5178results about "Wind motor monitoring" patented technology

A camera assembly arranged on an unmanned and autonomously navigating aerial vehicle is employed to inspect a surface area of for material defects. The vehicle is automatically flown to the surface area from a launch site, wherein it can fly around obstacles using automatic obstacle detection and avoidance methods. A relative position of the aerial vehicle with respect to the surface area with the aid of a position sensor is continuously measured and a sequence of images of the surface area is recorded. Between the individual images, the aerial vehicle is moved along a flight path overlapping image details of the surface area. The images of the sequence are composed into an overall image of the surface area to allow for the surface area to be inspected for defects and the location of defects to be ascertained on the basis of the overall image.

A system and method are provided to monitor the health and performance of a wind turbine gearbox. A plurality of sensors coupled to the wind turbine gearbox provide input to a controller. The controller generates output information that includes performance and health information of the wind turbine gearbox based on the input received from each of the sensors.

A floating wind turbine platform includes a floatation frame (105) that includes three columns (102, 103) that are coupled to each other with horizontal main beams (115). A wind turbine tower (111) is mounted above a tower support column (102) to simplify the system construction and improve the structural strength. The turbine blades (101) are coupled to a nacelle (125) that rotates on top of the tower (111). The turbine's gearbox generator and other electrical gear can be mounted either traditionally in the nacelle, or lower in the tower (111) or in the top of the tower-supporting column (102). The floatation frame (105) includes a water ballasting system that pumps water between the columns (102, 103) to keep the tower (111) in a 10 vertical alignment regardless of the wind speed. Water-entrapment plates (107) are mounted to the bottoms of the columns (102, 103) to minimize the rotational movement of the floatation frame (105) due to waves.

A wind turbine system includes a variable blade assembly including adjustable sails and wing shaped masts expanding the wind velocity capture envelope. The blade assembly turns a hydraulic pump, which pressurizes fluid and stores the pressurized fluid in a chamber in the support tower. Pressurized fluid is directed via an electronically controllable proportioning valve to a hydraulic motor which is coupled to an electric generator. A computer control module operates the proportioning valve regulating pressure to the hydraulic motor, maintaining generator rotational speed, and providing consistent output frequency to the power grid. Stored energy in the high pressure tank is used to continue generator operation after the winds cease, allowing early warning notification to the power management system of impending power loss. Residual pressure maintained in the high pressure tank allows restart operations via hydraulic pressure rather than power grid energy drain. On site high energy capacitors store additional energy.

A method and system for inspecting a wind turbine is provided. The method includes providing at least one remotely operated aerial platform (ROAP), providing at least one non-destructive evaluation (NDE) device attached to the ROAP, and providing at least one distance measuring system attached to the ROAP. The distance measuring system is used for determining the distance between the ROAP and at least a portion of the wind turbine. The method also includes positioning the ROAP so that the at least one non-destructive evaluation device captures data used for inspecting the wind turbine.

Techniques and apparatuses for wind turbine component fatigue load measurement and assessment are disclosed. In one embodiment the component is a tower, fore-aft and side-to-side signals from a two-axis accelerometer attached to a bedplate of a wind turbine are used to measure tower fatigue loads. A yaw axis azimuth position signal can also be used for tower fatigue load measurement and assessment.

A method for operating a wind turbine having at least one blade includes determining an ambient air operating envelope and controlling a power output of the wind turbine at least partially based on the determined ambient air operating envelope. Determining an ambient air operating envelope includes measuring at least one of an ambient air temperature, an ambient air pressure, an ambient air humidity, and wind turbine power output. The method also includes comparing at least one of a measured ambient air temperature, a measured ambient air humidity and a measured ambient air pressure to predetermined ambient air temperature, pressure and humidity values. The method further includes referencing the predetermined ambient air temperature, pressure and humidity values to at least one operational parameter of the wind turbine. The method also includes determining if an existing wind turbine power output is within a range associated with the determined ambient air operating envelope.

A method for determining rotor blade deflection, wherein a rotor blade is coupled to a hub, includes coupling a first end of a beam to the rotor blade, positioning a second end of the beam adjacent the hub, measuring the deflection of the beam using at least one sensor, and determining the deflection of the blade based on the deflection of the beam.

A method of detecting the formation of ice on the blades of a wind turbine 1. The wind turbine has at least one turbine blade 2 mounted to a rotor and provided with at least a first strain sensor 4 for measuring mechanical strain of the turbine blade. The method comprises detecting changes in an output signal of the strain sensor 4 due to changes in the mass of the turbine blade 2 caused by the formation of ice on the turbine blade.

A method for monitoring a wind turbine is provided. The method includes defining at least one subsystem of the wind turbine and providing a simulation model for the at least one subsystem. During normal operation of the wind turbine at least an input parameter of the at least one subsystem is determined A behavior of the at least one subsystem is simulated using the at least one input parameter as an input of the simulation model. Based on the simulated behavior, it is determined, if the at least one subsystem operates within a given specification.

An apparatus and a method used to determine the speed and direction of the wind experienced by a wind turbine are provided. The apparatus comprises at least one sensor fixed to the rotor of the wind turbine, an angular sensor to measure the angular position of the rotor of the wind turbine, and a circuit which converts the relationship between the output of the at least one sensor and the output of the angular sensor into the speed and direction of the wind experienced by the wind turbine. According to the invention, the sensing apparatus can measure the wind speed and direction in three dimensions. In addition, mounting the sensors directly to the rotor of the wind turbine results in a very simple and robust installation. Mounting the sensors directly to the rotor also eliminates the turbulence from the rotor and the nacelle of the wind turbine from affecting the sensors.

