Diagnosis of wind turbine faults using generator current signature analysis: a review
Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering
ISSN: 1355-2511
Article publication date: 22 October 2019
Issue publication date: 15 June 2020
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the wide dissemination and application of current signature analysis (CSA) in general industry, CSA is not commonly used in the wind industry, where the use of vibration signals predominates. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to review the use of generator CSA (GCSA) in the online fault detection and diagnosis of wind turbines (WTs).
Design/methodology/approach
This is a bibliographical investigation in which the use of GCSA for the maintenance of WTs is analyzed. A section is dedicated to each of the main components, including the theoretical foundations on which GCSA is based and the methodology, mathematical models and signal processing techniques used by the proposals that exist on this topic.
Findings
The lack of appropriate technology and mathematical models, as well as the difficulty involved in performing actual studies in the field and the lack of research projects, has prevented the expansion of the use of GCSA for fault detection of other WT components. This research area has yet to be explored, and the existing investigations mainly focus on the gearbox and the doubly fed induction generator; however, modern signal treatment and artificial intelligence techniques could offer new opportunities in this field.
Originality/value
Although literature on the use of GCSA for the detection and diagnosis of faults in WTs has been published, these papers address specific applications for each of the WT components, especially gearboxes and generators. For this reason, the main contribution of this study is providing a comprehensive vision for the use of GCSA in the maintenance of WTs.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the University of Valladolid and University of Guayaquil for the assistance in the preparation of this research. The authors would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their assistance in the improvement of the study.
Citation
Merizalde, Y., Hernández-Callejo, L., Duque-Pérez, O. and Alonso-Gómez, V. (2020), "Diagnosis of wind turbine faults using generator current signature analysis: a review", Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 431-458. https://doi.org/10.1108/JQME-02-2019-0020
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited