Individual Pitch Control of Wind Turbine System by Estimating Wind Speed Using Pitching Moment

Wind energy conversion systems (WECS) have become increasingly common in recent years as a result of global warming. WECS needs to release the wind through pitch control during high winds. In this study, a novel method for individual pitch control (IPC) via pitching moment estimation is designed. The conventional IPC method considers the blade load, without keeping the rotor speed at the rated value. This study proposes the application of a reaction force observer (RFOB) to the pitch actuators to estimate the pitching moment of each blade. Using the pitching moment information, we estimate the wind speed for each blade, enabling IPC to simultaneously achieve load reduction and maintain the rotor speed at the rated value. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified via simulations and experiments.