Abstract
Gearbox is a concern in modern wind turbines, increasing the maintenance cost and therefore the cost of energy (COE). A hydrostatic transmission (HST) improves the turbine drivetrain reliability by using slightly compressible mineral oil as the working medium rather than a rigid gearbox. An HST eliminates the power converter since it is a continuous variable transmission (CVT), making the turbine simpler and more cost effective. The turbine operates below the rated wind speed for a considerable time in a year, making the variable hydraulic motor run at partial displacement for the most common configuration of a hydrostatic wind turbine, a fixed displacement pump and a variable displacement motor. This results in low drivetrain efficiency. Moreover, large variable displacement motors for megawatt turbine are commercially unavailable. A digitalized hydrostatic drive for a modern wind turbine is proposed to improve the drivetrain efficiency at low wind speeds. The digital coding method for hydrostatic wind turbine is studied. A dynamic simulation model of the digitalized hydrostatic (dHST) wind turbine has been developed in Simulink. A widely used efficiency model for the hydrostatic pump and motors is used in the simulation to make the study practical. The proposed digitalized hydrostatic solution has been compared with a conventional hydrostatic solution. Simulation results show the benefits of digitalized hydrostatic transmission over conventional hydrostatic transmission in drivetrain efficiency, system complexity and cost.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | ASME/BATH 2017 Symposium on Fluid Power and Motion Control, FPMC 2017 |
Publisher | American Society of Mechanical Engineers |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9780791858332 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2017 |
Event | ASME/BATH 2017 Symposium on Fluid Power and Motion Control, FPMC 2017 - Sarasota, United States Duration: Oct 16 2017 → Oct 19 2017 |
Publication series
Name | ASME/BATH 2017 Symposium on Fluid Power and Motion Control, FPMC 2017 |
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Other
Other | ASME/BATH 2017 Symposium on Fluid Power and Motion Control, FPMC 2017 |
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Country/Territory | United States |
City | Sarasota |
Period | 10/16/17 → 10/19/17 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:Copyright © 2017 ASME