CONTROL OF WIND TURBINES mragheb（mragheb控制风力涡轮机）.pdf

CONTROL OF WIND TURBINES © M. Ragheb 4/24/2016 INTRODUCTION Wind turbines are optimized to produce maximum power output at the most probable wind speeds around 15 m/s, 33 mph, or 33 knots. It would be uneconomical to design them for operation at the improbable higher wind speeds. It is necessary to limit the power output in high wind conditions on all wind turbines; otherwise a runaway turbine will be overloading its rotors, mechanical power train, as well as its electrical generator leading to catastrophic failure. It is unavoidable, in order to protect the structural integrity of the wind turbine, to ignore the energy production potential of these improbable wind gusts and to provide power controls in modern wind turbines to stop the turbine when these occur. Figure 1. Electronic orientation yaw drive and pitch control mechanism in the direct drive Enercon E66 1.5 MW wind turbine. Notice the absence of a gear box in this design. Wind turbines have to also be oriented perpendicular to the wind stream using wind orientation mechanism or yaw control. In addition their brakes must be applied under unfavorable high wind conditions. Some of these controls are performed mechanically in older wind machines, but in newer machines they are performed hydraulically, and in the most recent designs they are done electrically using stepped up motors. This is similar to the evolution in aircraft from manual controls to hydraulic controls to fly by wire controls. Figure 2. Mechanical orientation drive, brake and pitch control mechanism in an earlier design wind turbine. MECHANICAL PITCH CONTROL Ingenious methods were developed to