Individual Blade Pitch Control for Alleviation of Vibratory Loads on Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Pustina ◽  
Claudio Pasquali ◽  
Jacopo Serafini ◽  
Claudio Lugni ◽  
Massimo Gennaretti

Abstract Among the renewable energy technologies, offshore wind energy is expected to provide a significant contribution for the achievement of the European Renewable Energy (RE) targets for the next future. In this framework, the increase of generated power combined with the alleviation of vibratory loads achieved by application of suitable advanced control systems can lead to a beneficial LCOE (Levelized Cost Of Energy) reduction. This paper defines a control strategy for increasing floating offshore wind turbine lifetime through the reduction of vibratory blade and hub loads. To this purpose a Proportional-Integral (PI) controller based on measured blade-root bending moment feedback provides the blade cyclic pitch to be actuated. The proportional and integral gain matrices are determined by an optimization procedure whose objective is the alleviation of the vibratory loads due to a wind distributed linearly on the rotor disc. This control synthesis process relies on a linear, state-space, reduced-order model of the floating offshore wind turbine derived from aero-hydroelastic simulations provided by the open-source tool OpenFAST. In addition to the validation of the proposed controller, the numerical investigation based on OpenFAST predictions examines also the corresponding control effort, influence on platform dynamics and expected blade lifetime extension. The outcomes show that, as a by-product of the alleviation of the vibratory out-of-plane bending moment at the blade root, significant reductions of both cumulative blade lifetime damage and sway and roll platform motion are achieved, as well. The maximum required control power is less than 1% of the generated power.

Author(s):  
Xianping Du ◽  
Laurent Burlion ◽  
Onur Bilgen

Abstract This paper aims to demonstrate the application of control co-design methodology for the rotor blades of a floating offshore wind turbine. A 10 MW reference wind turbine model is utilized in the co-design framework. In this paper, the coupling effect between the system, defined by the pre-cone angle, and the controller, defined by pitch angle, is analyzed with a parametric study. The system parameters of the blade are identified by exciting the system with a step input, and by using the step response. The identified model is used to demonstrate the coupling effects of the structural parameters. The control co-design process is implemented to reduce the blade root bending moment by controlling the pitch angle as a function of the pre-cone angle. Utilizing the 10 MW reference model, the proposed control co-design method can reduce the blade root bending moment and attenuate transverse vibrations faster than the original design. Compared to a sequentially designed controller, the co-design demonstrated reduction of the blade root bending moment with similar attenuation time.


Author(s):  
H. K. Jang ◽  
H. C. Kim ◽  
M. H. Kim ◽  
K. H. Kim

Numerical tools for a single floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) have been developed by a number of researchers, while the investigation of multi-unit floating offshore wind turbines (MUFOWT) has rarely been performed. Recently, a numerical simulator was developed by TAMU to analyze the coupled dynamics of MUFOWT including multi-rotor-floater-mooring coupled effects. In the present study, the behavior of MUFOWT in time domain is described through the comparison of two load cases in maximum operational and survival conditions. A semi-submersible floater with four 2MW wind turbines, moored by eight mooring lines is selected as an example. The combination of irregular random waves, steady currents and dynamic turbulent winds are applied as environmental loads. As a result, the global motion and kinetic responses of the system are assessed in time domain. Kane’s dynamic theory is employed to formulate the global coupled dynamic equation of the whole system. The coupling terms are carefully considered to address the interactions among multiple turbines. This newly developed tool will be helpful in the future to evaluate the performance of MUFOWT under diverse environmental scenarios. In the present study, the aerodynamic interactions among multiple turbines including wake/array effect are not considered due to the complexity and uncertainty.


