Fuzzy Airflow-Based Active Structural Control of Integrated Oscillating Water Columns for the Enhancement of Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Stabilization

Abstract

This paper presents the modeling and stabilization of a floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) using oscillating water columns (OWCs) as active structural control. The novel concept of this work is to design a new FOWT platform using the ITI Energy barge with incorporated OWCs at opposite sides of the tower, in order to alleviate the unwanted system oscillations. The OWCs provide the necessary opposing forces to the bending moment of the wind upon the tower and the waves upon the floating barge platform. However, the forces have to be synchronized with the tilting of the system which will be ensured by the proposed fuzzy airflow control strategy. Using the platform pitch angle, the fuzzy airflow control opens the valve of one side and closes the valve of the other side accordingly. Results of simulation in comparison with the standard FOWT and a PID-based airflow control show the efficiency of the fuzzy airflow control and its superiority to decrease the platform pitching and the top tower fore-aft displacement.

Design and stability analysis of a new six-floater oscillating water column-based floating offshore wind turbine platform

“…Zhu et al 19 have conducted an experimental study integrating OWCs in a semisubmersible FOWT reduce the motion of the platform. M’zoughi et al 20 , 21 integrated two OWCs into a barge platform in front and behind a 5 MW National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) wind turbine to study the reduction effects on vibration caused by heading waves by integrating the hydrodynamic forces induced by the OWCs. In a similar line, Aboutalebi et al 22 have studied the performance a barge-type FOWT platform equipped with four OWCs, showing significant reductions in oscillations, indicative of the potential of OWC integration in enhancing the stability and efficiency of the FOWT system.…”

Adaptive Backstepping Integral Sliding Mode Control for 5DOF Barge-Type OFWT under Output Constraint

“…Environmental stress leads to severe vibration effects on offshore platforms, causing deck platform failure, structural failure, operational failure, and even injury to workers. Currently, two methodologies are generally used to reduce structural loads and extend the life of offshore wind turbines [5][6][7][8]. The first method uses blade pitch control to minimize the thrust force of the rotor, while the second technique involves vibration suppression devices which have three modes: passive, semi-active, and active.…”