Development of Wind Turbine Fault Analysis Setup based on DFIG Hardware in the Loop Simulator

Background and Objectives: Renewable energy, like wind turbines, is growing rapidly in the world today due to environmental pollution, so their maintenance plans are very important. Fault diagnosis and fault-tolerant approaches are typical methods to reduce the cost of energy production and downtime of Wind Turbines (WTs). Methods: In this paper, a new Hardware In the Loop (HIL) simulator based on Double Feed Induction Generator (DFIG) for fault diagnosis and fault-tolerant control is proposed. The system developed as a laboratory bed uses a generator with a power of about 90 kW, which is connected from two sides to a back-to-back power converter with a power of one-third of the generator power. The generator is connected to a motor as a propulsion and wind energy replacement with a power of about 110 kW, and this connection is established through a gearbox with a gear ratio of more than three. Results: The effectiveness of the proposed simulator is evaluated based on different fault representations back-to-back converter and generator.Conclusion: The experiment shows that the Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) is improved by the proposed simulator and the fault is modeled before serious damage occurs. This setup is effective for the development of wind turbine fault analysis software. As the testing on real WTs is very expensive, to improve and develop the research fields of condition monitoring and WT control, this low-cost setup is effective.