System and method for detecting and responding to failures in a drivetrain of a wind turbine

A drivetrain assembly of a wind turbine, the drivetrain assembly comprising:

• a rotor shaft for coupling to a rotor of the wind turbine;
• a gearbox coupled to the rotor shaft;
• a generator coupled to the gearbox via a generator shaft;
• and
• a controller for controlling operation of the wind turbine, the controller comprises at least one processor, the at least one processor configured to perform a plurality of operations, the plurality of operations comprising:
• estimating a first rotational speed signal at a first location along the drivetrain via one or more rate gyroscopes mounted in the wind turbine, the first rotational speed signal being a proxy for rotor speed of the rotor of the wind turbine;
• receiving a second rotational speed signal from a second location along the drivetrain assembly, the second location being downwind from the first location, the first and second locations being on opposing sides of a potential slip location of the drivetrain assembly;
• processing the first rotational speed signal using the second rotational speed signal to account for a bias in the first rotational speed signal resulting from estimating the first rotational speed signal via the one or more rate gyroscopes;
• determining a speed error based on a comparison of the processed first rotational speed signal and the second rotational speed signal;
• comparing the speed error to a threshold;
• and
• implementing a control action for the wind turbine when the speed error exceeds the threshold.