Offshore wind power generation device and method for manufacturing the same

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for easily manufacturing an offshore wind turbine. [Solution] A method for manufacturing an offshore wind power generation device includes a first step of preparing at least four of the tower-connecting floating parts, inserting the tower part 8 of the wind turbine 2 into the support parts 12b of each tower-connecting floating part 12 at a port, and transporting them to sea; a second step of preparing at least four or more connecting tube floating parts 14, which is a predetermined number required to connect the four tower-connecting floating parts 12 when the four tower-connecting floating parts 12 are positioned at the corners of a predetermined rectangle, and transporting them to sea; a third step of using the four connecting tube floating parts 14 to connect pairs of connecting tube floating parts 12c of the four tower-connecting floating parts 12 to form a predetermined rectangle; and a fourth step of connecting anchors 20 to the four tower-connecting floating parts 12.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an offshore wind turbine and a method for manufacturing the offshore wind turbine. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, various power generation systems using natural energy have been developed. One of them is wind power generation, and various studies have been conducted on wind power generation on the sea. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an offshore wind power generation device that includes a generator, a windmill unit having a windmill that supplies power to the generator, and a floating body unit that supports the windmill unit, and the floating body unit has an outer member having an outer tube part formed in a cylindrical shape, and an inner member having an inner tube part formed in a cylindrical shape and at least a part of which is accommodated inside the outer tube part, and the floating body unit is configured so that the inner member can move relative to the outer member by sliding the inner tube part inside the outer tube part, and can take a first posture during transportation and a second posture at the time of completion of installation that is extended compared to the first posture. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2023-87835 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] It is possible to construct an offshore wind power generation device by using the configuration of Patent Document 1. However, constructing such an offshore wind power generation device requires large-scale facilities, labor costs, and the like.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a method for simply manufacturing an offshore wind turbine. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The method of the present invention for manufacturing an offshore wind power generation device includes a tower connection float part having a hollow floating body part having air in an internal closed space and capable of floating on the sea surface, a cylindrical support part erected in the hollow floating body part and having an internal space into which a cylindrical member can be inserted from above, and a pair of connecting pipe floating body parts each extending along the sea surface at a predetermined angle from the hollow floating body part and having air in an internal closed space and capable of floating on the sea surface, and a connecting pipe floating body part connectable to the pair of connecting pipe floating body parts of the tower connection float part, having air in an internal closed space and capable of floating on the sea surface, the method comprising the steps of: The method comprises the steps of: a first step of preparing at least four of the tower-connecting floating parts, inserting the wind turbine tower parts into the support parts of each of the tower-connecting floating parts at a port, and transporting them to the sea; a second step of preparing at least four or more of the connecting pipe floating parts, which is a predetermined number required to connect the four tower-connecting floating parts when the four tower-connecting floating parts are located at the corners of a predetermined rectangle, and transporting them to the sea; a third step of using the four connecting pipe floating parts to connect a pair of the connecting pipe floating parts of the four tower-connecting floating parts to form the predetermined rectangle; and a fourth step of connecting anchors to the four tower-connecting floating parts.

[0007] In addition, in the method for manufacturing an offshore wind power generation device according to the present invention, it is preferable to include a fifth step of connecting side wire portions extending along the sides of the specified rectangle so as to connect the four tower-connected floating body portions together, and connecting diagonal wire portions extending along diagonals of the specified rectangle.

[0008] Furthermore, in the method for manufacturing an offshore wind power generation device of the present invention, it is preferable that the side wire portion has an upper side wire portion installed above the sea surface and a lower side wire portion installed below the sea surface, and that the diagonal wire portion has an upper diagonal wire portion installed above the sea surface and a lower diagonal wire portion installed below the sea surface.

