Electrical & Computer Engineering, Department of
Date of this Version
5-29-2012
Citation
Qiao, Wei "Online Nonintrusive Condition Monitoring and Fault Detection for Wind Turbines" (May 29, 2012)
Abstract
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................. iii
LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... iv
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ vii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................1
1 INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................3
2 BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................7
2.1 Motivation ................................................................................................................7
2.2 Project Goal and Objectives .....................................................................................8
2.3 Qualifications and Experience of the Project Team ................................................9
3 CURRENT-BASED WIND TURBINE CMFD TECHNOLOGIES ................................10
3.1 Modulation of Current Signals by a Wind Turbine Fault ......................................10
3.2 Current Demodulation ...........................................................................................13
3.2.1 Frequency Demodulation ...........................................................................13
3.2.2 Amplitude Demodulation ...........................................................................14
3.2.3 Benefits of Using Current Demodulation ..................................................14
3.3 1P-Invariant PSD Method ......................................................................................14
3.4 Wavelet Filter .........................................................................................................17
3.5 Impulse Detection ..................................................................................................18
4 SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION PLATFORMS .......................20
4.1 Simulation Validation Platform .............................................................................20
4.1.1 WTG Model ...............................................................................................20
4.2.2 Wind Speed Data .......................................................................................21
4.2 Experimental Validation Platform .........................................................................22
5 WIND TURBINE IMBALANCE FAULT DETECTION ................................................24
5.1 The Characteristic Frequencies of Imbalance Faults .............................................24
5.2 Simulation Study of Imbalance Fault Detection ....................................................26
5.3 Experimental Study of Imbalance Fault Detection ................................................29
5.3.1 Detection of Blade Imbalance...................................................................29
5.3.2 Detection of Bent Blades...........................................................................35
5.3.3 Detection of Aged Blade............................................................................38
5.3.4 Detection of Blade Defects........................................................................40
5.3.5 Detection of Generator Magnet Damage...................................................42
6 WIND TURBINE BEARING FAULT DETECTION ......................................................44
6.1 The Characteristic Frequencies of Single-Point Bearing Faults ............................44
6.1.1 Types of Single-Point Bearing Faults ........................................................44
6.1.2 Bearing Fault Signatures in Stator Current Signals ...................................45
6.2 Single-Point Bearing Fault Detection ....................................................................46
6.2.1 WTG with Healthy Bearings .....................................................................46
6.2.2 WTG with a Bearing Cage Broken Fault ...................................................48
6.2.3 WTG with an Out-Race Fault ....................................................................52
6.3 Incipient Bearing Fault Detection ..........................................................................54
7 ACCOMPLISHMENTS ....................................................................................................56
7.1 Publications ............................................................................................................56
7.2 Presentations ..........................................................................................................57
7.3 Patent......................................................................................................................57
8 CONCLUSIONS................................................................................................................58
9 RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................60
REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................61