Development of Hybrid Blade Angle Control System for Traversing Wind Turbines

Abstract

In this paper, we consider a Passive-type Traversing Wind Turbine (PTWT) and propose a control system to improve power generation and windbreaker effect of the wind turbine. Wind power has been becoming more popular worldwide and several types of wind turbines to match different operating environments and objectives have been researched. As one of them, we have started to study a special type of Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) which may also solve wind disaster problems in agricultural areas. The parallel mechanism in this type of wind turbine makes it difficult to adjust blades angle, therefore the mechanism has trouble changing blade angle during sudden inversions in wind direction. However, by using a passive mechanism that only uses the power of the wind, the wind turbine can keep up with sudden inversions in wind direction. In addition, active control is possible by attaching actuators, and hybrid control (passive and active) may increase the efficiency of power generation and windbreaker effect. We conduct wind-tunnel tests to evaluate the incleased effectiveness of power generation using the hybrid control system. Additionally, we investigate drag of the wind turbine to clarify the windbreaker effect using the developed system.