De-icing of a wind turbine blade

Abstract

A heating assembly for a blade of a wind turbine generator, said heating assembly comprising: a heat reservoir positioned within a cavity of said blade, said heat reservoir in communication with a heat source; said heat reservoir including a plurality of orifices for venting hot air from said heat reservoir.

Description

technical field

[0001] The present invention relates to wind turbine generators (WTG) for use in generating electricity. In particular, the present invention relates to means for removing ice from rotor blades of wind turbine generators. Background technique

[0002] Blade deicing is critical in WTG as there is a 20% to 50% increase in yield loss factor. Ice buildup on wind turbine blades causes:

[0003] Altered aerodynamic shape resulting in significantly lower power generation

[0004] Increased blade root loading and reduced blade life

[0005] Unbalanced mass on the rotor plane

[0006] Hazard of ice being thrown off the blade

[0007] In the case of melting ice, the main feature is that the interface between the blade surface and the ice must be greater than the freezing point. As the melting proceeds at the interface of the blade surface with the ice, the ice is broken off by wind and gravity.

[0008] The heat and time required to melt ice depends on many fact...

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