Blade pitch mechanism design and control for a small wind turbine

Abstract

This master's thesis involves the design and control of the blade ́s pitch angle for a small wind turbine presented to the International Small Wind Turbine Competition (ISWTC). The control of pitch mechanism will modify the position of the wind turbine blade by means of a rotation with respect to its longitudinal axis. As a result, a better control of the wind turbine power, a reduction of aerodynamic stresses, thus facilitating better operation and maintenance will be achieved. The main objectives of this project are as follows: • Design the pitch mechanism • Modelling of pitch mechanism for the controller design • Study and understanding pitch control objectives and strategies • Designing the controller and validating by numerical simulations • Realization of the controller using Arduino or equivalent device This work will start by introducing the main types of wind turbines and factors that can affect a horizontal axis generator. In addition, the aerodynamic principles that govern the operation of wind turbines are described in order to understand the importance of the pitch system. As well as a description of the blade profiles and the theories and concepts used for the aerodynamic calculations. Once the theoretical concepts of the wind turbine have been introduce, the background of the project is presented, which includes a brief description of the wind turbine that will be used as the starting point for this project. Furthermore, the requirements specified by the competition rules are also listed. Afterwards, the needed calculations for the design of the pitch mechanism, the selection of the actuator and the CAD design of the mechanism, as well as the actual constructed mechanism are presented. And immediately afterwards, the control systems are developed theoretically and the designs of the developed control system are described, along with the elements used and the Arduino code and the result obtained. Lastly, the plan and budget executed for the realisation of the project as well as the conclusions are presented with some suggestions for system improvements to be considered in the future.