Data Logging and Control For Wind Turbine Applications

Delphin ProfiMessage Modular System

CAS DataLoggers was recently approached by a systems integrator that was designing the electronics for a new wind turbine. Their original design had used a compact data acquisition system from a leading manufacturer, but they had experienced several measurement issues during the first installation and they felt that the cost of the hardware and software was too high for the production systems. They had also evaluated HMI, data acquisition, and data logging systems and found that they lacked the flexibility to accommodate all of their needs. Subsequently they came to CAS DataLoggers with the following list of requirements and asked for a solution that would meet their specific needs.

System Requirements:

• A minimum of 10 analog inputs for a variety of parameters including:
  • Thermocouples for temperature at several locations;
  • AC voltage and current input and output;
  • 4-20 mA inputs for a variety of other sensors
• Seven 24 VDC digital inputs for monitoring the state of different switches/relays/actuators
• Four 24 VDC digital output for control of relays and actuators
• High speed counter/encoder inputs for two speed measurements
• Local intelligence with calculations to implement their control algorithms and logic for alarm definition
• One or two 4-20 mA outputs for control electronics
• A local display for operating parameters
• An Ethernet interface for remote monitoring and data download
• A USB memory slot interface for local data download

After a careful analysis of all of these requirements, CAS DataLoggers provided the integrator with a Delphin ProfiMessage data acquisition and control system to perform the data logging and control for the wind turbine. The ProfiMessage system was very flexible in that the main chassis offered 2 slots for a variety of analog and digital I/O cards and could be expanded with additional slave chassis if additional inputs or outputs were needed. For this project, one slot was fitted with a 10 channel analog input card and the second slot a digital I/O card with 12 digital/counter inputs and 16 digital outputs.  The ProfiMessage offered 4 serial ports and Modbus support which allowed the use of a low-cost Modbus HMI for the local display. To monitor the generator AC power input/output, two WattNode transducers with Modbus interfaces were integrated on a RS-485 bus. 

Additionally, the ProfiMessage system could be equipped with up to 16 GB of memory for storage of up to 30 billion measured values.  A USB master interface allowed data stored in internal memory to be easily offloaded to a memory stick. The system featured an Ethernet interface to allow remote communication for viewing live data, programming or data retrieval, and an internal web server allowed simple remote monitoring from a standard web browser. A comprehensive library of math, logic and statistical functions allowed users to easily implement the control algorithm and alarm set points.

The Delphin Profimessage system was a very cost effective alternative to the other systems the customer was considering, as it was only half as expensive as the original data acquisition system chosen for the project. The flexibility of the ProfiMessage allowed all of the design requirements to be easily satisfied with the ability to expand the number of inputs or outputs if the requirements suddenly changed. For example, shortly after installation, the customer also considered adding the ProfiMessage’s optional vibration analysis card to allow real-time monitoring of the high speed rotating parts of the gearbox and generator.