Intelligent wind power generation system

Abstract

The objective of the present invention is to provide an intelligent wind power generation system capable of increasing wind power generation efficiency and power generation time by increasing or reducing the rotational speed of a wind power generator rotor through artificial wind generation. The intelligent wind power generation system according to the present invention comprises: a wind power generator including a plurality of wind power generator rotors; a wind generation means capable of forcibly applying, independently of external wind velocity, rotational motion to the wind power generator rotor; and an artificial intelligence control unit for controlling that compressed air is selectively supplied from the wind generation means to the wind power generator rotor by using correlation information between the real-time rotational speed of the wind power generator rotor, external wind velocity changes, and the available wind generation capacity of the wind generation means, thereby enabling the rotational speed of the wind power generator rotor to be increased or reduced.

Description

Intelligent wind power generation system

[0001] The present invention belongs to the field of wind power generation technology, and relates to an intelligent wind power generation system that can increase power production and production time under constantly changing wind speed conditions through intelligent control using compressed air.

[0002] Renewable energy sources with low energy production density, especially wind power generation, have the disadvantage of being intermittent in power generation due to the interaction between various rotational forces (torques) that affect the wind turbine rotor due to changes in atmospheric flow.

[0003] Torque that affects the speed change of the wind turbine rotor includes positive (+) torque obtained from the external wind speed and blade structure, but there is also negative (-) torque that reduces the rotation speed or acts in the opposite direction to the rotation direction. Representative examples include electromagnetic force due to generator-induced electromotive force (acting in the opposite direction to rotation), generator bearing friction, and flow friction due to viscosity of the flow around the wind turbine rotor.

[0004] As a result, wind power generation determines the speed of the wind turbine rotor by the relative size change and interaction between the torques affecting the wind turbine rotor, and ultimately, power production is proportional to the speed of the wind turbine rotor.

[0005] Existing wind power generation systems have a physical limitation that external wind power must continuously blow as a means of maintaining the rotational motion of the above-mentioned wind turbine rotor (i.e., positive torque), and if continuous positive torque is not supplied, the wind turbine rotor ultimately stops due to the influence of negative torque caused by resistance.

[0006] Depending on the type of wind turbine rotor (vertical, horizontal) and various blade structures (Darius, Savonius, etc.), the rotational moment of inertia of the wind turbine rotor and the resulting dynamic characteristics are very different, but it is generally known that current wind turbines can generate power for up to 8 to 9 hours on average per day when wind resources are good.

[0007] This type of wind power generation has the advantage of more than doubling the daily power generation time compared to solar power generation (in the case of solar power, the daily average is 3.5 to 4 hours). However, compared to solar power generation produced by electromagnetic phenomena, the power generation density of wind power generators that utilize mechanical kinetic energy is relatively low. Therefore, technological improvements are needed to increase the power production of wind power generation systems, especially to maximize the use of atmospheric wind speeds.

[0008] Most current wind turbines are passive and completely dependent on the wind resource conditions of the area where the wind power generation system is installed. The main technical measures to increase the amount of wind power generation (hours) include ① increasing the blade size to increase the contact area with the external wind (wind speed), or ② increasing the altitude of the wind power facility to increase the amount of wind speed blowing toward the wind power generation ± by minimizing friction with the ground.

[0009] However, although this method has the advantage of increasing power production (hours), it also has the disadvantage of increasing the load of wind power facilities, increasing the investment cost due to reinforcement of the support structure, and causing damage to the wind power generation system due to increased force (or bending moment) acting on the support structure due to increased contact area and increased wind volume due to increased altitude.

[0010] Meanwhile, with the recent expansion of renewable energy to address the climate crisis, the amount of surplus renewable energy that is not connected to the power grid and is being wasted is rapidly increasing. This is raising new challenges for wind power generation, which, unlike solar power, has the characteristic of intermittent power generation, particularly in terms of energy storage and utilization. For example, if wind power is sufficient to generate electricity but the power grid cannot absorb it, power output restrictions are applied, forcing wind power generation to be halted.

