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An up to date review of continuously variable speed wind turbines with mechatronic variable transmissions
Author(s) -
Yin Xiuxing
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.3908
Subject(s) - mechatronics , continuously variable transmission , wind power , variable speed wind turbine , variable (mathematics) , transmission (telecommunications) , engineering , turbine , power transmission , power (physics) , reliability (semiconductor) , control engineering , variable renewable energy , automotive engineering , electric power system , computer science , electrical engineering , mechanical engineering , permanent magnet synchronous generator , mathematical analysis , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , magnet
Summary As a promising and potential alternative to conventional fixed or variable speed wind turbines, continuously variable speed wind turbines (CVSWTs) with variable transmissions offer improved power efficiency and enhanced power control capabilities. The CVSWTs can be generally achieved by adapting mechatronic variable transmissions in the turbine drive train for continuously variable speed operations for wind turbines. Therefore, this paper serves to provide an up to date and exhaustive review of the CVSWTs with mechatronic variable transmissions such as mechanical variable transmission, electrical variable transmission, and power splitting transmission. In this paper, the analysis of CVSWTs with different mechatronic transmission topologies is performed regarding basic configurations, dynamic characteristics, control principles, and experimental or simulation results. Review results indicate the feasibility of applying CVSWTs with such mechatronic transmissions and highlight superiorities of the CVSWTs with power splitting transmission. The CVSWT with power splitting transmission will be particularly suitable for megawatt‐scale turbine systems and will hence increase the economic competitiveness of these turbines due to its large power capacity and high reliability. The directions or challenges for future investigations of CVSWTs with such mechatronic transmissions are also presented to foster in‐depth understanding of such CVSWTs and their control strategies.