Operational Pitch Actuation Dynamics for Offshore Wind Turbines Ranging from 5 to 50 MW

ABSTRACT Modern wind turbines have been continuously growing in size due to the increased power generation and reduced costs associated with larger rotors and more abundant wind resources offshore. In order to effectively implement pitch control on blades that are longer, more flexible, and heavier...

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Main Authors: Michael Jeong, Eric Loth, Chris Qin, Mandar Phadnis, Manuel Pusch, Lucy Pao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-02-01
Series:Wind Energy
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/we.2975
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author Michael Jeong
Eric Loth
Chris Qin
Mandar Phadnis
Manuel Pusch
Lucy Pao
author_facet Michael Jeong
Eric Loth
Chris Qin
Mandar Phadnis
Manuel Pusch
Lucy Pao
author_sort Michael Jeong
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT Modern wind turbines have been continuously growing in size due to the increased power generation and reduced costs associated with larger rotors and more abundant wind resources offshore. In order to effectively implement pitch control on blades that are longer, more flexible, and heavier than ever before, modern electric pitch systems must provide enough torque to overcome blade pitch inertia and loads while providing suitable control response frequencies. Despite this need, there is limited published research on the sizing of such pitch systems at extreme scales. This study models peak pitching power and pitch actuator torque requirements in Regions 2 and 3 turbulent wind conditions. The developed model considers blade pitch response, pitching moments, pitch system dynamics, and blade aeroelasticity. The model is applied using an integrated wind turbine code used to simulate the turbine response of a 25‐MW offshore reference turbine with advanced pitch control under standardized turbulent wind conditions. The results show that the fastest pitch response requirements occur in Region 3 wind speeds just above the rated wind speed and that the peak pitch actuator torque requirements are correlated with maximum pitching moments. The model is extended to turbines ranging from 5 to 50 MW to develop a simplified scaling power law based on only the product of blade mass and mean chord length. This scaling law predicts maximum pitch actuator torque and maximum power consumed from pitch actuation based on results from computational simulations of multiple extreme‐scale reference turbines. This study provides useful insights for the design and sizing of pitch systems in large‐scale wind turbines.
format Article
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institution Kabale University
issn 1095-4244
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language English
publishDate 2025-02-01
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series Wind Energy
spelling doaj-art-2c507cc451ea4730b4e7c78168edc25b2025-01-30T10:32:39ZengWileyWind Energy1095-42441099-18242025-02-01282n/an/a10.1002/we.2975Operational Pitch Actuation Dynamics for Offshore Wind Turbines Ranging from 5 to 50 MWMichael Jeong0Eric Loth1Chris Qin2Mandar Phadnis3Manuel Pusch4Lucy Pao5Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering University of Virginia Charlottesville Virginia USADepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering University of Virginia Charlottesville Virginia USADepartment of Engineering and Computer Science Washington State University Vancouver Vancouver Washington USADepartment of Electrical, Computer & Energy Engineering University of Colorado Boulder Boulder Colorado USADepartment of Mechanical, Automotive, and Aeronautical Engineering University of Applied Sciences Munich Munich GermanyDepartment of Electrical, Computer & Energy Engineering University of Colorado Boulder Boulder Colorado USAABSTRACT Modern wind turbines have been continuously growing in size due to the increased power generation and reduced costs associated with larger rotors and more abundant wind resources offshore. In order to effectively implement pitch control on blades that are longer, more flexible, and heavier than ever before, modern electric pitch systems must provide enough torque to overcome blade pitch inertia and loads while providing suitable control response frequencies. Despite this need, there is limited published research on the sizing of such pitch systems at extreme scales. This study models peak pitching power and pitch actuator torque requirements in Regions 2 and 3 turbulent wind conditions. The developed model considers blade pitch response, pitching moments, pitch system dynamics, and blade aeroelasticity. The model is applied using an integrated wind turbine code used to simulate the turbine response of a 25‐MW offshore reference turbine with advanced pitch control under standardized turbulent wind conditions. The results show that the fastest pitch response requirements occur in Region 3 wind speeds just above the rated wind speed and that the peak pitch actuator torque requirements are correlated with maximum pitching moments. The model is extended to turbines ranging from 5 to 50 MW to develop a simplified scaling power law based on only the product of blade mass and mean chord length. This scaling law predicts maximum pitch actuator torque and maximum power consumed from pitch actuation based on results from computational simulations of multiple extreme‐scale reference turbines. This study provides useful insights for the design and sizing of pitch systems in large‐scale wind turbines.https://doi.org/10.1002/we.2975electric pitch systemsextreme‐scale wind turbinesindividual pitch controlpitch actuation energy losspitch motor torquepitch system design
spellingShingle Michael Jeong
Eric Loth
Chris Qin
Mandar Phadnis
Manuel Pusch
Lucy Pao
Operational Pitch Actuation Dynamics for Offshore Wind Turbines Ranging from 5 to 50 MW
Wind Energy
electric pitch systems
extreme‐scale wind turbines
individual pitch control
pitch actuation energy loss
pitch motor torque
pitch system design
title Operational Pitch Actuation Dynamics for Offshore Wind Turbines Ranging from 5 to 50 MW
title_full Operational Pitch Actuation Dynamics for Offshore Wind Turbines Ranging from 5 to 50 MW
title_fullStr Operational Pitch Actuation Dynamics for Offshore Wind Turbines Ranging from 5 to 50 MW
title_full_unstemmed Operational Pitch Actuation Dynamics for Offshore Wind Turbines Ranging from 5 to 50 MW
title_short Operational Pitch Actuation Dynamics for Offshore Wind Turbines Ranging from 5 to 50 MW
title_sort operational pitch actuation dynamics for offshore wind turbines ranging from 5 to 50 mw
topic electric pitch systems
extreme‐scale wind turbines
individual pitch control
pitch actuation energy loss
pitch motor torque
pitch system design
url https://doi.org/10.1002/we.2975
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AT mandarphadnis operationalpitchactuationdynamicsforoffshorewindturbinesrangingfrom5to50mw
AT manuelpusch operationalpitchactuationdynamicsforoffshorewindturbinesrangingfrom5to50mw
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