Comparison of Hardware-in-the-Loop Control Methods for Wind Turbine Drive Trains on System Test Benches | IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore

Comparison of Hardware-in-the-Loop Control Methods for Wind Turbine Drive Trains on System Test Benches

Publisher: IEEE

Abstract:

The current test process in the design and certification of wind turbines (WTs) is time and cost-intensive, as it depends on the wind conditions and requires setting up t...View more

Abstract:

The current test process in the design and certification of wind turbines (WTs) is time and cost-intensive, as it depends on the wind conditions and requires setting up the WT in the field. Efforts are made to transfer the test process to a system test bench (STB) to simplify the installation and enable arbitrary and reproducible loads. The missing rotor and tower on an STB affect the drive train’s behavior and require a Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) operation. This contribution investigates suitable HiL control methods for applying aerodynamic torque loads and compares them in terms of performance, actuator requirements, and robustness. We survey three methods of different complexity: the inertia emulation (IE) method, the model reference control (MRC) method, and the model predictive control (MPC) method. Our comparison identifies a correlation between increased complexity of the HiL control method and enhanced performance. HiL operation reproduces the actual WT drive train’s inertia and dynamics up to 1, 6, and 9 Hz for IE, MRC, and MPC method, respectively. Yet, for HiL control methods with high performance, the dynamic torque requirements proliferate, and the controller’s robustness to model deviations decreases. Altogether, our quantitative comparison of HiL control methods facilitates selecting the appropriate method for respective testing and certification demands.
Date of Conference: 29 June 2021 - 02 July 2021
Date Added to IEEE Xplore: 03 January 2022
ISBN Information:
Publisher: IEEE
Conference Location: Delft, Netherlands

References

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