Grease supply device, gear box assembly and wind generating set

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a grease supply device, a gear box assembly and a wind generating set. The grease supply device comprises a container body used for containing compressed fluid and grease; the valve assembly is mounted at a container opening of the container body and used for sealing the container body; and the control assembly is used for controlling the valve assembly to be opened at regular time, so that the grease is sprayed outwards from the container body under the action of the compressed gas. According to the embodiment of the invention, automatic lubrication of the gearbox can be realized, and the maintenance cost is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of wind power generation, and in particular to a grease supply device, a gear box assembly having the grease supply device, and a wind power generator set. Background Art

[0002] The gearbox is a key component in the transmission system of a wind turbine. Its main function is to transfer the mechanical energy generated by the wind rotor to the generator and make it rotate at a corresponding speed. Therefore, ensuring the reliability and service life of the gearbox is very important for the safe operation of the wind turbine. Among them, adequate lubrication is an important factor in ensuring the reliability and service life of the gearbox.

[0003] However, wind turbines often have no power supply, and the gearbox cannot be effectively lubricated. For example, there is usually a certain period of time between the installation and grid connection of wind turbines, especially for offshore wind turbines, which usually have a 3-6 month period of time between the installation and grid connection. During this period, the wind turbine has no power supply, making it difficult to lubricate the gearbox regularly. For another example, when the unit is idling, the lubrication pump does not start, but the swinging of the blades will drive the gears and bearings to mesh and roll repeatedly. If the bearings and tooth surfaces are without oil for a long time, the tooth surfaces and bearings will gradually show wear, indentation and failure.

[0004] In order to reduce the risk of gearbox failure, the existing solution requires maintenance personnel to perform maintenance regularly. For example, for offshore wind turbines, a transport ship carries a diesel generator to power the wind turbine and turns on the gearbox's built-in lubrication pump to supply lubrication to the gearbox.

[0005] However, this manual maintenance method increases costs on the one hand, and on the other hand, due to the influence of severe weather such as thunderstorms and gale, the maintenance interval is uncertain and cannot meet the lubrication needs of the gearbox, resulting in an increased risk of gearbox wear and failure. Summary of the invention

[0006] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a grease supply device, a gearbox assembly and a wind turbine generator set, which can realize automatic lubrication of the gearbox, ensure sufficient lubrication of the gearbox, increase the reliability and service life of the gearbox, and reduce maintenance costs.

[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention, a grease supply device is provided, comprising: a container body for containing grease and compressed fluid; a valve assembly installed at the container mouth of the container body and used to seal the container body; and a control assembly for controlling the valve assembly to open at a certain time so that the grease is sprayed out from the container body under the action of the compressed fluid.

[0008] According to one aspect of the present invention, the valve assembly includes a solenoid valve, the control assembly includes a power module and a timing switch, and the timing switch is connected between the solenoid valve and the power module, and is used to connect or disconnect the solenoid valve and the power module according to a predetermined time interval.

[0009] According to one aspect of the present invention, the solenoid valve is in a closed state when power is off and in an open state when power is on, and the timing switch alternately puts the solenoid valve in a power-off state for a first predetermined time and puts the solenoid valve in a power-on state for a second predetermined time.

[0010] According to one aspect of the present invention, the grease supply device further comprises an oil supply interface installed at the container opening, for connecting the container body with an external device to be lubricated.

[0011] According to one aspect of the present invention, the grease supply device further comprises a pressure relief valve, which is mounted on the container body and is used to relieve pressure from the container body when the pressure inside the container body is greater than a predetermined value.

[0012] According to one aspect of the present invention, the compressed fluid is compressed gas, and the grease and the compressed gas are mixed together.

[0013] According to one aspect of the present invention, the container body is provided with a compressed fluid charging interface, and the grease supply device further comprises a pressure pump connected to the compressed fluid charging interface for supplying compressed gas into the container body.

