Laurence Alhrshy

In this paper, the integration of the dynamic behavior of the flywheel system into the load simulation tool OpenFAST is presented. The flywheel system enables a wind turbine to vary the inertia of its rotor blades to control the power production and, most importantly, to affect the vibratory behavior of wind turbine components. Consequently, in order to simulate the behavior of a wind turbine with a flywheel system in its rotor, the variable blade characteristics need to be considered in the load simulation tool. Currently, computer-aided engineering tools for simulating the mechanical loads of wind turbines are not designed to simulate variable blade inertia. Hence, the goal of this paper is to explain how variable inertias of rotor blades are implanted in such load simulation tools as OpenFAST. OpenFAST is used because of it is free, publicly available, and well documentation. Moreover, OpenFAST is open source, which allows modifications in its source code. This add-on in the load simulation is applied to correct rotor mass imbalance. It can also be applied in many cases related to the change in the inertia of wind turbine rotor blades during its operation as, for example, atmospheric ice accretion on the blades, smart blades, etc.

In this paper, the design of a flexible piston accumulator for application in a hydraulic-pneumatic flywheel system in a wind turbine rotor is presented. The flywheel system enables a wind turbine to vary the inertia of its rotor blades to control the power output and, most importantly, to influence the vibratory behaviour of wind turbine components. The method used for designing the flexible accumulator is based on the one hand on test results of a flexible piston accumulator prototype, and on the other hand, on simulation results of a model of a flexible piston accumulator. As a result, a design of flexible piston accumulators for application in the flywheel system is implemented and compared with the design of conventional steel accumulators. Due to the proposed design of the flywheel system, the impact on the mechanical loads of a wind turbine is analysed. The simulation results show that the new design of the piston accumulators causes a lower impact on the mechanical loads of the wind turbine than a previously published design of piston accumulators. It is further shown that the considered wind turbine can take on the flywheel system without the need for reinforcements in the rotor blades.