Regenerative Operation of DC-Series Machines in Pitchsystems for Multimegawatt Windturbines

Modern windmills and multimegawatt turbines are nearly exclusively equipped with electrical pitchsystems.The pitchsystem itself has to fulfill the following functions: In the case of strong wind conditions during normal operation, the system is responsible to limit the generator torque. On the other hand, the feathering position of the blades is needed to brake down the turbine in stop or emergency situations. In modern windturbines this aerodynamical brake is necessary, because the mechanical brake is designed as a holding brake and is not able to prevent overspeed conditions. The last function described is safety relevant. Because of this, pitch systems are equipped with an backup energy storage. So the blade can be put into feathering position in any case. DC-machines are preferred in pitch systems because of their capability to be supplied directly by the DC-storage unit without any control or powerelectronics. The motor must be designed especially for this battery driven operation because current and speed during emergency battery drive are depending on the mechatronical behaviour of the machine. Actually two different DC machine types are used in pitch systems: DC-series and DC-compound machines. DC- compound machines were introduced because of their natural 4Q operation area. But an actual development allows the regenerative operation also for DC-series machines and makes them very cost attractive for multimegawatt pitchsystems.