Wind Turbine Doctor: Monitoring the Condition of Wind Turbines by Means of Stochastic Analysis of Operating Data

The operation of a wind turbine is determined by turbulent fluctuations in the wind, which are extremely difficult to predict. This, in turn, subjects the wind turbine to loads which shorten its service life. With the intelligent use of high-resolution data, it is possible to coordinate the management and operation of turbines more efficiently.

As part of the Wind Turbine Doctor project, use of the “dynamic power curve” (DPC) is planned, employing high-frequency and noisy measurement data for early fault detection. Furthermore, it is also to be checked whether the method can be used on a large scale for load case analyses. This would facilitate the monitoring of components and the early detection of damage – without requiring the use of an expensive measuring system, leading to lower repair costs and lost earnings caused by curtailment and shutdowns.

In the Wind Turbine Doctor project, Fraunhofer IWES acts as an interface between university research and industrial application. To this end, two goals are being pursued: the measurement of loads on a wind turbine from the project partner DWT and development of a DPC method for industrial applications.