Robust Gain Scheduled Control of a Hydrokinetic Turbine Part 2: Testing

A vertical-axis hydrokinetic-turbine speed control system was developed in ¿Robust Gain Scheduled Control of a Hydrokinetic Turbine Part 1: Design¿ that guarantees stability and performance properties for the entire range of operation including tracking of the maximum power point below rated speeds and power regulation above rated speed. Secondary objectives included explicit incorporation of a tuning method to adjust the trade-off between reference tracking and load transients as well as the use of an advanced control methodology that has a high probability of industry acceptance. An H_¿ LPV (linear parameter varying) controller was developed based on a physical model of the system and iterative simulation based testing. This paper focuses on the results of simulation and field testing on a 5kW hydrokinetic turbine with results compared to a fixed point PI controller tuned for reference tracking only.