Initial results from the field testing of the “rotor as a sensor” concept

Abstract

This work reports preliminary findings on the field validation of the “rotor as a sensor” concept. In a nutshell, the idea is to use the rotor response in order to measure the wind inflow, effectively turning the whole rotor into a sort of generalized anemometer capable of estimating wind speed, shears and directions. In turn, these quantities can be used for optimizing turbine and farm-level performance. Here a purely data-driven method is used, where a wind observer is first identified using flow field measurements (obtained by a met-mast) together with the corresponding blade root load harmonics. Once the observer has been identified, the wind inflow is estimated online during turbine operation by feeding it with measured blade root harmonics. Preliminary results reported herein seem to be very encouraging.