[0009] Furthermore, in the method for manufacturing an offshore wind power generation device according to the present invention, it is preferable that the tower-connected floating section has a pair of truss connection sections which respectively connect the support section and a pair of connecting pipe floating sections, and a truss-connected floating section which connects the pair of connecting pipe floating sections together, has air in an internal closed space, and is capable of floating on the sea surface. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, an offshore wind turbine generator can be easily manufactured. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 shows an offshore wind turbine manufactured using a method according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a tower-connected floating body part of an offshore wind power generation device in an embodiment according to the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the state in which a wind turbine tower section is attached to a tower-connected floating body section in an embodiment according to the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing how a connecting pipe float part is connected to a pair of connecting pipe float parts of a tower-connecting float part in an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a truss structure of an offshore wind turbine power generation device in an embodiment according to the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the effect of the truss structure of an offshore wind turbine generator in an embodiment according to the present invention. [Figure 7] 1 is a diagram showing a method of using an offshore wind turbine in bad weather such as a strong wind or high waves in an embodiment according to the present invention. FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 shows an offshore wind turbine manufactured using a method according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a modified example of the tower-connected floating body section in an embodiment according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following, the same elements in all the drawings are given the same reference numerals, and duplicated explanations will be omitted. In addition, in the explanation in the text, the reference numerals previously described will be used as necessary.

[0013] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an offshore wind power generation device 10 manufactured using a method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a tower-connected floating body part 12 of the offshore wind power generation device 10 in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] Fig. 3 is a diagram showing how the tower section 8 of the wind turbine 2 is attached to the tower-connected floating section 12 in an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing how the linking pipe floating section 14 is connected to the pair of connecting pipe floating sections 12c of the tower-connected floating section 12 in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a truss structure of the offshore wind turbine 10 in the embodiment according to the present invention. Fig. 6 is a diagram for explaining the action and effect of the truss structure of the offshore wind turbine 10 in the embodiment according to the present invention.

[0016] Fig. 7 is a diagram showing a method of using the offshore wind turbine 10 in bad weather such as a strong wind or high waves in an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an offshore wind turbine 10a manufactured using the method of an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 9 is a diagram showing a modified example of the tower-connected floating body section 12 in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] The offshore wind power generation device 10 is a wind power generation system installed on the sea. The offshore wind power generation device 10 includes four wind turbines 2, four tower-connected floating body parts 12, twelve connecting pipe floating body parts 14, four upper side wire parts 16a, two upper diagonal wire parts 16b, four lower side wire parts 16c, two lower diagonal wire parts 16d, and four anchors 20. Note that, in FIG. 1, each of the upper side wire parts 16a, the upper diagonal wire parts 16b, the lower side wire parts 16c, and the lower diagonal wire parts 16d may be formed of one or two wires, but may be set to two or more wires depending on the size of the base.

[0018] The wind turbine 2 has three blade sections 4, a hub section 6, and a tower section 8. The tower section 8 is a cylindrical member extending vertically upward. At the upper end of the tower section 8, a nacelle (not shown) is provided that houses a generator, inverter, transformer, as well as a gearbox that is connected to the generator shaft of the generator and can transmit rotational force.

[0019] The rotor shaft, which is connected to the gearbox and capable of transmitting rotational force to the gearbox, is connected to the hub portion 6. Three blade portions 4 are attached to the hub portion 6 so as to extend radially from the hub portion 6 as the center, and the hub portion 6 and the three blade portions 4 form a wind turbine together.

[0020] In this way, the wind rotates the windmill, which is made up of the hub section 6 and the three blade sections 4, and the torque is input to the generator via the gearbox, and the electricity generated by the generator can be output as a frequency and voltage that matches the system via an inverter and a transformer. Note that, although the windmill is configured using three blade sections 4 here, this is not limiting, and any configuration using multiple blades will do.

[0021] The tower-connected floating body section 12 includes a hollow floating body section 12a, a support section 12b, and a pair of connecting pipe floating body sections 12c.

[0022] The hollow floating body 12a has air in an internal closed space and is a member capable of floating on the sea surface. As shown in Fig. 2, the hollow floating body 12a has a generally rectangular prism shape with a flat surface on the top surface on which a person can ride and move, and can be set to a vertical length of about 15 m, a horizontal length of about 15 m, and a height of about 6 m, although of course these dimensions can be changed as appropriate.

