Wind Farm Turbine Control for Upstream Event Load Mitigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wind turbine control methods fail to effectively mitigate excessive loads and component failures during environmental events like gusts or waves, leading to reduced lifetime and increased operational costs.
Innovation Solution
A method for computer-implemented control of wind turbines in a wind farm, where environmental and stress data from an upstream turbine are used to generate control commands for downstream turbines, utilizing sensors, computing units, and communication to anticipate and counteract impending events, with options for local or cloud-based processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If hard shutdown is performed to avoid exceeding critical loads during environmental events, then component failures are prevented, but extensive loads are imposed on the turbine and lifetime is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by detecting environmental events at upstream turbines and broadcasting warning messages to downstream turbines before the harmful effects arrive. This allows downstream turbines to prepare and adjust their operational parameters proactively, avoiding the need for sudden hard shutdowns and the associated extensive loads that reduce turbine lifetime.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies preliminary anti-action by implementing control strategies that counteract the impending environmental events before they cause excessive loads. By adjusting operational parameters in advance based on predicted event arrival, the system prevents the harmful effects of gusts or waves from exceeding critical load thresholds, thereby preventing component failures without imposing extensive loads on the turbine structure.
2Reliability
If environmental events are detected and control commands are transmitted to downstream turbines, then excessive loads are reduced, but communication and processing infrastructure complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service by enabling each wind turbine to independently detect environmental events, process the detected data, and generate appropriate control commands. Each turbine serves itself and also functions as a warning source for downstream turbines, eliminating the need for a centralized complex control system and reducing overall infrastructure complexity while maintaining effective load mitigation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses a standardized warning message format as an intermediary that simplifies communication between turbines. The uniform message structure containing event type, timestamp, and relevant parameters enables efficient data exchange without requiring complex communication protocols, thereby reducing infrastructure complexity while achieving effective load mitigation through coordinated control.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for computer-implemented controlling of wind turbines in a wind farm is provided. The wind farm includes an upstream first and a downstream second wind turbines, wherein the following steps are performed: i) obtaining environmental data and stress data of the first wind turbine, the environmental data and the stress data being taken; ii) determining a status information indicating whether or not a predetermined event is present at the time of taking the data, wherein the predetermined event requires immediate controlling of the first wind turbine; iii) broadcasting a message which contains environmental data and a timestamp as event information; iv) evaluating the event information whether or not the predetermined event at the first wind turbine will hit the second wind turbine; v) generating a control command for controlling the second wind turbine in case the evaluation holds that the predetermined event will hit the second wind turbine.