[0011] In order to solve the problems of the limited wind power generation amount (hours) of the above-mentioned current wind power generation system and the surplus regenerative power generated by the wind power generation system, technologies to store and utilize surplus electrical energy as mechanical energy of compressed air, such as compressed air-utilizing air turbine power generation (Internal Flow utilization method) and compressed air-utilizing wind power generation technology (External Flow utilization method), are being proposed and developed.

[0012] However, existing technologies directly utilize compressed air as an external wind power source for wind power generation, which has the disadvantage of very low energy conversion efficiency, which limits the increase in wind power generation or generation time. In particular, in the case of driving a wind turbine rotor using compressed air, since it is used in the form of an external flow, the high-speed flow kinetic energy discharged from the compressed air tank cannot be fully utilized to drive the wind turbine rotor due to atmospheric diffusion of kinetic energy, etc., and therefore, there is a disadvantage that the capacity and pressure of the compressed air tank must be designed and operated very large in order to produce sufficient wind power generation.

[0013] In other words, existing technologies utilizing compressed air have limitations in converting and recovering the high-speed kinetic energy ejected from compressed air nozzles into effective work (electricity, etc.). For example, when a 50 m / s high-speed flow discharged from a compressed air tank nozzle passes through a wind turbine blade and its speed becomes 0, the maximum energy conversion efficiency (100%) can be achieved. However, in reality, it is difficult to minimize the flow that passes through the wind turbine blade and is discarded (dispersed) into the atmosphere. In addition, it is known that a 59.3% power generation efficiency can be obtained under the condition that a 15 m / s flow is formed at the rear end of a wind turbine in order to obtain the maximum power generation efficiency in theory. However, even this requires additional consideration of various losses that are not considered in theory under actual operating conditions, so the actual energy conversion efficiency is formed at 15-40%.

[0014] Compressed Air Energy Storage (Air Turbine Technology) uses compressed air in the form of internal flow, and has the advantage of being able to generate electricity with an efficiency of 70-80% by using a turbine to inject compressed air into a limited space using high-pressure (40-120 bar) compressed air. However, it has problems such as heat loss (over 20%) due to achieving high-pressure conditions and insufficient economic feasibility due to high investment costs in turbine equipment.

[0015] (Patent Document 1) KR 10-2019-0097921 A (August 21, 2019)

[0016] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an intelligent wind power generation system that can increase the efficiency of wind power generation and generation time by increasing or decreasing the rotational speed of a wind power generator rotor through artificial wind power generation.

[0017] An intelligent wind power generation system according to the present invention for solving the above-described problem comprises: a wind power generator including a plurality of wind power generator rotors; a wind power generation means capable of forcibly applying a rotational motion to the wind power generator rotors independently of an external wind speed; and an artificial intelligence control unit that selectively supplies compressed air from the wind power generation means to the wind power generator rotors to increase or decrease the rotational speed of the wind power generator rotors by using correlation information among real-time rotational speeds of the wind power generator rotors, changes in external wind speed, and available wind power generation capacity of the wind power generation means.

[0018] Here, the wind power generation means includes a compressed air tank in which compressed air is stored, and a compressor that produces compressed air stored in the compressed air tank.

[0019] Additionally, the wind power generation means may further include a generator that produces electric power to operate the compressor.

[0020] Additionally, the compressor can be operated using surplus power produced by the wind turbine.

[0021] In addition, the wind power generation means further includes a pipe that supplies compressed air stored in the compressed air tank to the wind power generator rotor.

[0022] Additionally, the pipe may be equipped with a nozzle to increase the velocity of the compressed air being discharged.

[0023] Meanwhile, the artificial intelligence control unit includes an intelligent algorithm that determines whether the wind turbine can continuously produce power based on the rotational speed of the wind turbine rotor, changes in external wind speed, and compressed air status information of the wind power generation means.

