Azimuth-domain detection of an occurring rotor imbalance in a wind turbine

A system for detecting an occurring imbalance in a pitchable rotor of a wind turbine, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• a memory coupled to the one or more processors and including program code that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the system to perform an operation, comprising:
• measure a dynamic characteristic of the wind turbine;
• define a sequence of dynamic values (a(ψ)) by sampling the dynamic characteristic when the rotor is at each of a plurality of azimuth angles (ψn), the sequence of dynamic values includes dynamic values obtained for the immediate at least one full rotation prior to a current azimuth angle of the rotor;
• apply an azimuth-domain transform to the sequence of dynamic values (a(ψ) to generate at least one inverse-angle component (A(γk));
• detect the imbalance based on the at least one inverse-angle component (A(γk));
• and
• initiate a pitching of the pitchable rotor to stop the rotation of the rotor.

A computer program product for detecting an occurring imbalance in a rotor of a wind turbine, comprising:

• a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium;
• and
• program code stored on the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform an operation, comprising:
• measure a dynamic characteristic of the wind turbine;
• define a sequence of dynamic values (a(ψ)) by sampling the dynamic characteristic when the rotor is at each of a plurality of azimuth angles (ψn), the sequence of dynamic values includes dynamic values obtained for the immediate at least one full rotation prior to a current azimuth angle of the rotor;
• apply an azimuth-domain transform to the sequence of dynamic values (a(ψ)) to generate at least one inverse-angle component (A(γk));
• detect the imbalance based on the at least one inverse-angle component (A(γk));
• and
• initiate a pitching of the pitchable rotor to stop the rotation of the rotor.