An innovative method to calibrate a spinner anemometer without the use of yaw position sensor

Abstract. A spinner anemometer can be used to measure the yaw misalignment and flow inclination experienced by a wind turbine. Previous calibration methods used to calibrate a spinner anemometer for flow angle measurements were based on measurements of a spinner anemometer with default settings (arbitrary values, generally k_1,d  =  1 and k_2,d  =  1) and a reference yaw misalignment signal measured with a yaw position sensor. The yaw position sensor is normally present in wind turbines for control purposes; however, such a signal is not always available for a spinner anemometer calibration. Therefore, an additional yaw position sensor was installed prior to the spinner anemometer calibration. An innovative method to calibrate the spinner anemometer without a yaw positions sensor was then developed. It was noted that a non-calibrated spinner anemometer that overestimates (underestimates) the inflow angle will also overestimate (underestimate) the wind speed when there is a yaw misalignment. The new method leverages the non-linearity of the spinner anemometer algorithm to find the calibration factor F_α by an optimization process that minimizes the dependency of the wind speed on the yaw misalignment. The new calibration method was found to be rather robust, with F_α values within ±2.7 % of the mean value for four successive tests at the same rotor position.