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Appendix 1-A Need For A Variable-Speed Drive in Wind Turbines and Their Control

1) A variable-speed drive is needed in wind turbines to maximize energy capture from varying wind speeds. As wind speed changes, the turbine's rotational speed must also change to maintain the optimal tip-speed ratio for maximum power output. 2) The power harnessed from wind is determined by the wind speed, air density, swept area of the blades, and coefficient of performance (Cp). Cp depends on the tip-speed ratio and is highest at around 8. 3) To optimize power extraction as wind speed changes, the turbine's rotational speed must be controlled via a variable-speed drive to keep the tip-speed ratio at its optimal value of around 8.

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60 views3 pages

Appendix 1-A Need For A Variable-Speed Drive in Wind Turbines and Their Control

1) A variable-speed drive is needed in wind turbines to maximize energy capture from varying wind speeds. As wind speed changes, the turbine's rotational speed must also change to maintain the optimal tip-speed ratio for maximum power output. 2) The power harnessed from wind is determined by the wind speed, air density, swept area of the blades, and coefficient of performance (Cp). Cp depends on the tip-speed ratio and is highest at around 8. 3) To optimize power extraction as wind speed changes, the turbine's rotational speed must be controlled via a variable-speed drive to keep the tip-speed ratio at its optimal value of around 8.

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Appendix 1-A

Need for a Variable-Speed Drive in Wind Turbines and their Control


Figure 1 shows the generic and a simplified version on the wind-electric system where items such as the
gear-box and the transformer are not sown. Figure 2 shows the power that can be harnessed for a windturbine as a function of wind speed that is in [m/s], where begins to be harnessed beyond the cut-in speed
of approximately 3 m/s and all the power is harnessed up to the rated speed of approximately 11.5 m/s.

Fig. 1 A simplified version on the wind-electric system.

Fig. 2 Power that can be harnessed [1], as a function of the wind speed in [m/s].
The power in the wind is given as:
Pw in d

1
2

AV

(1)

where is the density of air,

is the area swept by the blades, and

is the wind velocity. The power

that can be derived and available at the turbine output is the total power times a Coefficient of
Performance,

(i.e.,

is the ratio of the power available in the wind to that harnessed):


1

1
Ptu r b in e C p Pw in d C p A V
2

(2)

where, a detailed derivation shows that in the limit, theoretically,


Performance

p , m ax

0 .5 9 2 6

. The coefficient of

in Eq. 2 is a function of the tip-speed ratio , as plotted in Fig. 1 where

Blade Tip-Speed Ratio


in which

R m ech

(3)

is the radius of the turbine blades in [m], and

m ech

is the turbine rotational speed in [rad/s],

and V is the wind speed in [m/s].

Fig. 3

cp

as a function of [1]; these curves vary based on the turbine design.

In practice, the maximum attainable value of


approximately
C

is generally around 0.48 at a pitch-angle of

degrees to catch all the wind. As shown in Fig. 3, for each blade pitch-angle ,

reaches the maximum at a particular value of the tip-speed ratio , which, for a given wind speed

can be obtained by controlling the turbine rotational speed

m ech

. The curves for various values of the

pitch-angle show that the power harnessed from wind can be regulated by controlling the pitch-angle
of the blades, and thus spilling some of the wind at very high wind speeds to prevent the power output
from exceeding its design (rated) value.
Consider the case of the pitch-angle close to

in Fig. 3 when the wind speed is somewhere between

the cut-in and the rated value in Fig. 2. From Eq. 2, to produce the maximum amount of power,

should be at its optimum value of approximately 0.48 in Fig. 3, which is obtained at the Blade Tip-Speed
Ratio of approximately 8.0. Therefore, Eq. 3 dictates that as wind speed V changes, the turbine
rotational speed

m ech

should be change to keep at its optimum value, clearly indicating the need for

a variable-speed drive in wind turbines. The way to achieve this control is described in [2].

References
1. Kara Clark, Nicholas W. Miller, Juan J. Sanchez-Gasca, Modeling of GE Wind TurbineGenerators for Grid Studies, GE Energy Report, Version 4.4, September 9, 2009.
2. Johnson, K.E.; Pao, Lucy Y.; Balas, M.J.; Fingersh, L.J., "Control of variable-speed wind
turbines: standard and adaptive techniques for maximizing energy capture," Control Systems,
IEEE, vol.26, no.3, pp.70, 81, June 2006

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