of 30 years` operation with a safety factor of 11. The resulting weights are about 400 kg for the aileron-controlled blade, and 230 kg for the all-movable blade. However, such light-weight rotors require attention to other design considerations, such as start-stop cycles. Apart from limit loads, the methods of analysis are linearized (locally for aerodynamic loads). It follows that the results are likely to be meaningful in terms of comparative, rather than absolute, values of fatigue life and weight.« less

K. Chaney

Papers

An Assessment of Approximate Modeling of Aerodynamic Loads on the UAE Rotor

Wind Shear and Turbulence Effects on Rotor Fatigue and Loads Control

Modeling of yawing and furling behavior of small wind turbines

Skewed wake induction effects on thrust distribution on small wind turbine rotors

Effects of Blade Bending on Aerodynamic Control of Fluctuating Loads on Teetered HAWT Rotors