[0014] According to one aspect of the present invention, the grease supply device further comprises a separation membrane disposed in the container body for separating the compressed fluid from the grease.

[0015] According to one aspect of the present invention, the separation membrane is formed as an airbag inner liner, and a closed space is formed between the outer wall of the airbag inner liner and the inner wall of the container body. One of the grease and the compressed fluid is located in the airbag inner liner, and the other is located in the closed space.

[0016] According to one aspect of the present invention, the separation membrane is in the form of a sheet, and divides the interior of the container body into two chambers, which respectively contain the grease and the compressed fluid.

[0017] According to one aspect of the present invention, the compressed fluid is compressed gas.

[0018] According to another aspect of the present invention, a gear box assembly is provided, the gear box assembly comprising a gear box and the grease supply device as described above, the grease supply device being capable of supplying lubricating grease to the gear box.

[0019] According to another aspect of the present invention, a wind turbine generator set is provided, and the wind turbine generator set comprises the grease supply device mentioned above.

[0020] Additional aspects and / or advantages of the present general inventive concept will be set forth in part in the following description and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned through practice of the present general inventive concept. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become more apparent through the following description of the embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0022] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a grease supply device according to an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0023] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a gearbox assembly according to an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0024] Figure 3 A flow chart of a lubrication control method according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] The following specific embodiments are provided to help the reader obtain a comprehensive understanding of the methods, devices and / or systems described herein. However, after understanding the disclosure of the present application, various changes, modifications and equivalents of the methods, devices and / or systems described herein will be clear. For example, the order of operations described herein is only an example and is not limited to those orders set forth herein, but can be changed as will be clear after understanding the disclosure of the present application, except for operations that must occur in a specific order. In addition, for greater clarity and simplicity, the description of features known in the art may be omitted.

[0026] The features described herein can be implemented in different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the examples described herein. Rather, the examples described herein have been provided to illustrate only some of the many possible ways to implement the methods, devices, and / or systems described herein, which will be clear after understanding the disclosure of the present application.

[0027] Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical terms and scientific terms, have the same meaning as those generally understood by ordinary technicians in the field to which the present invention belongs after understanding the present invention. Unless explicitly defined as such herein, terms such as those defined in general dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant field and the present invention, and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal way.

[0028] Figure 1Schematic diagram of a grease supply device according to an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, the grease supply device 100 according to the embodiment of the present application includes: a container body 10, used to contain grease 20 and a compressed fluid 30; a valve assembly 40, installed at the container mouth of the container body 10, used to seal the container body 10; a control assembly 50, used to control the timed opening of the valve assembly 40, so that the grease 20 is sprayed out from the container body 10 under the action of the compressed fluid 30.

[0029] The grease supply device 100 of the embodiment of the present application can be installed on the gear box 200 to automatically and regularly supply lubricating oil to the gear box 200, thereby avoiding the increase in costs caused by manual maintenance. Figure 2 An example is shown in which the grease supply device according to the embodiment of the present application is installed on the gear box 200 .

[0030] The container body 10 can be made of high-strength materials such as stainless steel to form a receiving cavity with a container mouth, and the interior of the receiving cavity can accommodate a compressed fluid 30. The compressed fluid 30 can be a compressed liquid or a compressed gas. As an example, the compressed gas can be compressed air, compressed nitrogen, compressed helium, etc., and the pressure of the compressed gas can be 5-8 bar. In the embodiments of the present application, compressed gas is taken as an example, but the use of compressed liquid is not excluded.

[0031] Due to the presence of the compressed fluid 30, when the valve assembly 40 is opened regularly under the control of the control assembly 50, due to the pressure difference, the grease 20 can be sprayed outward under the pressure of the compressed fluid 30, thereby supplying lubricating oil to the gearbox regularly.

