Gain-scheduling control of a floating offshore wind turbine above rated wind speed

This paper presents an application of gain-scheduling(GS) control techniques to a floating offshore wind turbine on a barge platform for above rated wind speed cases. Special emphasis is placed on the dynamics variation of the wind turbine system caused by plant nonlinearity with respect to wind speed. The turbine system with the dynamics variation is represented by a linear parameter-varying(LPV) model, which is derived by interpolating linearized models at various operating wind speeds. To achieve control objectives of regulating power capture and minimizing platform motions, both linear quadratic regulator(LQR) GS and LPV GS controller design techniques are explored. The designed controllers are evaluated in simulations with the NREL 5 MW wind turbine model, and compared with the baseline proportional-integral(PI) GS controller and non-GS controllers. The simulation results demonstrate the performance superiority of LQR GS and LPV GS controllers, as well as the performance trade-off between power regulation and platform movement reduction.

Variation in cross-shore wind speeds influenced by the morphology of nourished beach

The cross-shore variation in wind speeds influenced by beach nourishment,especially the dramatic changes at the nourished berm,is important for understanding the aeolian sand transport processes that occur after beach nourishment,which will contribute to better beach nourishment project design on windy coasts.In this paper,the influencing factors and potential mechanism of wind speed variation at the edge of a nourished berm were studied.Field observations,together with the Duna model,were used to study the cross-shore wind speed distribution for different nourishment schemes.The results show that the nourished berm elevation and beachface slope are the main factors controlling the increase in wind speed at the berm edge.When the upper beach slope is constant,the wind speed at the berm edge has a positive linear correlation with the berm elevation.When the berm elevation remains constant,the wind speed at the berm edge is also proportional to the upper beach slope.Considering the coupling effects of nourished berm elevation and beachface slope,a model for predicting the wind speed amplification rate at the nourished berm edge was established,and the underlying coupling mechanism was illustrated.