Performance assessment of wind turbine pitch systems based on multi-dimensional indicators

Abstract

The inevitable performance degradation of components will reduce the reliability and the availability of wind turbines. Therefore, performing the performance assessment of components can optimize the operation and maintenance strategy of wind turbines and improve the management of wind farms. Pitch systems play a key role in wind turbines to collect wind energy. The blade angle is regulated by the pitch system not only to maintain the efficiency of wind energy conversion, but also to protect wind turbines from high wind speeds and emergency situations. This paper proposes a framework of performance assessment of pitch systems based on multi-dimensional indicators. First, the structure and function of pitch systems are analysed in details. Second, four performance assessment indicators: the functional performance indicator, power loss indicator, heat dissipation indicator and reliability indicator are presented to assess the degradation trend of pitch systems. Third, the proposed methodology is validated on a dataset collected from a real wind farm in China. The results show that the proposed method is effective in implementing the performance assessment of pitch systems.