Fault estimation of wind turbines using combined adaptive and parameter estimation schemes

This paper addresses the problem of fault estimation in wind turbines using a joint fault and state estimation scheme. The scheme assumes a set of possible faults affecting the dynamics of the wind turbine. Then, a combined adaptive and parameter estimation scheme is developed taking into consideration that process disturbances and sensor noises are unknown but bounded in an ellipsoid. Two subcases are considered depending on the satisfaction of a certain rank condition. The proposed approach is applied to a wind turbine based on a benchmark system model. The benchmark represents relevant fault scenarios, including sensor, actuator, and process faults. The proposed approach focuses on the last group of faults. Finally, the obtained results show that a satisfactory fault estimation is achieved against a set of predefined fault scenarios.