[0024] Here, the compressed air status information of the wind power generation means may be pressure information of the compressed air tank.

[0025] Preferably, the artificial intelligence control unit can control the wind turbine rotor to be temporarily forced to rotate using compressed air stored in the compressed air tank when external wind conditions that can induce initial rotational motion of the wind turbine rotor are not formed.

[0026] In addition, the artificial intelligence control unit can control the wind turbine rotor to maintain a rotation speed suitable for continuous wind power generation by using compressed air stored in the compressed air tank when the rotation speed of the wind turbine rotor is expected to drop to a level that makes it difficult to achieve continuous power generation.

[0027] In addition, the artificial intelligence control unit can control the rotational speed of the wind turbine rotor to be reduced by spraying compressed air stored in the compressed air tank in the opposite direction of rotation to the wind turbine rotor when a wind speed higher than the cut-out speed is expected to blow temporarily.

[0028] At this time, the artificial intelligence control unit can predict the variability of external wind speed and determine the timing and amount of compressed air supply.

[0029] Preferably, the intelligent algorithm can enable control based on analysis of previous cases to enable optimal control when conditions similar to previous control cases occur through big data analysis of accumulated information and trial and error.

[0030] Meanwhile, the wind power generation means further includes a pipe for supplying compressed air stored in the compressed air tank to the wind turbine rotor, and a control valve for controlling the compressed air supplied to the wind turbine rotor is provided on the pipe, and the control valve is operated by the artificial intelligence control unit.

[0031] Here, the pipe and the control valve are provided so that the compressed air supplied to the wind turbine rotor can be independently controlled for each wind turbine rotor.

[0032] The intelligent wind power generation system according to the present invention has the useful effect of increasing the efficiency of wind power generation power production and power generation time by increasing or decreasing the rotational speed of a wind power generator rotor through intelligent control using compressed air.

[0033] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing an intelligent wind power generation system according to the present invention.

[0034] Figure 2 is a graph showing the wind power generation output characteristics according to wind speed.

[0035] *Explanation of key symbols in the drawing*

[0036] 10: Wind turbine 11: Wind turbine rotor

[0037] 20: Compressed air tank 21: Piping

[0038] 30: Generator 40: Compressor

[0039] 50: Control valve 60: Artificial intelligence control unit

[0040] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, detailed descriptions of well-known functions and configurations that may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention will be omitted.

[0041] An intelligent wind power generation system according to the present invention includes a wind power generator, a wind power generation means capable of forcibly applying rotational motion to a wind power generator rotor independently of an external wind speed, and an artificial intelligence control unit that selectively operates the wind power generation means using correlation information between real-time rotational speed changes of the wind power generator rotor, external wind speed changes, and available artificial wind power generation capacity, thereby increasing the wind power generation output of the wind power generator.

[0042] A wind turbine (10) includes a plurality of wind turbine rotors (11). The wind turbine rotors (11) may be vertical wind turbine blades arranged in a vertically stacked form on a structure as illustrated in FIG. 1, but are not limited thereto.

[0043] The wind power generation means includes a compressed air tank (20) in which compressed air is stored and a compressor (40) that produces compressed air stored in the compressed air tank (20).

[0044] Additionally, the wind power generation means may optionally include a generator (30) that produces power to operate the compressor (40).

[0045] The generator (30) is preferably a power generation device that uses a renewable energy source such as solar power generation using a solar panel or wind power generation, as shown in Fig. 1.

[0046] Additionally, it is also possible to use surplus power produced by a wind turbine (10) as power to operate a compressor (40).

[0047] The wind power generation means further includes a pipe (21) for supplying compressed air stored in a compressed air tank (20) to a wind turbine rotor (11). The pipe (21) may further be equipped with a wind speed increasing means (not shown) such as a nozzle for increasing the wind speed.