[0023] The hollow floating body section 12a has two sealed space regions 13a and 13b as shown in Fig. 2(b). The hollow floating body section 12a can be made of a material having an appropriate strength, such as stainless steel or steel.

[0024] An on-off valve 13c for releasing the air in the two sealed space regions 13a and 13b is formed on the upper surface of the hollow floating body portion 12a. In FIG. 2, only the on-off valve 13c on the sealed space region 13b out of the sealed space regions 13a and 13b is visible, but the on-off valve 13c on the sealed space region 13a is hidden by the support portion 12b but still exists. In addition, on-off valves 12f and 12g are also provided on the pair of connecting pipe floating body portions 12c and the connecting pipe floating body portion 14, which will be described later. Each of the on-off valves 12f and 12g thus provided can adjust the pressure to let air in and out according to various conditions such as weather. For example, when the amount of the bottom side of the base sinking in the sea is increased, a ballast system is used for the connecting pipe floating body portion 12c and the connecting pipe floating body portion 14, and the amount of the base sinking can be increased by adjusting the seawater (ballast water). Conversely, if it is necessary to float the base, the buoyancy can be increased by adjusting the opening / closing valve 13c of the hollow floating body section 12a, etc., to allow the base to float.

[0025] The support column 12b is a cylindrical member that is erected on the hollow floating body 12a and has an internal space into which a cylindrical member can be inserted from above. The cylindrical member inserted from above is the tower 8 of the wind turbine 2, and the diameter of the internal space is formed to match the diameter of the tower 8. A support wall for supporting the bottom surface of the tower 8 is formed in the center of the support column 12b, so that the wind turbine 2 stands upright on the support wall in a stable state.

[0026] 2, the support 12b is inserted into the through hole of the hollow floating body 12a, and the length of the part protruding from the upper surface of the hollow floating body 12a is about 20 m, and the length of the part protruding from the lower surface of the hollow floating body 12a is about 5 m, but of course, this can be changed as appropriate. The support 12b can be made of a material with appropriate strength, such as stainless steel or steel.

[0027] The four support pillars 12b are formed with wire connection portions 17 for connecting the upper side wire portion 16a, the upper diagonal wire portion 16b, the lower side wire portion 16c, and the lower diagonal wire portion 16d.

[0028] An anchor connection part 19 for connecting an anchor 20 is formed on the bottom surface of the support part 12b. The anchor 20 is a piece of equipment having a weight and a wire for fastening the tower-connected floating body part 12. As shown in Fig. 2, the weight of the anchor 20 connected to the anchor connection part 19 sinks to the seabed, thereby restricting the movement of the tower-connected floating body part 12.

[0029] The pair of connecting pipe floating parts 12c are steel pipes that extend along the sea surface at a predetermined angle (90 degrees) from the hollow floating part 12a and have air in their internal closed spaces, allowing them to float on the sea surface. An airtight space is formed inside each connecting pipe floating part 12c.

[0030] Each of the connecting pipe floating parts 12c is described as having a diameter of about 6 m and a length of about 30 m, but these can be changed as appropriate. Each of the connecting pipe floating parts 12c can be made of a material having an appropriate strength, such as stainless steel or steel.

[0031] 2, the pair of truss connection parts 13 includes an upper pair of truss connection parts 13 that connect the part protruding upward from the upper surface of the hollow floating body part 12a of the support part 12b to the pair of connecting pipe floating body parts 12c, and a lower pair of truss connection parts 13 that connect the part protruding downward from the lower surface of the hollow floating body part 12a of the support part 12b to the pair of connecting pipe floating body parts 12c. The pair of truss connection parts 13 can be made of a material having an appropriate strength, such as stainless steel or steel.