A tethered airborne wind-driven power generation device providing, in various embodiments, a main tether and plurality of auxiliary tethers, feedback controls for continuously adjusting pitch, roll and yaw, and a Vee-shaped configuration for disposing rotors along the frame of the device. The auxiliary tethers avoid slack and resultant transient instability, and the Vee-shaped rotor disposition takes advantage of upwash or any other aerodynamic benefit from the rotors adjacent to it, to improve efficiency.

A gearbox condition monitoring system comprises at least one vibration sensor located on a gearbox casing. A processing unit is coupled to the vibration sensor and is configured to receive signals representative of the detected vibrations from the vibration sensor. The processing unit may be operable to process the signals representative of detected vibrations of gears and bearings and to compute at least one dynamic energy index or location of fault.

A wireless sensing device for use in a wind turbine having a sensor capable of measuring one or more parameters for wind turbine operation. The sensing device also include a transmission device capable of wirelessly transmitting one or more signals corresponding to the one or more measured parameters to a controller. An independent power source is included to power the transmission device and the sensor. A method for system for operating and monitoring wind turbine operation are also disclosed.

The present disclosure is directed to a digital twin interface for managing a wind farm having a plurality of wind turbines. The digital twin interface includes a graphical user interface (GUI) displaying a digital equivalent of the wind farm. For example, the digital equivalent of the wind farm includes environmental information and a digital representation of each of the wind turbines arranged in the wind farm. The interface also includes a control icon arranged with each of the digital representations of the wind turbines. In certain embodiments, the control icons of each wind turbine may correspond to a control dial. More specifically, the control icon of each digital representation of the wind turbines includes information regarding current and optimum operating conditions of the digital wind turbine. The interface also includes one or more control features configured to optimize performance of the wind farm.

An embodiment of the invention provides a method, a device and a system for controlling wind alignment correction of wind turbine generator systems. The method includes acquiring environmental wind speed values, yawing wind alignment angle measured values and generated power values of the wind turbine generator systems in real time; dividing the various acquired environmental wind speed values into a plurality of wind speed sections according to the magnitude of the environmental wind speed values and extracting the various yawing wind alignment angle measured values and the generated power values in at least one wind speed section; determining the maximum values of the extracted generated power values in the various wind speed sections; computing wind alignment correction deviation of the wind turbine generator systems according to the yawing wind alignment angle measured values corresponding to the maximum values of the extracted generated power values in the various wind speed sections; correcting follow-up acquired yawing wind alignment angle measured values by the aid of the wind alignment correction deviation. According to the technical scheme, the method, the device and the system have the advantages that wind alignment correction control operation can be implemented on the wind turbine generator systems, and the correction efficiency can be improved.

The present invention discloses a short-term operation optimization method for a power system including large-scale wind power, comprising modeling the randomness of wind power output, modeling the randomness of the load of electric power system and modeling net load of electric power system. Net load refers that for probability distribution of net load that is too discretized, probability distribution curve of net load is divided into N intervals, the probabilities for each interval are obtained and probability distribution curve of net load is obtained through calculating and weighing each interval. Through calculating randomness of power wind output and standard deviation of load prediction error of the electric power system, net load prediction error of the electric power system is obtained and reasonable coordination is made on the electric power system according to prediction error and prediction amount to better regulate the correlations between randomness, volatility, regionalism, double-circuit peak shaving and load of wind power generation, so as to realize optimization operation of the electric power system.

A method for re-calibrating an anemometer of a wind turbine is provided, the method comprising the steps of obtaining pairs of measured values of wind speed and a wind-speed dependent turbine variable; comparing said measured value pairs to pairs of wind speed and the turbine variable obtained from an expected turbine variable curve of the wind turbine to determine a difference between a measured wind speed value and an expected wind speed value for a given turbine variable value; and adjusting a calibration function of said anemometer on the basis of said determined difference.

A system is disclosed for monitoring and controlling the deflection of turbine blades of a wind turbine. The system includes a passive position detecting apparatus and a controller. The passive position detecting apparatus may be configured to acquire and transmit data relating directly to a position of at least one of the turbine blades. The controller may be configured to receive the data from the passive position detecting apparatus and compare such data to a known position reference to determine turbine blade deflection.

Methods and systems for use in predicting wind turbine failures are provided. One example method includes determining a parametric profile for a component of a wind turbine from operating data of a plurality of wind turbines, determining an anomaly profile for the component of the wind turbine from anomaly alerts from a plurality of wind turbines, and determining a probability of failure for the component of the wind turbine based on the parametric profile and the anomaly profile. The parametric profile defines at least one parametric event associated with the component prior to failure of the component, and the anomaly profile defines at least one anomaly associated with the component prior to failure of the component.

Embodiments of methods and systems for optimizing operation of a wind farm are presented. The method includes receiving new values corresponding to at least some wake parameters for wind turbines in the wind farm. The method further includes identifying new sets of interacting wind turbines from the wind turbines based on the new values. Additionally, the method includes developing a farm-level predictive wake model for the new sets of interacting wind turbines based on the new values and historical wake models determined using historical values of the wake parameters corresponding to reference sets of interacting wind turbines in the wind farm. Furthermore, the method includes adjusting one or more control settings for at least the new sets of interacting wind turbines based on the farm-level predictive wake model.

A wind farm monitoring and control system, includes at least one wind farm, at least one intelligent management server connectable to the at least one wind farm via a data communication network, and at least one wind farm configuration tool related to the intelligent management server for establishment of connection(s) to the at least one wind farm. A system for monitoring and control of wind farms is provided. The monitoring and control is performed so that it is possible to monitor and control several wind farms homogeneously. Hereby it is possible to monitor and control different wind farms simultaneously with a uniform output and it is moreover possible to compare data from the wind farms.