Wind turbine speed control by automatic yawing
A yaw dynamics analysis was developed for a two-bladed horizontal axis wind turbine with passive cyclic pitch variation achieved by letting the blade pair freely oscillate about a common axis with which the blades formed a small prelag angle. This type of rotor was found capable of high yaw rates without imposing vibratory hub moments and without producing noticeable flapping amplitudes. Experiments were conducted with a tail vane stabilized 7.6-m-diam wind rotor driving a three-phase alternator tuned and loaded to produce a rotor torque proportional to the square of the rotor speed. Two yaw control systems which replaced the usual blade feathering controls were investigated: an active yaw control system using a hydraulic rotor speed governor, and a passive system responding to a combination of rotor thrust and torque. During strong gusts both systems limited rotor speed quite accurately. The passive system appeared to be more promising because of its greater reliability and because of the greater ease of adapting it to larger size wind turbines.
- Research Organization:
- Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
- OSTI ID:
- 6761629
- Journal Information:
- J. Energy; (United States), Vol. 7:3
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
TURBINE BLADES
AERODYNAMICS
TILT MECHANISMS
WIND TURBINES
CONTROL SYSTEMS
AIR FLOW
ALTERNATORS
AMPLITUDES
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
HYDRAULIC CONTROL DEVICES
INCIDENCE ANGLE
OSCILLATIONS
POSITIONING
RELIABILITY
ROTORS
SPEED REGULATORS
TORQUE
CONTROL EQUIPMENT
ELECTRIC GENERATORS
EQUIPMENT
FLUID FLOW
FLUID MECHANICS
GAS FLOW
MACHINERY
MECHANICS
TURBINES
TURBOMACHINERY
170602* - Wind Energy Engineering- Turbine Design & Operation