Boosting Wind Harvest: FOPID Pitch Angle Controller for Turbines

Abstract

Wind turbine blades are subjected to a variety of loads, including aerodynamic and gravitational loads. These loads produce aerodynamic strain and vibration in the blades, resulting in rotor blade damage and a reduction in the wind turbine’s system efficiency. This could be prevented by implementing a proper pitch angle controller that plays a crucial role in boosting the energy capture and overall performance of wind power systems. The conventional Proportional-Integral-Derivative, PID, controller has been widely utilized for pitch control, but it often faces challenges in meeting the requirements of complex and dynamic wind conditions. To address these limitations, this study explores the implementation of the Fractional Order Proportional-Integral-Derivative, FOPID, controller for wind turbine pitch control. This paper presents a comparative analysis between the PID and FOPID controllers for wind turbine pitch control. The performance of both controllers is evaluated through Simulink. The results demonstrate that the FOPID controller exhibits superior performance in terms of faster response time, and improved steady-state error compared to the PID controller.