Wind power systems

Course 2 Introduction to the Modelling of Wind Turbines

1. Introduction

We look at the Wind Turbine (WT) as one electrotechnical component among many others in the entire electrical power systems;

The course is going to focus on: - the concept of modelling and simulation, - introduction to aerodynamic modelling of the WT.

2. Basic considerations regarding modelling and simulation For WT the time and costs of development can be reduced considerably and prototype WT can be tested without exposing physical prototype to the influence of destructive full-scale test, for instance; Thats why computer simulations are a very cost effective way to perform very thorough investigations before a prototype is exposed to real, full-scale tests; Computer simulations require a very responsible approach because the quality of a computer simulation can only be as good as the quality of the built-in models and of applied data; otherwise the results may be insufficient and unreliable;

 Computer simulations can be used to study many different phenomena, however, in order to take into account all this, it is necessary to have a general understanding of the WT and how the various parts of the WT can be represented in a computer model, Then, the different types of simulations and various requirements regarding accuracy will be discussed in more details.

3. Overview of Aerodynamic Modelling

The modelling of different types of generators, converters, mechanical shaft systems and control systems is all well-documented in the literature, In the case of WT, an introduction to the basic physics of the turbine rotor and the various ways in which the turbine rotor is commonly represented will be outlined;

3.1. Basic description of the turbine rotor

From a physical point of view, the static characterisctics of a WT rotor can be described by the relations between the total power in the wind PWIND and the mechanical power of the WT PMECH. The incoming wind in the rotor swept area has a kinetic energy, that is the energy of a cylinder of air of radius R travelling with speed vWIND. This energy corresponds to a total wind power:

PWIND

1 2 3 = AIR R v WIND 2

(1)

(Demonstrate the relation above, starting from the kinetic energy of the wind! AIR=1.225 kg/m3, R-rotor radius, vWIND-wind speed) !!it is not possible to extract all kinetic energy of the wind since this would mean that the air would stand still directly behind the WTthis would not allow the air to flow away from the WT can not represent a physical steady-state condition. The wind speed is only reduced by the WT thus extracts a fraction of the power in the wind = Cp power efficiency coefficient of the WT.

PMECH = C p PWIND

(2)

The theoretical upper limit of Cp=16/27=0.593 59% of the kinetic energy can be theoretically extracted from the wind (Betzs limit). Modern three bladed WT have Cp optim between 0.52 and 0.55 when measured at the hub of the turbine. ! in some cases Cp is specified with respect to the electrical power at the generator terminals, it means that the losses in the gear and the generator are deduced from the Cp valuethen in this case modern 3-bladed WT have Cp = 0.46-0.48, ! dont forget that Cp values can be specified either as mechanical or electrical power efficiency coefficient.

TMECH
TMECH

PMECH = turb

(3)

- the mechanical torque

turb - the turbine rotational speed

It is clear from physical point of view that:

PMECH = f (turb , vWIND , )

where the blade angle.

(4)

r is the angle between the plane of the moving rotor blades and vrel
r r r v rel = vtip + vWIND
r r r vtip = turb R;

r vtip = turb R

r r = (vtip , vREL )

r vtip

is the peripheral speed of the blade

- the tip-speed ratio is defined as:

Cp max for [8;9]

turb R = vWIND

(5)

vWIND 1 = arctan = arctan R turb

(6)

C p = f C p (, )

(7)

being a highly nonlinear power function of and .

1) =constfixed angular position of the blade stall (pasive stall) control the turbine blades will stall (lose power) at high wind speeds and thus automatically reduce the lift on the turbines blades.

2) being given a WT with rotor radius R, then

C p = f (turb ) vWIND

- parameter

-there are identical shape curves for different VWIND but varying in terms of stretch along the turb axis.

Conclusions The optimal operation point at a given vWIND is determined by tracking the rotor speed to point opt:

turb ,opt =

opt vWIND R

(8)

Observations: 1. turb,opt also depends on R increasing the power it means that turb,opt decreases. 2. The fixed-speed wind turbines have to be designed in order for the turb to match the most likely wind speed in the area of installation (at all other wind speeds the operation will be at opt. 3. In case of variable-speed wind turbine, turb is adjusted over a wide range of wind speeds so that =optCpmax is obtained and PMECH, var> PMECH, fix. At higher vWIND PMECH=rated level by .

