Wind Turbine Power Reference Control for Drivetrain Load Relief

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Solution Overview

Problem

Cyclical loading on wind turbine rotors due to varying wind conditions leads to drivetrain load variations, causing fatigue and reducing the operational lifetime of drivetrain components.

Innovation Solution

A method for controlling a wind turbine that involves receiving signals indicative of the generator speed and requested output power, filtering and phase-shifting these signals to match torque variations, and using the resulting modification signal as a control signal to reduce torque variations between the rotor and generator sides of the drivetrain.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If conventional wind turbine control is used, then the drivetrain experiences cyclical loading and fatigue, but implementing disturbance reduction control increases output power disturbances

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedrivetrain operational lifetimeVSAvoidoutput power disturbances

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-generated harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The control signal is segmented into different frequency components using filtering. The disturbance signal is extracted by filtering the generator speed signal at the rotor frequency (1P) and its harmonics (2P, 3P, etc.), allowing targeted compensation of specific cyclical disturbances while maintaining overall power output stability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The control system applies preliminary anti-action by generating a counter-disturbance signal that is phase-shifted by 180 degrees relative to the detected rotor torque disturbances. This counter-signal is injected into the generator control to preemptively cancel out the cyclical loading before it propagates through the drivetrain, reducing fatigue on bearings and shafts.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #9Preliminary anti-action

2Reliability

If the disturbance signal is heavily filtered to reduce drivetrain fatigue, then torque variations are reduced, but the response time of the control system decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedrivetrain component fatigue resistanceVSAvoidcontrol system response time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSSpeed

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies partial filtering by targeting only specific frequency bands (1P, 2P, 3P, and other rotor frequency harmonics) rather than applying broad-band filtering. This selective approach reduces drivetrain fatigue at critical frequencies while preserving the system's ability to respond to other important signals and maintain overall control responsiveness.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentEP4121650B1Control of a wind turbine with a modified power reference

Publication Date: 2025.05.21 VESTAS WIND SYSTEMS AS

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Figure 3~4B
Figure 5A~6B

AI summary

The invention relates to control of a wind turbine to address varying drivetrain loading. This is obtained by determining a modification signal to be set as a control signal. A signal indicative of a speed of the electrical generator a signal indicative of a requested output power are received. The signal indicative of a speed is filtering to isolate frequencies in a selected disturbance frequency band to generate a disturbance signal. The disturbance signal is phase shifted and combined with a requested output power to obtain the modification signal.