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Low-Rank Distributed Control with Application to Wind Energy

Madjidian, Daria LU (2014) In PhD Thesis TFRT-1103
Abstract
This thesis addresses three different topics in wind power plant operation.



Most of the research is focused on controlling a wind farm that is required to meet a power set-point. In this mode of operation, the wind turbines are able to vary their power production as long as the total power demand is met. The research investigates how this freedom can be used in order to reduce the fatigue loads experienced by the wind turbines. The problem is studied in a linear-quadratic control setting where the objective is to minimize the total fatigue load experienced by the turbines, while satisfying a requirement on their joint power production. It is shown that, under certain assumptions, the design problem can be drastically... (More)
This thesis addresses three different topics in wind power plant operation.



Most of the research is focused on controlling a wind farm that is required to meet a power set-point. In this mode of operation, the wind turbines are able to vary their power production as long as the total power demand is met. The research investigates how this freedom can be used in order to reduce the fatigue loads experienced by the wind turbines. The problem is studied in a linear-quadratic control setting where the objective is to minimize the total fatigue load experienced by the turbines, while satisfying a requirement on their joint power production. It is shown that, under certain assumptions, the design problem can be drastically simplified. In particular, the computational effort needed to obtain the solution is independent of the number of wind turbines and the only centralized operation required to implement the optimal control law is a single summation. The research also explains the mechanisms that make power allocation schemes useful for load reduction.



Part of the research addresses wake effects in wind farms by developing a low-complexity model of the aerodynamic interaction between wind turbines. The model is used in a series of examples, where the wind turbines coordinate their power productions in order to maximize the power production of the wind farm. The examples indicate that the benefit of power coordination increases with the number of turbines in the wind farm. They also identify the underlying mechanisms behind this effect.



The last topic of the thesis is to investigate the benefits of using preview of the incoming wind speed in order to reduce structural loads on the wind turbine tower. The main focus is to understand how measurement distortion influences the achievable load reduction as well as the required length of preview. Results from high-fidelity simulations based on real wind turbine measurements indicate that the use of preview can lead to a significant reduction of tower fatigue loads and that the length of preview needed to attain the reduction does not exceed a few seconds. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Prof. Jovanovic, Mihailo, University of Minnesota, USA
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
in
PhD Thesis TFRT-1103
publisher
Department of Automatic Control, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund University
defense location
Lecture hall M:B, M-building, Ole Römers väg 1, Lund University Faculty of Engineering
defense date
2014-06-13 10:00:00
ISSN
0280-5316
0280-5316
ISBN
978-91-7623-004-6 (web)
978-91-7623-003-9 (print)
project
LCCC
AEOLUS
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
9ff63e87-e754-414d-a21f-275cf2c074b6 (old id 4438759)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:28:19
date last changed
2019-05-23 16:10:05
@phdthesis{9ff63e87-e754-414d-a21f-275cf2c074b6,
  abstract     = {{This thesis addresses three different topics in wind power plant operation.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Most of the research is focused on controlling a wind farm that is required to meet a power set-point. In this mode of operation, the wind turbines are able to vary their power production as long as the total power demand is met. The research investigates how this freedom can be used in order to reduce the fatigue loads experienced by the wind turbines. The problem is studied in a linear-quadratic control setting where the objective is to minimize the total fatigue load experienced by the turbines, while satisfying a requirement on their joint power production. It is shown that, under certain assumptions, the design problem can be drastically simplified. In particular, the computational effort needed to obtain the solution is independent of the number of wind turbines and the only centralized operation required to implement the optimal control law is a single summation. The research also explains the mechanisms that make power allocation schemes useful for load reduction.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Part of the research addresses wake effects in wind farms by developing a low-complexity model of the aerodynamic interaction between wind turbines. The model is used in a series of examples, where the wind turbines coordinate their power productions in order to maximize the power production of the wind farm. The examples indicate that the benefit of power coordination increases with the number of turbines in the wind farm. They also identify the underlying mechanisms behind this effect.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The last topic of the thesis is to investigate the benefits of using preview of the incoming wind speed in order to reduce structural loads on the wind turbine tower. The main focus is to understand how measurement distortion influences the achievable load reduction as well as the required length of preview. Results from high-fidelity simulations based on real wind turbine measurements indicate that the use of preview can lead to a significant reduction of tower fatigue loads and that the length of preview needed to attain the reduction does not exceed a few seconds.}},
  author       = {{Madjidian, Daria}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-7623-004-6 (web)}},
  issn         = {{0280-5316}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Department of Automatic Control, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund University}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  series       = {{PhD Thesis TFRT-1103}},
  title        = {{Low-Rank Distributed Control with Application to Wind Energy}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/3391164/4442920.pdf}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}