[0032] According to an embodiment of the present application, the valve assembly 40 is disposed at the container mouth of the container body 10, and can seal or open the container mouth so that the interior of the container body 10 is connected to the outside. The valve assembly 40 can adopt a solenoid valve, which is in a closed state when the power is off and in an open state when the power is on. The valve assembly 40 may include a valve body 42 and a solenoid assembly 44. A valve core is disposed in the valve body 42 for blocking the flow channel in the valve body 42. The solenoid assembly 44 can control the movement of the valve core when the power is on, so that the flow channel is opened. Under normal circumstances, the solenoid valve is in a closed state when the power is off, so that the flow channel in the valve assembly 40 is in a blocked state.

[0033] The control assembly 50 includes a power module 52 and a timer switch 54. The timer switch 54 is connected between the valve assembly 40 and the power module 52, and is used to connect or disconnect the solenoid valve and the power module according to a predetermined time interval. For example, the timer switch 54 alternately makes the solenoid valve in a de-energized state for a first predetermined time and makes the solenoid valve in an energized state for a second predetermined time. The first predetermined time interval may be a time interval when the gearbox needs maintenance, and the second predetermined time may be a duration for the grease used to control the oil supply to spray outward.

[0034] The power module 52 may be a battery pack, for example, capable of outputting a voltage of 12 V. The timer switch 54 may be turned on and off at a fixed time according to demand, and is in an off state under normal conditions, and is turned on for a predetermined time after a set time is reached.

[0035] According to an embodiment of the present application, the grease supply device 100 may further include an oil supply interface 60 installed at the container opening, for connecting the container body 10 to an external device to be lubricated. Figure 2 As shown, the oil supply interface 60 of the grease supply device is connected to the oil supply channel of the gear box 200, so as to supply lubricating oil to the interior of the gear box.

[0036] The container body 10 may also be connected to an oil replenishing valve 70 for replenishing grease into the container body 10 when the grease in the container body 10 is insufficient. The oil replenishing valve 70 may be connected to the container mouth, or to other positions of the container body 10, as long as it can communicate with the chamber containing grease.

[0037] The grease supply device 100 may further include a pressure relief valve 80 , which is mounted on the container body 10 and communicated with the cavity containing the compressed fluid 30 , and is used to relieve pressure in the container body 10 when the pressure inside the container body 10 is greater than a pressure threshold, thereby ensuring safety in use.

[0038] In addition, the container body 10 may be provided with a compressed fluid charging interface 90 for charging the container body 10 with compressed fluid, for example, compressed gas at about 6 bar. The compressed fluid charging interface 90 may be connected to an external high-pressure gas tank. On the other hand, an air pump may also be connected to replenish the compressed gas to the container body 10 through the air pump.

[0039] According to the grease supply device 100 of the embodiment of the present application, a separation membrane 12 is provided in the inner cavity of the container body 10, which can separate the interior of the container body 10 into two chambers, respectively containing the compressed fluid 30 and the grease 20, and the chamber containing the grease 20 is connected to the container port, and the passage is closed by the valve assembly 40. The separation membrane 12 can be flexible or elastic, and can make the pressure of the compressed fluid 30 act on the grease 20, pushing the grease 20 to spray out from the container port. As an example, the separation membrane 12 can be made of rubber, nylon, polyethylene and other materials.

[0040] According to an embodiment of the present application, the separation membrane 12 may be in the shape of a pocket or a sheet. Figure 1 In the example shown, the separation membrane 12 is formed as a pocket, more specifically, as an airbag liner, and the opening is connected to the valve assembly 40. A closed space is formed between the airbag liner and the inner wall of the container body 10, and the grease 20 is filled into the airbag liner, and the compressed fluid is filled into the closed space to squeeze the airbag liner. When the valve assembly 40 is opened, the grease 20 can be discharged outward under the action of pressure.

[0041] The partition membrane 12 is not limited to the pocket shape, and may be formed as a sheet-shaped diaphragm or a total diaphragm as long as it can separate the compressed fluid and grease in the container body 10 and can apply a squeezing force to the grease.

