Designing and prototyping the architecture of a digital twin for wind turbine

Abstract

This paper outlines the key components necessary to develop a digital twin (DT) for a wind turbine, aiming to provide a detailed methodology and guidelines for building this system, which facilitates optimization during operation and helps prevent system failures. It presents the four major systems required to construct the DT: the physical, digital, connection, and service systems. This study also presents the critical design, measured, and calculated parameters of a wind turbine, which are essential to the development of the DT. The physical system of the wind turbine is examined, and the critical components, including the rotor, blades, shaft, generator, tower, and nacelle, are discussed in detail. The paper also explores the digital system of the DT, including data storage, digital models, and mathematical modelling. The problems that may occur during the operation were presented in addition to the possible solutions that the service system must suggest. According to the project's needs and requirements, it was found that the DT of a wind turbine can employ various connection systems such as supervisory control and data acquisition, wireless sensor networks, smart grids, Internet of Things, and cloud-based systems.