Author(s):  
Yajun Ren ◽  
Vengatesan Venugopal

Abstract The complex dynamic characteristics of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines (FOWTs) have raised wider consideration, as they are likely to experience harsher environments and higher instabilities than the bottom fixed offshore wind turbines. Safer design of a mooring system is critical for floating offshore wind turbine structures for station keeping. Failure of mooring lines may lead to further destruction, such as significant changes to the platform’s location and possible collisions with a neighbouring platform and eventually complete loss of the turbine structure may occur. The present study focuses on the dynamic responses of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)’s OC3-Hywind spar type floating platform with a NREL offshore 5-MW baseline wind turbine under failed mooring conditions using the fully coupled numerical simulation tool FAST. The platform motions in surge, heave and pitch under multiple scenarios are calculated in time-domain. The results describing the FOWT motions in the form of response amplitude operators (RAOs) and spectral densities are presented and discussed in detail. The results indicate that the loss of the mooring system firstly leads to longdistance drift and changes in platform motions. The natural frequencies and the energy contents of the platform motion, the RAOs of the floating structures are affected by the mooring failure to different degrees.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 3737 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thanh Dam Pham ◽  
Hyunkyoung Shin

Floating offshore wind turbines promise to provide an abundant source of energy. Currently, much attention is being paid to the efficient performance and the economics of floating wind systems. This paper aims to develop a spar-type platform to support a 5-MW reference wind turbine at a water depth of 150 m. The spar-type platform includes a moonpool at the center. The design optimization process is composed of three steps; the first step uses a spreadsheet to calculate the platform dimensions; the second step is a frequency domain analysis of the responses in wave conditions; and the final step is a fully coupled simulation time domain analysis to obtain the dynamic responses in combined wind, wave, and current conditions. By having a water column inside the open moonpool, the system’s dynamic responses to horizontal and rotating motions are significantly reduced. Reduction of these motions leads to a reduction in the nacelle acceleration and tower base bending moment. On the basic of optimization processes, a spar-type platform combined with a moonpool is suggested, which has good performance in both operational conditions and extreme conditions.


2022 ◽  
Vol 355 ◽  
pp. 03068
Author(s):  
A.P. Crowle ◽  
PR Thies

The construction and installation engineering of floating offshore wind turbines is important to minimize schedules and costs. Floating offshore wind turbine substructures are an expanding sector within renewable power generation, offering an opportunity to deliver green energy, in new areas offshore. The floating nature of the substructures permits wind turbine placement in deep water locations. This paper investigates the construction and installation challenges for the various floating offshore wind types. It is concluded that priority areas for project management and design engineers minimising steel used in semi submersible construction, reducing the floating draft of Spars and for Tension Leg Platforms developing equipment for a safe installation. Specifically tailored design for construction and installation includes expanding the weather window in which these floating substructures can be fabricated, transported to and from offshore site and making mooring and electrical connection operations simpler. The simplification of construction methodology will reduce time spent offshore and minimise risks to installation equipment and personnel. The paper will include the best practice for ease of towing for offshore installation and the possible return to port for maintenance. The construction and installation process for a floating offshore wind turbine varies with substructure type and this will be developed in more detail in the paper. Floating offshore wind structures require an international collaboration of shipyards, ports and construction vessels, though to good project management. It is concluded that return to port for maintenance is possible for semi submersibles and barges whereas for Spars and TLP updated equipment is required to carry out maintenance offshore. In order to facilitate the construction and to minimize costs, the main aspects have to be considered i.e., the required construction vessel types, the distance from fit-out port to site and the weather restrictions.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 2608
Author(s):  
Hyeonjeong Ahn ◽  
Hyunkyoung Shin

Floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) experience fluctuations in their platforms, owing to the various wave and wind conditions. These fluctuations not only decrease the output of the wind power generation system, but also increase the fatigue load of the structure and various equipment mounted on it. Therefore, when designing FOWTs, efficient performance with respect to waves and other external conditions must be ensured. In this study, a model test was performed with a 10 MW floating offshore wind turbine. The model test was performed by scaling down a 10 MW FOWT model that was designed with reference to a 5 MW wind turbine and a semisubmersible platform by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the DeepCwind project. A scale ratio of 1:90 was used for the model test. The depth of the East Sea was considered as 144 m and, to match the water depth with the geometric similarity of mooring lines, mooring tables were installed. The load cases used in the model test are combined environmental conditions, which are combined uniform wind, regular waves and uniform current. Especially, Model tests with regular waves are especially necessary, because irregular waves are superpositions of regular waves with various periods. Therefore, this study aimed to understand the characteristics of the FOWTs caused by regular waves of various periods. Furthermore, in this model test, the effect of current was investigated using the current data of the East Sea. The results obtained through the model tests were the response amplitude operator (RAO) and the effective RAO for a six degrees-of-freedom motion. The results obtained from the model tests were compared with those obtained using the numerical simulation. The purpose of this paper is to predict the response of the entire system observed in model tests through simulation.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (13) ◽  
pp. 2519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim ◽  
Kwon

