A Review of Diagnostic Methods for Yaw Errors in Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines

Yaw errors occur in wind turbines either during the installation stage or because of the aging of devices. It reduces the wind speed in the rotor axial direction and increases the structural loads in the lateral direction. Diagnosing yaw error rapidly and accurately is crucial for avoiding the intro...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Qian Li, Danyang Chen, Hangbing Lin, Xiaolei Yang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Energies
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/3/588
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Summary:Yaw errors occur in wind turbines either during the installation stage or because of the aging of devices. It reduces the wind speed in the rotor axial direction and increases the structural loads in the lateral direction. Diagnosing yaw error rapidly and accurately is crucial for avoiding the introduced under-performance. In this review paper, we first introduce the fundamental concepts and principles of wind turbine yaw control strategies, and we discuss two types of yaw errors (i.e., the static yaw error and the dynamic yaw error) with their corresponding causes. Subsequently, we outline the existing yaw error diagnostic methods, which are based on the LiDAR (light detection and ranging) data, the SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) data, or a combination of the two, and we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various methods. At last, we emphasize that the diagnostic performance can be improved via the combination of the LiDAR data and the SCADA data, and it benefits from an in-depth understanding of the salient features and influential factors associated with the yaw error. Meanwhile, the potential of intelligent clusters and digital twins for detecting yaw errors is discussed.
ISSN:1996-1073