Digital twin as a virtual sensor for wind turbine applications

Abstract

Digital twins (DTs) have been implemented in various applications, including wind turbine generators (WTGs). They are used to create virtual replicas of physical turbines, which can be used to monitor and optimize their performance. By simulating the behavior of physical turbines in real time, DTs enable operators to predict potential failures and optimize maintenance schedules, resulting in increased reliability, safety, and efficiency. WTGs rely on accurate wind speed measurements for safe and efficient operation. However, physical wind speed sensors are prone to inaccuracies and failures due to environmental factors or inherent issues, resulting in partial or missing measurements that can affect the turbine’s performance. This paper proposes a DT-based sensing methodology to overcome these limitations by augmenting the physical sensor platform with virtual sensor arrays. A test bench of a direct drive WTG based on a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) was prepared, and its mathematical model was derived. MATLAB/Simulink was used to develop the WTG virtual model based on its mathematical model. A data acquisition system (DAS) equipped with an ActiveX server was used to facilitate real-time data exchange between the virtual and physical models. The virtual sensor was then validated and tuned using real sensory data from the physical turbine model. The results from the developed DT model showed the power of the DT as a virtual sensor in estimating wind speed according to the generated power.