Fault-tolerant Control of a Wind Turbine with a Squirrel-cage Induction Generator and Rotor Bar Defects

Wind turbines are usually installed on remote locations and in order to increase their economic competence malfunctions should be reduced and prevented. Faults of wind turbine generator electromechanical parts are common and very expensive. This paper proposes a fault-tolerant control strategy for variable-speed variable-pitch wind turbines in case of identified and characterised squirrel-cage generator rotor bar defect. An upgrade of the torque control loop with flux-angle-based torque modulation is proposed. In order to avoid or to postpone generator cage defects, usage of pitch controller in the low wind speed region is introduced. Presented fault-tolerant control strategy is developed taking into account its modular implementation and installation in available control systems of existing wind turbines to extend their life cycle and energy production. Practical implementation aspects such as estimation of variables used in control and estimate errors are considered and respected in operation, as well as fault-induced asymmetries. Simulation results for the case of a megawatt class wind turbine and the identified rotor bar fault are presented.