Multi-head attention transformer and Bayesian inference recommendation engine-based blade icing detection framework for wind turbines

Abstract Icing accumulation on wind turbine blades significantly diminishes power output and revenue generation. Traditional icing detection methods, including sensor-based and model-based approaches, heavily rely on domain knowledge, contrasting with data-centric methods. However, a balanced distribution of normal and abnormal instances in wind turbine data is imperative. In this research, we propose a framework for blade icing detection utilizing a multi-head attention mechanism-based transformer. Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) data is collected from wind turbines on Hitra Island, Norway, with a 10-min average interval over 12 months. To address dimensionality challenges, an autoencoder-based data compression technique is employed, followed by the application of a multi-head attention transformer for icing detection. We investigate and compare the performance of two baseline deep learning methods: convolutional neural network (CNN) and Convolutional Neural Network-Long Short-Term Memory (CNN-LSTM), against our proposed transformer framework. The results demonstrate superior accuracy and F1-score by the proposed model compared to CNN and CNN-LSTM. Additionally, we delve into a recommendation engine grounded in Bayesian inference. This engine assesses the risk associated with specific control actions, estimating conditional risk for icing and non-icing events on wind turbine blades. This Bayesian recommendation engine holds promise for real-time deployment scenarios.