[0032] The truss-connected floating body section 12d is a steel pipe that connects the pair of connecting pipe floating body sections 12c together, has air in the closed space inside, and can float on the sea surface. An airtight space containing air is formed inside the truss-connected floating body section 12d. As shown in FIG. 2, the pair of connecting pipe floating body sections 12c and the truss-connected floating body section 12d form the letter "A". The truss-connected floating body section 12d can be made of a material having a suitable strength, such as stainless steel or steel.

[0033] The connecting pipe float section 14 is a steel pipe that can be connected to a pair of connecting pipe float sections 12c of the tower connection float section 12, has air in the closed space inside, and can float on the sea surface. An airtight space containing air is formed inside the connecting pipe float section 14. The connecting pipe float section 14 will be described as having a diameter of about 6 m and a length of about 30 m, but these can be changed as appropriate. The connecting pipe float section 14 can be made of a material having appropriate strength, such as stainless steel or steel.

[0034] The four upper edge wire portions 16a are metal wires that are connected to wire connection portions 17 of the support portions 12b of the four tower-connected floating body portions 12 that protrude above the upper surface of the hollow floating body portion 12, and extend along the edges of an approximately rectangular shape to form a rectangular shape in a planar view.

[0035] The two upper diagonal wire portions 16b are metal wires that are connected to wire connection portions 17 of the support portions 12b of the four tower-connected floating body portions 12 that protrude upward from the upper surface of the hollow floating body portion 12, and extend along the diagonals of an approximately rectangular shape.

[0036] The four lower edge wire portions 16c are metal wires that are connected to wire connection portions 17 of the support portions 12b of the four tower-connected floating body portions 12 that protrude downward from the underside of the hollow floating body portion 12, and extend along the edges of an approximately rectangular shape to form a rectangular shape in a planar view.

[0037] The two downward diagonal wire portions 16d are metal wires that are connected to wire connection portions 17 of the support portions 12b of the four tower-connected floating body portions 12 that protrude downward from the underside of the hollow floating body portion 12, and extend along the diagonals of an approximately rectangular shape.

[0038] Next, a manufacturing method of the offshore wind power generation device 10 will be described. First, as shown in Fig. 3, four tower-connecting floating parts 12 are prepared at a port (dock), and a connecting pipe floating part 14 is connected to a pair of connecting pipe floating parts 12c of each tower-connecting floating part 12. After that, the tower part 8 of the wind turbine 2 is inserted into the support part 12b of each tower-connecting floating part 12 at the port and transported to the sea (S2). Specifically, at the port, a crane is used to fit the tower part 8 of the wind turbine 2 into the support part 12b for assembly, and then the tower part 8 is transported to the sea by a towing ship.

[0039] Next, as shown in FIG. 1, four connecting pipe floating parts 14 are prepared, which is a predetermined number required to connect the four tower-connecting floating parts 12 to which the connecting pipe floating parts 14 are connected when the four tower-connecting floating parts 12 to which the connecting pipe floating parts 14 are connected are positioned at the corners of a predetermined square, and are transported to the sea (S4). Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the four connecting pipe floating parts 14 are transported to the sea from the port using a towing ship. Note that, although the description is given here assuming that four connecting pipe floating parts 14 are used, the number of connecting pipe floating parts 14 may be increased or decreased as appropriate depending on the size of the base. Also, these multiple connecting pipe floating parts 14 may be transported on a large crane ship.

[0040] Next, the four connecting pipe float parts 14 are connected to the connecting pipe float parts 14 connected to the pair of connecting pipe float parts 12c of the four tower-connecting float parts 12 to form a predetermined rectangle (S6). Specifically, as shown in Fig. 4, the connecting pipe float part 14 connected to the pair of connecting pipe float parts 12c of the tower-connecting float part 12 and the next connecting pipe float part 14 are connected by a wire and pulled by a winch. After that, the connecting surfaces of the connecting pipe float parts 14 are fixed to each other by bolts.

[0041] In this manner, four tower-connected float sections 12 with connecting pipe float sections 14 connected are positioned at the corners of a square, with one connecting pipe float section 14 positioned between each of them, and by fixing each connection surface with a bolt, a square can be formed as shown in Figure 1.