[0048] A control valve (50) for controlling compressed air supplied to the wind turbine rotor (11) is provided on the above pipe (21), and the control valve (50) is operated by an artificial intelligence control unit (60).

[0049] The above pipe (21) and control valve (50) are provided so that the compressed air supplied to each wind turbine rotor (11) can be independently controlled, thereby enabling customized control for each wind turbine rotor (11) that reflects the difference in wind speed according to the difference in position (altitude) of each wind turbine rotor (11).

[0050] The artificial intelligence control unit (60) controls the angular velocity (V) of the wind turbine rotor (11) θ ), external wind speed (V w ) includes an intelligent algorithm that determines whether a wind power generator can continuously produce power from information on the compressed air status (P) of the wind power generation means.

[0051] To this end, the present invention provides real-time power generation of a wind power generation system and real-time angular velocity (V) of a wind power generator rotor (11). θ ) sensor devices (gyroscopes, power meters, etc.) that remotely monitor changes in wind power generation systems, and real-time wind speed (V) around the wind power generation system. w ) includes a wind speed monitoring device capable of monitoring changes in wind power generation means, and a sensor device for remotely monitoring the available capacity (pressure (P), etc.) of the wind power generation means.

[0052] In the present invention, if it is determined that there will be an obstacle in the continuous power generation of the wind power generation system, the artificial intelligence control unit (60) operates an artificial wind power generation means to increase or decrease the angular speed of the wind power generator rotor (11) so as to increase the efficiency of wind power generation power production or the power generation time, and for efficient wind power generation control, the compressed air of the wind power generation means can be selectively injected to the wind power generator rotor (11) as follows.

[0053]

[0054] a. Control of initial rotational motion of a stationary wind turbine rotor

[0055] The wind turbine rotor (11) does not rotate when the wind blows regardless of the wind speed, but only rotates when the wind speed (above the cut-in speed) is maintained above a certain level (see Fig. 2). In particular, the wind turbine rotor (11) that is stationary in proportion to the rotational inertia moment of the wind turbine rotor (11) has a characteristic of wanting to remain stationary. Therefore, if a positive torque (moment) due to external wind that can overcome this rotational inertia is not generated, the wind turbine rotor (11) that has stopped once will remain stationary even when the wind blows. In general, it is known that low wind speeds (less than 3 to 4 m / s) do not contribute significantly to the power generation of wind turbines.

[0056] In detail, when considering the characteristics of the frictional force that has a great influence on the rotational force of the wind turbine rotor (11), in order to generate rotational motion of the stationary wind turbine rotor (11), a static frictional force greater than the frictional force (kinetic friction) applied during rotation must be overcome, but in the low-speed range of wind speeds, sufficient torque is not generated to overcome the stationary rotational inertia caused by the static frictional force to induce rotational motion of the initially stationary wind turbine rotor (11).

[0057] After the rotational motion begins, a negative torque due to dynamic friction, which is much smaller than the static friction, is applied to the rotating body. At this time, a condition can be created in which the dynamic friction force can be offset by a positive torque generated by low-speed wind power. Therefore, in the present invention, the artificial intelligence control unit (60) performs a control to temporarily apply forced rotation using compressed air stored in the compressed air tank (20) when an external wind condition that can induce the initial rotational motion of the wind turbine rotor (11) is not created.

[0058] According to this control, the present invention can secure the advantage of being able to utilize more wind energy in the low-speed region compared to the existing method that only depends on the external wind speed.

[0059] That is, in order to improve the problem of inefficiency in utilizing wind energy in a low-speed region due to the inertia of the existing wind turbine rotor (11), the present invention utilizes compressed air that can be secured using surplus regenerative power, etc., and when the external wind speed is expected to continue above a certain wind speed (Cut-in Speed) in the future, a portion of the compressed air stored in the compressed air tank (20) is supplied to the wind turbine rotor (11) through a nozzle, thereby instantaneously applying a high-speed flow to the wind turbine rotor (11) to supply an external torque that can overcome the rotational inertia due to the static friction of the stationary wind turbine rotor (11), thereby enabling the wind energy in the low-speed region to be utilized for power generation without being wasted.