In the present study, a numerical framework for predicting the aerodynamic performance and the aeroelastic behavior of floating offshore wind turbine rotor blades involving platform motion was developed. For this purpose, the aerodynamic and structural analyses were conducted simultaneously in a tightly coupled manner by exchanging the information about the aerodynamic loads and the elastic blade deformations at every time step. The elastic behavior of the turbine rotor blades was described by adopting a structural model based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam. The aerodynamic loads by the rotor blades were evaluated by adopting a blade element momentum theory. The numerical simulations were conducted when the platform of the wind turbine independently moves in each of the six degrees-of-freedom directions consisting of heave, sway, surge, roll, pitch, and yaw. It was observed that flexible blades exhibit complicated vibratory behaviors when they are excited by the aerodynamic, inertia, and gravitational forces simultaneously. It was found that the load variation caused by the platform surge or pitch motion has a significant influence on the flapwise and torsional deformations of the rotor blades. The torsional deformation mainly occurs in the nose-down direction, and results in a reduction of the aerodynamic loads. It was also found that the flapwise root bending moment is mainly influenced by the platform surge and pitch motions. On the other hand, the edgewise bending moment is mostly dictated by the gravitational force, but is not affected much by the platform motion.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasper Jessen ◽  
Kasper Laugesen ◽  
Signe M. Mortensen ◽  
Jesper K. Jensen ◽  
Mohsen N. Soltani

Floating offshore wind turbines are complex dynamical systems. The use of numerical models is an essential tool for the prediction of the fatigue life, ultimate loads and controller design. The simultaneous wind and wave loading on a non-stationary foundation with a flexible tower makes the development of numerical models difficult, the validation of these numerical models is a challenging task as the floating offshore wind turbine system is expensive and the testing of these may cause loss of the system. The validation of these numerical models is often made on scaled models of the floating offshore wind turbines, which are tested in scaled environmental conditions. In this study, an experimental validation of two numerical models for a floating offshore wind turbines will be conducted. The scaled model is a 1:35 Froude scaled 5 MW offshore wind turbine mounted on a tension-leg platform. The two numerical models are aero-hydro-servo-elastic models. The numerical models are a theoretical model developed in a MATLAB/Simulink environment by the authors, while the other model is developed in the turbine simulation tool FAST. A comparison between the numerical models and the experimental dynamics shows good agreement. Though some effects such as the periodic loading from rotor show a complexity, which is difficult to capture.


Author(s):  
Hyeonjeong Ahn ◽  
Hyunkyoung Shin

Abstract The area of renewable energy is expanding rapidly worldwide, with wind turbines being an example. In Korea, many researchers are conducting studies on floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) on areas with suitable wind resources. In particular, Ulsan, which is the site selected in this study, started research on the development of a 200-MW floating offshore wind farm. In this study, the references for upscaling are the 5-MW reference wind turbine of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and the OC4-DeepCwind semisubmersible type floating wind turbine. We upscaled the 5-MW wind turbine to a 10-MW FOWT by applying the appropriate scale ratio for each component of the turbine. We upscaled the specifications related to items such as the blades, hub, and nacelle using the power ratio. The mass of the blades was reduced by using carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP). We upscaled the specifications related to the tower using its deflection ratio, and the tower clearance criterion and the tower campbell diagram were used to confirm that the design is appropriate. We upscaled the specifications related to the platform using the upper structure mass ratio. The GZ curve of the platform was used to confirm the stability, and we used the air gap for safety. Three catenary type mooring lines were also designed. To understand the static response of the initial model of the 10-MW FOWT, a steady-state analysis was performed according to each wind speed. We followed the IEC and DNV standards, and we used NREL FAST in all simulations.


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