Abstract
The combined wind speed estimator and tip-speed ratio (WSE-TSR) tracking
wind turbine control scheme has seen recent and increased traction from
the wind industry. The modern control scheme provides a flexible
trade-off between power and load objectives. In academia, the
Kω2 controller is often used based on its
simplicity and steady-state optimality and is taken as a baseline here.
This paper demonstrates the steady-state equivalence and dynamic
differences between these controllers and presents a systematic
procedure for their optimal calibration. For calibration of the control
schemes, a multi-objective optimisation problem is formulated with the
conflicting objectives of power maximisation and torque fluctuations
minimisation. The optimisation problem is solved by approximating the
Pareto front based on the set of optimal solutions found by an
explorative search. The Pareto fronts obtained for calibration of the
baseline and for increasing fidelities of the WSE-TSR tracking
controller show that no optimal solution exists, translating into
increased power capture with respect to the baseline
Kω2 controller. The frequency-domain analysis,
however, shows increased control bandwidth for tip-speed ratio reference
tracking for the solution leading to power maximisation. If the
objective is to reduce the torque variance, the controller bandwidth
decreases with a mild penalty on the energy yield. High-fidelity
simulations confirm this trend, proving that, if properly calibrated,
the WSE-TSR tracking controller obtains approximately the same generated
power of the baseline while reducing torque actuation effort.