Standard and adaptive techniques for maximizing energy capture

TL;DR: In this article, the authors used the Controls Advanced Research Turbine (CART) as a model for this article's research, which is located in Golden, Colorado, at the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory's National Wind Technology Center.

Abstract: 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