[0060]

[0061] b. Control to maintain continuous rotational motion of the rotating wind turbine rotor

[0062] The wind turbine rotor (11) that has started to rotate once has an inertia that wants to continue to rotate, but if the rotational torque due to the external wind speed is not continuously supplied in an amount equivalent to the rotational kinetic energy reduced by the dynamic torque due to the frictional force that impedes the rotational motion, the wind turbine rotor (11) ultimately stops. In other words, in order to maintain the wind turbine rotor (11) at a constant speed, an external torque equivalent to the dynamic torque loss due to friction is supplied.

[0063] Existing wind power generation systems have been limited in their maximum daily power production (or time) due to the lack of a means to actively maintain rotational power in response to fluctuations in external wind speed, and thus have to rely entirely on changes in external wind speed conditions, which is passive.

[0064] In the present invention, the artificial intelligence control unit (60) controls the rotation speed (V) of the wind turbine rotor (11) once it starts to rotate. θ ) is monitored, and when the rotational speed of the wind turbine rotor is expected to drop to a level where it is difficult to achieve continuous power generation due to the relatively large frictional force caused by the interaction between the dynamic torque due to frictional force and the torque supplied according to the external wind speed, the rotational speed suitable for continuous wind power generation is maintained through active control that can offset or increase the insufficient torque by using the compressed air stored in the compressed air tank (20) rather than relying solely on the external wind speed.

[0065] In addition, the artificial intelligence control unit (60) does not only consider the rotational speed of the wind turbine rotor (11) when determining the timing and amount of compressed air supply, but also predicts the variability of the external wind speed. If it is predicted that the external wind speed will naturally increase after a certain period of time without the instantaneous compressed air application mentioned above, and the target angular speed of the wind turbine rotor (11) will be recovered, the control suppresses the discharge of compressed air to minimize unnecessary waste of mechanical energy.

[0066] Meanwhile, when the external wind speed increases excessively (exceeds the cut-out speed), the current wind power generation system forcibly limits wind power generation (applies brakes, etc.) for system safety reasons, that is, to prevent the wind power generation system from breaking down due to excessive rotational force. However, this raises a problem that suggests the utilization of potential good wind power resources.

[0067] Accordingly, in the present invention, as another method of utilizing compressed air, the artificial intelligence control unit (60) controls the compressed air to be injected in the opposite direction of the rotational direction of the wind turbine rotor (11) when a wind speed higher than the cut-out speed is expected to blow temporarily, thereby reducing the external torque generated overall to a level that allows safe wind power generation.

[0068] Through this, it is possible to resolve the problem of requiring a lot of energy to rotate the wind turbine rotor (11) that has stopped once to a certain level of angular speed again when forcibly limiting the power generation output of a wind power generation system in the conventional manner.

[0069] However, since the rotation speed reduction control using compressed air is inefficient when excessive wind speed exceeding the cut-out speed continuously occurs, it is desirable to implement selective control because it requires excessive consumption of compressed air.

[0070]

[0071] Meanwhile, in the present invention, the intelligent algorithm of the artificial intelligence control unit (60) is implemented as a feedback algorithm for determining the appropriateness of control based on the operating status of the above-mentioned wind turbine rotor (11), external wind speed change, and available compressed air energy storage status information, and for building a database through accumulation of the information to enhance the optimal control (securing basic data that can statistically predict wind power resources in the relevant region), and for determining the appropriateness of control application for each event, for optimal control under similar conditions in the future.

