Artificial Neural Network Based Fault Diagnostic System for Wind Turbines

Increasing global energy demand and decreasing energy resources have led to an increase in the use of renewable energy resources. In terms of continuity and accessibility of energy, wind energy has the largest share among these resources. The size of the energy demand also increases the turbine dimensions. Due to the growing turbine sizes and increasing electrical power, safety and efficiency factors, the system requires a detection structure against failures. In this study, fault detection was carried out in a three-bladed, horizontal axis, pitch-controlled, 4.8MW turbine. Various data gathered from the system are processed by a decision structure and it makes a decision about the system status. Input data, measured or obtained by various calculations, are used in fault diagnosis with artificial neural network(ANN).