Testing State-Space Controls for the Controls Advanced Research Turbine

Control can improve wind turbine performance by enhancing energy capture and reducing dynamic loads. At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, we are implementing and testing state-space controls on the controls advanced research turbine (CART), a turbine specifically configured to test advanced controls. We show the design of control systems to regulate turbine speed in region 3 using rotor collective pitch and reduce dynamic loads in regions 2 and 3 using generator torque. These controls enhance damping in the first drive train torsion mode. We base these designs on sensors typically used in commercial turbines. We evaluate the performance of these controls by showing field test results. We also compare results from these modern controllers to results from a baseline controller for the CART. Finally, we report conclusions to this work and outline future studies.