[0042] Next, the anchors 20 are connected to the four tower-connected floating parts 12 (S8). Specifically, the anchors 20 are connected to the anchor connection parts 19 provided on the bottom surfaces of the support parts 12b of the four tower-connected floating parts 12 located at the corners of a rectangle, and the weights of the anchors 20 are sunk into the sea. When the weights reach the seabed, the movement of the offshore wind power generation equipment 10 can be restricted and the position can be fixed.

[0043] Next, the side wire portions extending along the sides of a specified rectangle are connected to connect the four tower-connected floating body portions 12 together, and the diagonal wire portions extending along the diagonals of the specified rectangle are connected (S10).

[0044] Specifically, the four upper side wire parts 16a are connected to wire connection parts 17 of the support parts 12b of the four tower-connected floating body parts 12 that protrude above the upper surface of the hollow floating body part 12. Then, the two upper diagonal wire parts 16b are connected to wire connection parts 17 of the support parts 12b of the four tower-connected floating body parts 12 that protrude above the upper surface of the hollow floating body part 12.

[0045] In addition, the four lower edge wire parts 16c are connected to wire connection parts 17 of the support parts 12b of the four tower-connected floating body parts 12 that protrude downward from the underside of the hollow floating body part 12. Furthermore, they are connected to wire connection parts 17 of the support parts 12b of the four tower-connected floating body parts 12 that protrude downward from the underside of the hollow floating body part 12.

[0046] As described above, according to the manufacturing method for the offshore wind power generation device 10, the tower-connecting floating section 12 and the connecting pipe floating section 14, etc. are manufactured in a factory or the like facing the sea of ​​the port when and as many as are needed. Then, with the tower-connecting floating section 12 floating on the sea of ​​the port in the factory facing the sea of ​​the port, the tower section 8 of the wind turbine 2 is fitted to it using a crane or the like, and the tower is transported out to sea by a towing ship.

[0047] In this manner, the four tower-connected floating parts 12 with the wind turbines 2 installed and the connecting pipe floating parts 14 connected thereto are transported to the sea, and the four connecting pipe floating parts 14 are then connected together, resulting in the remarkable effect of making it possible to manufacture the offshore wind power generation device 10 without using large-scale equipment on the sea.

[0048] 5(a), the offshore wind power generation device 10 includes four upper side wire parts 16a, two upper diagonal wire parts 16b, four lower side wire parts 16c, two lower diagonal wire parts 16d, and four anchors 20. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5(b) and FIG. 5(c), each tower-connected floating body part 12 includes a truss structure formed by the support part 12b and the truss connection part 13, and a truss structure formed by the connecting pipe floating body part 14 and the truss-connected floating body part 12d.

[0049] In this way, the offshore wind power generation device 10 has a three-dimensional truss structure, so it can maintain its strength. And because the four tower-connecting floating parts 12 have a three-dimensional truss structure at the corners of a square, as shown in Fig. 6, the force of the wind hitting the wind turbine 2 becomes the force point, the downward force from each tower-connecting floating part 12 becomes four fulcrums, and the buoyancy applied to the pair of connecting pipe floating parts 12c and the connecting pipe floating part 14 becomes the action point, so that it can maintain its strength and keep a stable state, and it can be a power generation base that can withstand rough waves and strong winds in the open ocean.

[0050] During normal operation in calm weather, the tower connection float 12 and the connecting pipe float 14 are operated in a floating state as shown in Fig. 7(a), but when the weather is rough due to strong winds or high waves, for example, a ballast system is used for the connecting pipe float 12c and the connecting pipe float 14, and the amount of the base that sinks can be increased by adjusting the seawater (ballast water) to sink the tower connection float 12 and the connecting pipe float 14 as shown in Fig. 7(b), thereby preventing damage to the power generation base. Conversely, when it is necessary to float the base, the buoyancy can be increased by adjusting the opening and closing valve 13c of the hollow float 12a, etc., to float the base.

