Direct ice sensing and localized closed-loop heating for active de-icing of wind turbine blades

Abstract

Experimental results of closed-loop de-icing are presented using distributed optical ice sensors, temperature sensors, and resistive heaters on a stationary turbine blade part at a fixed pitch angle inside a custom icing chamber. Optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) is used for direct detection of ice on the blade. Distributed temperature sensors mounted at the leading edge of the blade are used for input to the closed-loop controller. Each resistive heater is surrounded by optical ice sensors which are used to inform a heater on/off decision. Scaling up, the experiments show that using combined OFDR with temperature sensing and distributed PID control uses a total power expenditure of less than 0.5% of the rated power under light/medium icing conditions; de-icing could yield a larger percentage of power improvement and a longer turbine up-time in cold regions. The power consumption for this localized heating is only about 10% of uniformly heating the blade. Furthermore, de-icing performance of high-intensity pulsed actuation versus continuous low intensity actuation is investigated. The results show that using high intensity pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) actuation achieves better de-icing performance than continuous PID control.

Designing Mu Robust Controller in Wind Turbine in Cold Weather Conditions

“…Effective wind speed is a nonlinear stochastic process that is approximated by a linear model in order to simplify and satisfy the control objectives [9]. There are two terms in the wind model:…”

“…In these scenarios, when the turbine blades freeze, the mass of the rotor would be changed and the electric power decreases. Then, the controller is given to regulate the speed of the generator after employing the uncertainties in the inertia and other factors [9,10]. In light of the pitch angle and the speed of the rotor the kind of wind turbine applied in this research has different rotor speed and different pitch angle.…”

Pitch angle control of wind turbine systems in cold weather conditions using $$\mu$$ μ robust controller

“…The control system has also been affected by these conditions. Indeed, the performance of the turbine system deteriorates through false information sending [13]. Previous papers dealing with this problem have proposed methods such as observation, the use of sensors and monitors, considering aerodynamic sound, etc.…”

“…to identify ice. The control systems are then designed to destroy the ice [13,14,21]. In this paper, a new strategy is advanced for the first time to improve the wind turbine performance in cold weather conditions and prevent the damage which brings about the shutdown of the turbine.…”

“…In these circumstances, as the turbine blades freeze, the rotor mass changes and the electric power reduces. Therefore, the controller is designed to adjust the speed of the generator after applying the uncertainties in the inertia and other factors [13,14]. In light of the pitch angle and the rotor speed, the type of wind turbine used in this paper has variable rotor speed and variable pitch angle.…”