Prof. Dr. Bill Leithead
Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Strathclyde Glasgow, Glasgow G1 1XQ, UK
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Academic Career Length
13Years (2014-Present)
(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)
Representative Publications
View All Publications2 March 2018 in International Journal of Automation and Computing
Journal Article
A gain-scheduled feedforward controller, based on pseudo-LIDAR (light detection and ranging) wind speed measurement, is designed to augment the baseline feedback controller for wind turbine’s load reduction in above rated operation. The pseudo-LIDAR measurement data are generated from a commercial software – Bladed using a designed sampling strategy. The nonlinear wind turbine model has been simplified and linearised at a set of equilibrium operating points. The feedforward controller is firstly developed based on a linearised model at an above rated wind speed, and then expanded to the full above rated operational envelope by employing gain scheduling strategy. The combined feedforward and baseline feedback control is simulated on a 5 MW industrial wind turbine model. Simulation studies demonstrate that the proposed control strategy can improve the rotor and tower load reduction performance for large wind turbines.
16 June 2014 in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
Conference Paper
YHY Han
Y Han
Bill LeitheadIf each blade of the wind turbine has individual pitch actuator, there is possibility of employing the pitch system to mitigate structural loads through advanced control methods. Previously, considerable reduction of blade lifetime equivalent fatigue loads has been achieved by Individual Blade Control (IBC) and in addition, it has also been shown the potential in blade ultimate loads reduction. However, both fatigue and ultimate loads impact on the design and life of wind turbine blades. In this paper, the design and application of IBC that concurrently reduce both blade fatigue and ultimate loads is investigated. The contributions of blade load spectral components, which are 1P, 2P and edgewise mode from blade in-plane and/or out-of-plane bending moments, are firstly explored. Four different control options for reducing various combinations of these load components are compared. In response to the different spectral peaks of both fatigue and ultimate loads, the controller has been designed so that it can act on different frequency components which vary with wind speed. The performance of the IBC controller on fatigue and ultimate load reduction is assessed by simulating a 5MW exemplar wind turbine. Simulation results show that with a proper selection of controlling inputs at different wind speed, the use of a single combined IBC can achieve satisfactory reduction on both fatigue and ultimate loads.
Journal Article
David Campos-Gaona
Adam James Stock
Olimpo Anaya-Lara Bill LeitheadIn this paper, a novel concept to integrate High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC)-connected offshore wind power plants with the onshore grid is presented. The concept makes use of a holistic wind farm controller along with a fully instrumented conventional synchronous generator at the point of common coupling. In our approach, the wind farm is able to replicate the natural response of the generator to a system, even enabling the wind farm to reproduce, in a scaled up manner, a range of ancillary services without having to rely on indirect frequency measurements which are prone to noise and delays. Simulation results are presented to validate the proposed solution.
Journal Article
Bill Leithead
Abbas Kazemi AmiriACArthur Camciuc
Arthur CamciucMMMorgan Morgan
Morgan MorganJCJames Carroll
James CarrollJFJulian Feuchtwang
Julian FeuchtwangThe cost of energy generated by large-scale vertical-axis wind turbines faces great challenges for it to be competitive with conventional horizontal-axis wind turbines for offshore deployment. To become competitive, significant reductions in capital cost and operational costs would be competitive. A novel vertical-axis wind turbine that aims to meet these requirements is proposed: the X-rotor wind turbine. An early-stage feasibility study of exemplary two- and three-bladed 5 MW turbines is reported. The cost savings arising from two aspects of the concept that have the greatest impact, namely the power take-off system and O&M, are quantified. Two other aspects that could have a major impact on the cost of energy are the vertical axis rotor and the jacket. The masses for both are evaluated as proxies for their costs. The former costs are determined to be substantial relative to those of conventional HAWTs. Whereas the latter masses are determined not to be prohibitively greater relative to conventional HAWTs.
Journal Article
This contribution presents a novel methodology to evaluate the lifetime extension potential of wind turbines—taking towers as the key component that preserves onshore turbines’ structural integrity—as a consequence of the difference between design and site-specific loads. Specifically, attention is drawn to the site-specific wind direction distribution, which provides an additional source of lifetime extension potential. For this purpose, variants of closed-form solutions (based on the tower section’s normal stress) are developed to enable fatigue damage accumulation due to fore-aft and side-to-side bending moments at any point on the tower circumference without the need for further information on tower section geometry or material properties. Based on the degree of data availability, different scenarios are defined to estimate lifetime extension potential from the accurate tower’s normal stress and approximations using resultant bending moment, fore-aft bending moment, and finally, wind rose data only. The methodology is applied to a wind farm case study using the actual SCADA data with a partially validated turbine’s aeroelastic model to obtain operational loads. The results indicate that this quick and fairly accurate approach can be used as an initial stage in identifying wind turbines across large farms, which have the largest lifetime extension potential.
1 January 2015 in IFAC-PapersOnLine
Journal Article
About Me
Prof. William Edward Leithead received the B.Sc. degree in mathematical physics and the Ph.D. degree in theoretical physics from the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK, in 1971 and 1976, respectively. He is currently an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK. Prior to 2024, he led the Wind Energy and Control Centre at the University of Strathclyde. From 2009 to 2024, he was Director of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Wind Energy Systems and its successors, the Centre for Doctoral Training in Wind and Marine Energy Systems and the Centre for Doctoral Training in Wind and Marine Energy Systems and Structures. These EPSRC Centres have collectively trained approximately 200 PhD students. He was, also, Chair of the Supergen Wind Hub, the major EPSRC research programme from 2006 to 2019. Prof. Leithead has been conducting research into Wind Energy since 1988 when he founded the wind energy research group at University of Strathclyde. His research interests include the design of wind turbines, the modelling and simulation of wind turbines and wind farms, and the dynamic analysis and control of wind turbines and wind farms. Prof. Leithead has been the recipient of more than 75 research grants and is the author of more than 300 academic publications. In addition, he has been involved in many collaborative projects with the Wind Energy industry related to the design of controllers and wind turbines.