[0042] According to the embodiment of the present application, the separation membrane 12 may not be provided. In this case, the compressed fluid 30 is a compressed gas, which is filled into the container body 10 together with the grease 20. When the valve assembly 40 is opened, the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the container body 10 is large, and the grease 20 can be discharged outward under the action of the internal pressure of the container body 10. In this case, the container body 10 can be set to the container mouth orientation, and the grease 20 will be located at the bottom under the action of gravity, and the compressed gas will be located at the top, so that when the valve assembly 40 is opened, the grease 20 will be ejected outward. In addition, in order to prevent the compressed gas from dissolving in the grease 20, an inert gas, such as helium, etc., can be used.

[0043] like Figure 2 As shown, according to an embodiment of the present application, a gearbox assembly is further provided, the gearbox assembly comprising a gearbox 200 and the aforementioned grease supply device 100, the grease supply device 100 can be installed on the gearbox 200, and communicated with the lubricating grease supply passage of the gearbox 200, so as to supply lubricating grease to the gearbox 200. The gearbox 200 can still be equipped with a lubrication pump, and once the wind turbine generator set is connected to the grid, the power supply of the set can be used for lubrication.

[0044] The gearbox 200 may be provided with an oil delivery connector for connecting to the oil supply interface 60 of the grease supply device 100. The oil delivery connector may be provided on the existing lubricating oil delivery pipeline of the gearbox 200, or may utilize other connection interfaces on the gearbox 200, or may be designed separately, which will not be described in detail here.

[0045] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a wind turbine generator set is further provided, and the wind turbine generator set includes the grease supply device 100 described above.

[0046] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a flow chart of a lubrication control method is provided. Figure 2 To describe the lubrication control method.

[0047] like Figure 3 As shown, in step S210, lubricating oil and compressed air are filled into the container body 10. For example, 25L of lubricating oil is filled into the airbag liner, and 6 bar of compressed air is filled into the closed space between the inner wall of the container body 10 and the airbag liner. If such a grease supply device 100 is already prepared, step 210 can be omitted.

[0048] Taking the maintenance cycle N as 30 days as an example, in steps S220, S230, and S240, the timer switch counts down until N=0 in the timer. In step S250, the solenoid valve is energized and changes from normally closed to normally open. In step S260, the container body 10 sprays grease outward, and the duration can be 1 minute. After the oil injection timing ends, the solenoid valve loses power and re-enters the normally closed state. The current lubrication operation ends and the timing of the next lubrication cycle is performed.

[0049] The following uses the grease supply device 100 applied to a certain offshore wind turbine generator set as an example to illustrate the technical effect of reducing maintenance costs achieved by the grease supply device of the present invention.

[0050] For offshore wind turbines, during the idle period from installation to grid connection, the gearbox needs to be lubricated once every certain period of time (for example, every 30 days) for the following reasons: (1) Because the unit has an elevation angle of 7-9 degrees, the gearbox planetary carrier bearings and high-speed shaft bearings are above the oil level; (2) When the lubrication pump is not started, the gear surfaces and bearings of the planetary carrier bearings and high-speed shaft bearings are in an oil-free lubrication state; (3) When the unit is in the idle state, the lubrication pump is not started, but the swing of the blades will drive the gears and bearings to mesh and roll repeatedly. If the bearings and tooth surfaces are without oil for a long time, the tooth surfaces and bearings will gradually show wear and indentation failure; (4) When the gearbox is idling without lubricating oil, the first-level planetary carrier bearing is the component with the greatest risk of failure. In order to reduce the risk of gearbox failure, the gearbox needs to be lubricated and flushed regularly.

[0051] According to the manual maintenance method in the prior art, maintenance personnel need to use the diesel generator set on the transport ship to power the wind turbine generator set, turn on the lubrication pump on the gearbox, and lubricate the gearbox. Since lubrication is required once every 30 days, taking 30 units as an example, a ship can lubricate 2 wind turbine generator sets in a day. Due to environmental factors such as waves and strong winds at sea, there are only about 15 windows available each month. Therefore, it takes about 1 month to complete the lubrication of 30 units. A single transport ship costs 250,000 per month, and the labor cost is estimated to be 30,000, which means at least 280,000 maintenance costs per month.

