Operating characteristics of a mechanical governor for a variable-speed wind turbine generator. Kahensoku furyoku hatsuden system ni okeru mechanical governor no unten tokusei

Blade pitch control is an important structural element to deal flexibly with variable speed winds. The operating characteristics of a mechanical governer for a 15kW variable-speed wind turbine generator equipped with a 15-meter diameter rotor are reported. The output power of the generator in the demonstrative operation was close to the design value. The mechanical governor regulates the increase in the rotor rotation within 125% of the rated value for flexible, safe and firm control with the pitch angles varied in the range from 5 to 22 {degree} from the angle for the rated number of rotation. Delays in the pitch control time against the change in the generator rotation speed were about 0.5 to 2.1 seconds, and smaller with higher rotating speed. The rate of pitch angle variation is nearly proportional to the number of rotation with the maximum of 6.8 {degree}/s. As the result, the mechanical governor can be very effectively applied to the variable-speed wind turbine generator as an automatic pitch control device which requires no auxiliary power. 5 refs., 10 figs., 1 tab.