4. variable-speed WT yields greater annual power production compared with the similar fixed-speed WTobtained at the cost of greater complexity in the construction of the unit+ additional losses in the power electronic converter (responsible for variable-speed operation). 5. off-shore windconstantthe gain being achieved primarily in low wind situations, the net result might even be negative. 6. Some fixed-speed wind turbines can, in a way, be characterized as variable speed WT. In fact it has two speeds because of two generators (with different numbers of pole pairs) or one special generator which enables the change of the pole pairs by changing the connections of the stator winding (very simple and cost-effective measure).

7. At high wind speeds, the PMECHPnomit is necessary to reduce PMECH and this is achieved by turning the blades away from the optimal pitch angle. There are two posibilities: I. Out of the wind II. Up against the wind I. If the blades are turned-out of the wind, the lift on the blades is gradually reduced and the pitch control requires a large change in the pitch angle to reduce the power significantly.

II. If the blades are turned up against the wind, the turbine blades will stall (block) automatically reduce the lift on the turbine blades. This effect is obtained with a relatively small change in the pitch angle and this is called active stall control and requires more accurate control of the pitch angle.

3.3 Different representations of the turbine rotor

The most commonly applied ways of representing a WT in simulation programs are presented The representations are based on power P, torque T or power efficiency coefficient Cp. 3.3.1. Constant power - The simplest possible representation, PMECH=ct (input data), - It can be also TMECH=ct (input data),but the model is less accurate.

3.3.2. Functions and polynomial approximations - There is a way of obtaining a relatively accurate representation of a WT, using only a few parameters as input data to the turbine model, - The advantage of Cp-- representation is that it is a normalised representation, - Ex:

C p = C p ,max 1 k ( opt ) 1 k ( opt )

2

}{

where k, k, opt, opt, Cpmax are the five parameters. - For the most simple WT (passive-stall, constant speed), the problem is only two-dimensions, since =ct, so Cp=f(). - For ct, we have a three-dimensional representation

3.3.3. Table representation - Using Cp-- table, we can have matrix representation, -this is simple to understand and explain, and the accuracy is given by a suitable resolution of the matrix. The disadvantage is given by the big amount of necessary data. 3.3.4. Blade element momentum method and aeroelastic code - Torque representation is (from physical perspective) the most natural way to present the model of the turbine rotor. - BEM = blade element momentum method, is based on a separation of the blade into a number of sections along the length of each blade, - Each blade section is characterized by the blade geometry (from r=0 to R), then static forces are calculated on the blade element and Tshaft for a given VWIND, , a given turb ,, and given static aerodynamic representation.

- If the characteristic time constants are included, then the transition processes are also considered. - if the flexibility of the blade is taking into account, then the method is called the aeroelastic code. 4. Basic Modelling Block Description of Wind Turbines - In most cases WT can be represented by a generic model with six basic block elements and their interconnections: 1. the aerodynamic system, 2. the mechanical system (turbine rotor, shafts, gearbox and the generator rotor), 3. the generator drive (GE and PEC, if any), 4. the pitch control system, 5. the wind turbine control system, 6. the protection system of the WT.

1. -

Aerodynamic system The aerodynamic system of the WT is the turbine rotor (blades of the WT), In order to provide an overview of the generic model it is sufficient to express the mechanical power output of a WT with specific constructional data as a function of rotational speed, wind speed and blade angle. Mechanical system The mechanical system of the WT is the drive train (rotating masses and the connecting shaft, including a possible gear system). H inertia of turbine and generator rotor, so it can be represented as a two-mass model with a connecting shaft.