[0052] In order to meet the cost reduction goal of units in the era of parity, it is necessary to reduce operation and maintenance costs and minimize ship and labor expenses. The grease supply device provided in the embodiment of the present invention can automatically achieve the requirement of lubricating the gearbox once every 30 days. The maintenance cost only requires the initial manufacture or purchase of the grease supply device 100. After it is installed in place at one time, no manual maintenance is required in the short term. After the unit is connected to the grid, the power supply of the unit can be used to lubricate the gearbox using its own lubrication pump. Therefore, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the maintenance cost of the unit can be greatly reduced.

[0053] The grease supply device 100 according to the embodiment of the present application is not limited to being used for supplying lubricating oil to a gear box, nor is it limited to being used in a wind turbine generator set. Those skilled in the art can apply it to various occasions requiring regular supply of lubricating grease according to actual conditions.

[0054] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, those skilled in the art may make various modifications and variations to the embodiments of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It should be understood that, in the opinion of those skilled in the art, these modifications and variations will still fall within the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the present invention defined by the claims.

Claims

1. A grease supply device, characterized in that: The grease supply device (100) comprises: A container body (10) for containing grease (20) and compressed fluid (30); A valve assembly (40) installed at the container opening of the container body (10) and used for sealing the container body (10); A control component (50) is used to control the valve component (40) to open at a fixed time, so that the grease (20) is sprayed out from the container body (10) under the action of the compressed fluid (30).

2. The grease supply device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The valve assembly (40) comprises a solenoid valve, and the control assembly (50) comprises a power module (52) and a timing switch (54). The timing switch (54) is connected between the solenoid valve and the power module (52) and is used to connect or disconnect the solenoid valve and the power module (52) at a predetermined time interval.

3. The grease supply device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The solenoid valve is in a closed state when power is off and in an open state when power is on. The timing switch alternately puts the solenoid valve in a power-off state for a first predetermined time and in a power-on state for a second predetermined time.

4. The grease supply device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The grease supply device (100) further comprises an oil supply interface (60) installed at the container opening, and used for connecting the container body with an external device to be lubricated.

5. The grease supply device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The grease supply device (100) further comprises a pressure relief valve (80), which is mounted on the container body (10) and is used to relieve pressure from the container body (10) when the pressure inside the container body (10) is greater than a predetermined value.

6. The grease supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The compressed fluid (30) is compressed gas, and the grease (20) and the compressed gas are mixed together.

7. The grease supply device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The container body (10) is provided with a compressed fluid charging interface (90), and the grease supply device (100) further comprises a pressure pump connected to the compressed fluid charging interface (90) and used for supplying compressed gas into the container body (10).

8. The grease supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The grease supply device (100) further comprises a separation membrane (12) arranged in the container body (10) and used for separating the compressed fluid (30) from the grease (20).

9. The grease supply device according to claim 8, characterized in that: The separation membrane (12) is formed as an airbag inner liner, and a closed space is formed between the outer wall of the airbag inner liner and the inner wall of the container body (10); one of the grease (20) and the compressed fluid (30) is located in the airbag inner liner, and the other is located in the closed space.

10. The grease supply device according to claim 8, characterized in that: The separation membrane (12) is in sheet form and divides the interior of the container body into two chambers, which respectively contain the grease (20) and the compressed fluid (30).

11. The grease supply device according to claim 8, characterized in that: The compressed fluid (30) is compressed gas.

12. A gearbox assembly, characterized in that: The gear box assembly comprises a gear box (200) and a grease supply device (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the grease supply device (100) is capable of supplying lubricating grease to the gear box (200).

13. A wind turbine generator set, characterized in that: The wind turbine generator set comprises the grease supply device (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

Images