Comparison of Optimal Control Designs for a 5 MW Wind Turbine

Optimal controllers, namely Model Predictive Control (MPC), H∞ Control (H∞), and Linear Quadratic Gaussian control (LQG), are designed for a 5 MW horizontal-axis variable-speed wind turbine. The control design models required as part of the optimal control design are obtained by using a high fidelity aeroelastic model (i.e., DNV Bladed). The optimal controllers are eventually designed in three operating modes: below-rated, just below-rated, and above rated-wind speeds, based on linearized control design models. The linearized models are reduced by using a model reduction technique to facilitate the design of optimal controllers. The controllers are analyzed not only in the time domain but also in the frequency domain and on the torque/speed plane. Simulation results demonstrated that optimal controllers perform better than the standard proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller, particularly for removing oscillation due to the drive-train mode without incorporating a drive-train damper.