2. -

3. Generator drive concept -covers everything from the shaft and the mains terminals to the power grid; a) Fixed-speed wind turbines: Types A and B The generator drive in a fixed-speed wind turbine is only the inductor generator itself. a1) in case of the short-circuited rotor (type A WT), the rotational speed is limited to very narrow range ( determined by the slip s of the IG), - induction machine models a readily available in most power system simulation programs. a2) in case of the IG with variable rotor resistance, speed can be varied over a somewhat wider range (but still limited), and it can not be controlled directly. - from control system perspective, this type of WT must essentially be considered as a fixed-speed WT; - the generator drive=model of the IG+ control system (which determines the instantaneous value of the rotor resistance), - the vast majority of simulation programs do not contain such models.

b) Variable-speed WT: Types C and D - Variable speed generator drives enable the WT control system to adapt turb to vWIND over a relatively wide speed range, - The generator drive connects a variable-speed mechanical system with a fixed frequency electrical system, - All variable-speed GDs must be able to control the instantaneous active power output in order to maintain a power balance in the rotating mechanical system, - It is also possible to control the reactive power output. - So, GD needs externally defined reference values for P and Q. - Type C: double fed IG +partial frequency converter, - Type D: full scale converter+IG or SG.

4. Pitch servo - Applies to variable-pitch wind turbines, - The main control system produces a blade reference angle ref and the pitch servo is the actuator (actually turns the turbine blades to the ordered angle). - The blades can only be turned within certain physical limits, - For active stall-controlled wind turbines, the permissible range will be between -90 and 0 (and even a few degrees on the positive side). - For pitched controlled WT, the the permissible range will be between 0 and 90 (or even a few degrees on the negative side). - Likewise, there are limitations on the pitch speed, d/dt (the pitch speed is normaly less then 5 per seconds, although the pitch speed may exceed 10 per second during emergencies.

5. Main control system

- The exact structure of the main control system is unique for each type of WT, and even for the same type of the WT, it may vary according to the individual manufacturer. - the basic tasks of the control system are the same, to control the power and the speed of the WT. - The most significant difference is weather it is a fixed or variable-speed WT. 5.1. Fixed-speed WT: Types A and B - For fixed-speed WT, the generator can be considered to be a passive power-producing component. - The turbine blade angle is the only controllable quantity in the entire wind turbine: wind speed, turbine rotor speed and active power are measured, and the control system optimizes the blade angle in relation to the incoming wind.

- In high winds, the control system can reduce the power from the WT, thus keeping the power at the rated maximum power of the wind turbine, - In emergency situations, the blade angle control can also be used for preventive rapid power reduction. 5.2. Variable-speed wind turbines: Types C and D - in this case the generator is a much more controllable element, - in addition to the turbine blade angle, the instantaneous active and reactive powers output of the generator can be controlled, - the turbine rotational speed can be adjusted to the optimal speed as to get the Cpmax (see eq. 8). The system must contain a speed control system, to determine a reference speed. - for dimensioning reasons, the optimal reference speed is normally cut-off at a minimum and maximum permissible rotational speed corresponding to low and high wind speed situations.

the mechanical power input from the rotating system can be controlled (at least up to an upper limit determined by the incoming wind) and that the electrical power emitted through the generator also can be controlled(at least in normal grid situations with nominal voltages)this means it is always possible to control the power balance in the rotating system and thereby also the speed)!! Control strategies may differ depending on the choice made by the manufacturer: 1. It is possible to construct a single control system that could work for all wind conditions, 2. Let the blade angle control system control the speed in high winds, thus leaving it to the power control system to maintain constant, rated, maximum power. 3. In low and medium wind situations, the power control system can control the speed, thus leaving it to the blade angle control system to optimize the blade angle to the incoming wind, thereby optimizing the power production.

- Similar to fixed-speed wind turbines, the blade angle control can also be used for a preventive rapid power reduction in emergency situations. - Reactive power can also be controlled. This makes it possible to use WT for voltage control. Currently, this possibility is not made use of very often. It would seem to be only a matter of time, though, before the grid code will require large wind farms to supply such services.

6. Protection systems and relays The protection scheme of WT is based on measurements of various quantities: voltage, current and rotor speed, including possible measuring delays and various relay limits (if these limits are exceeded more then a permissible period of time, they will cause the relay to initiate a protective action, for example disconnection or preventive power reduction).