[0072] That is, the intelligent algorithm of the artificial intelligence control unit (60) enables control based on analysis of previous cases to enable optimal control when conditions similar to previous control cases occur through big data analysis of information and trial and error accumulated so far.

[0073] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. However, the embodiments disclosed in this specification and the attached drawings are only used for the purpose of easily explaining the technical idea of ​​the present invention, and are not used to limit the scope of the present invention described in the claims. Accordingly, those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom.

Claims

1. A wind turbine comprising a plurality of wind turbine rotors; A wind power generating means capable of forcibly applying rotational motion to the above wind turbine rotor independently of the external wind speed; and An artificial intelligence control unit that selectively supplies compressed air from the wind power generation means to the wind power generator rotor to increase or decrease the rotation speed of the wind power generator rotor by using correlation information between the real-time rotation speed of the wind power generator rotor, external wind speed changes, and the available wind power generation capacity of the wind power generation means; An intelligent wind power generation system characterized by including:

2. In claim 1, An intelligent wind power generation system characterized in that the wind power generation means includes a compressed air tank in which compressed air is stored, and a compressor that produces compressed air stored in the compressed air tank.

3. In claim 2, An intelligent wind power generation system characterized in that the wind power generation means further includes a generator that produces power for operating the compressor.

4. In claim 2, An intelligent wind power generation system characterized in that the compressor is operated by surplus power produced by the wind power generator.

5. In claim 2, An intelligent wind power generation system characterized in that the wind power generation means further includes a pipe that supplies compressed air stored in the compressed air tank to the wind power generator rotor.

6. In claim 5, An intelligent wind power generation system characterized in that the above pipe is equipped with a nozzle for increasing the wind speed of the compressed air being discharged.

7. In claim 2, An intelligent wind power generation system characterized in that the artificial intelligence control unit includes an intelligent algorithm that determines whether the wind power generator can continuously produce power based on the rotational speed of the wind power generator rotor, changes in external wind speed, and compressed air status information of the wind power generation means.

8. In claim 7, An intelligent wind power generation system characterized in that the compressed air status information of the above wind power generation means is pressure information of the compressed air tank.

9. In claim 7, An intelligent wind power generation system characterized in that the artificial intelligence control unit controls the wind power generator rotor to temporarily apply forced rotation using compressed air stored in the compressed air tank when external wind conditions that can induce initial rotational motion of the wind power generator rotor are not formed.

10. In claim 7, An intelligent wind power generation system characterized in that the artificial intelligence control unit, when it is expected that the rotational speed of the wind turbine rotor will drop to a level at which it is difficult to achieve continuous power generation, controls the wind turbine rotor to maintain a rotational speed suitable for continuous wind power generation using the compressed air stored in the compressed air tank.

11. In claim 7, An intelligent wind power generation system characterized in that the artificial intelligence control unit controls the rotation speed of the wind power generator rotor to be reduced by injecting compressed air stored in the compressed air tank in the opposite direction of rotation to the wind power generator rotor when a wind speed higher than the cut-out speed is expected to blow temporarily.

12. In any one of claims 9 to 11, An intelligent wind power generation system characterized in that the above artificial intelligence control unit predicts the variability of external wind speed and determines the timing and amount of compressed air supply.

13. In claim 7, The above intelligent algorithm is an intelligent wind power generation system characterized in that it enables control based on analysis of previous cases to enable optimal control when conditions similar to previous control cases occur through big data analysis of accumulated information and trial and error.

14. In claim 2, The above wind power generation means further includes a pipe that supplies compressed air stored in the compressed air tank to the wind power generator rotor, A control valve is provided on the above pipe to control the compressed air supplied to the wind turbine rotor. An intelligent wind power generation system characterized in that the above control valve is operated by the above artificial intelligence control unit.

15. In claim 14, An intelligent wind power generation system characterized in that the above pipe and the above control valve are provided so that the compressed air supplied to the wind power generator rotor can be independently controlled for each wind power generator rotor.

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