Wind Energy Application
Intro to Wind Energy System
There is a high demand for simple and inexpensive control systems in the wind energy industry. The electrical output must remain synchronized with the utility grid or else the wind turbine will be disconnected from the utility grid. It could take up to several hours to rec-connect the wind turbine to the utility grid. Thus, a disconnection would leave the wind turbine unproductive for a significant period of time. The quality of the utility grid's output power is dependent on whether the wind turbine remains synchronized to the utility grid.This makes a reliable control system invaluable to a wind energy system.
Brief Overview of Wind Energy System
The wind will cause the wind turbine to rotate at a particular frequency. An electrical output will then be generated from this frequency and then fed into a control system. Next, the control system will compare the frequency of the electrical output to a desired frequency, which is typically 60 Hz. If the frequency of the electrical output does not match 60 Hz then a control signal will be sent back to the turbine to adjust the propeller's pitch.*
*Pitch is the angles of the individual propeller blades
Propeller Airplane Application
Intro to Propeller Airplane Application
The propellers on airplane's may have deviations in both frequency and phase. Deviations in frequency cause audible beats that will make the passengers less comfortable on their flight. Thus a control system is needed to synchronize the frequency of the propellers in order to increase the comfort of the passengers.
Overview of a Propeller Airplane System
The propeller airplane system composes of two propellers that are designated as the "Master" and "Slave" propellers. The deviations in the frequency and phase of the two propellers will cause the control system to emit a control signal that will adjust the "Slave" propeller until it matches that of the "Master" propeller.
Note: These overviews do not represent the extensiveness of each of the above systems. The overview is meant to convey the general application of control systems in various fields.