[0051] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an offshore wind power generation apparatus 10a which is a modified example of the offshore wind power generation apparatus 10. Whereas the offshore wind power generation apparatus 10 has four wind turbines 2, the offshore wind power generation apparatus 10a has six wind turbines 2. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 8, two quadrangles are formed using six tower-connected floating parts 12 and six connecting pipe floating parts 14, making it possible to create a stable power generation base.

[0052] Figure 9 shows a tower-connected floating body part 12e, which is a modified example of the tower-connected floating body part 12. The basic structure is the same as that of the tower-connected floating body part 12, but in addition to this, as shown in Figure 9, a truss structure 12h is formed in the connecting pipe floating body part 12c, making the structure stronger.

[0053] According to the manufacturing method of the above offshore wind power generation devices 10, 10a, it is explained that the device is assembled at a port. Since the submerged portion of the tower-connected floating body section 12 is 10m or less, it is long enough to be assembled at existing ship docks in Japan. For example, even if the water depth exceeds 10m, it can be assembled at the port. Also, if the submerged portion has a height that exceeds the water depth of the port, it can be assembled a little offshore and then towed to the site by a towing ship. [Explanation of symbols]

[0054] 2 wind turbine, 4 blade section, 6 hub section, 8 tower section, 10, 10a offshore wind power generation equipment, 12 tower connection float section, 12a hollow float section, 12b support section, 12c connecting pipe float section, 12d truss connection float section, 12e tower connection float section, 12f, 12g on-off valve, 12h truss structure, 13 truss connection section, 13a, 13b sealed space area, 13c, 13d on-off valve, 14 connecting pipe float section, 16a upper side wire section, 16b upper diagonal wire section, 16c lower side wire section, 16d lower diagonal wire section, 17 wire connection section, 19 anchor connection section, 20 anchor.

Claims

1. a hollow floating body portion having air in an internal closed space and capable of floating on the sea surface; A cylindrical support part is provided in the hollow floating body part and has an internal space into which a cylindrical member can be inserted from the upper part. A pair of connecting pipe floats each extending along the sea surface at a predetermined angle from the hollow float, each having air in an internal closed space and capable of floating on the sea surface; a tower-connected floating body section having a a connecting pipe float part that can be connected to the pair of connecting pipe float parts of the tower connecting float part, has air in an internal closed space, and can float on the sea surface; A method for manufacturing an offshore wind power generation device using a first step of preparing at least four of the tower-connected floating bodies, inserting a wind turbine tower into the support of each of the tower-connected floating bodies at a port, and transporting the tower to the sea; a second step of preparing at least four or more connecting pipe floating parts, which is a predetermined number required for connecting the four tower-connected floating parts when the four tower-connected floating parts are located at the corners of a predetermined rectangle, and transporting the connecting pipe floating parts to the sea; a third step of connecting the four tower-connected floating parts to each other using the four connecting pipe floating parts to form the predetermined rectangle; a fourth step of connecting anchors to the four tower-connected floating body sections; A method for manufacturing an offshore wind power generation device, comprising:

2. The method for manufacturing an offshore wind power generation device according to claim 1, A method for manufacturing an offshore wind power generation device, comprising a fifth step of connecting side wire portions extending along the sides of the specified rectangle so as to connect the four tower-connected floating body portions together, and connecting diagonal wire portions extending along the diagonals of the specified rectangle.

3. The method for manufacturing an offshore wind turbine according to claim 2, The side wire portion has an upper side wire portion installed above the sea surface and a lower side wire portion installed below the sea surface, A method for manufacturing an offshore wind power generation device, wherein the diagonal wire portion has an upper diagonal wire portion installed above sea level and a lower diagonal wire portion installed below sea level.

4. The method for manufacturing an offshore wind power generation device according to claim 1, The tower-connected floating body section is A pair of truss connection parts respectively connecting the support part and a pair of connecting pipe floating parts; a truss-connected floating body part that connects the pair of connecting pipe floating body parts to each other, has air in an internal closed space, and is capable of floating on the sea surface; A method for manufacturing an offshore wind power generation device, comprising:

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