An optimal control approach for a wind turbine drivetrain with the objective of maximizing energy harvesting and minimizing noise emission is presented. One of the major challenges facing the public acceptance for continuous growth of wind turbine installation is its noise emission. However, reducing the noise emission could lead to decreased wind energy harvesting. As a result, a tradeoff arises between power generation and noise emission, especially when a wind turbine operates under the partial-load condition.
This paper will show that through controlling the generator electromagnetic torque and/or the blade pitch angle, an optimal tradeoff between wind turbine energy harvesting and noise emission can be obtained. The dynamic model of a wind turbine drivetrain and a noise emission prediction model are also presented. Simulation results of using the proposed control design for different wind speed ranges are analyzed and compared.
