Wind Turbine Blade Heating Sleigh Platform
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The installation and maintenance of heating arrangements within wind turbine blades are challenging due to the confined internal space, making it difficult to integrate heating components and perform maintenance, especially in cold climate regions where ice accretion degrades turbine performance.
Innovation Solution
A heating installation arrangement featuring a sleigh platform with recesses for heating apparatus, ribs for attachment, and ducting sections to reduce weight and enhance airflow, allowing for efficient installation and maintenance, and utilizing composite materials to minimize manufacturing steps and prevent lightning strikes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If heating apparatus is installed separately into the confined space of wind turbine blade internal structure, then the heating arrangement can be integrated into the blade, but the installation process becomes difficult and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The heating installation arrangement is divided into modular components (heating elements, fans, ducting) that are pre-assembled on a sleigh platform outside the blade, then installed as a complete unit. This segmentation allows manufacturing and installation to occur separately, reducing on-site installation time and difficulty while maintaining integration within the blade structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating apparatus components are pre-positioned and pre-assembled on the sleigh platform before being installed into the wind turbine blade. This preliminary assembly action outside the confined blade space simplifies the final installation process and reduces production time within the blade manufacturing workflow.
2Manufacturing precision
If technicians enter the wind turbine blade to install heating components, then individual components can be installed precisely, but access to the confined internal space becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The heating installation arrangement is segmented into a complete modular unit assembled on a sleigh platform, which is then installed as one piece into the blade. This eliminates the need for technicians to work inside the confined blade internal space while maintaining precise installation through the pre-assembled modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The sleigh platform acts as an intermediary structure that holds and positions the heating apparatus components in their correct locations outside the blade, then serves as the mounting structure when installed within the blade. This intermediary approach ensures precise positioning without requiring direct access to the confined blade interior during assembly.
3Reliability
If heating arrangement is designed for lifetime durability, then reliability is improved, but ability to service and maintain the system becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The heating installation arrangement is designed as a segmented modular system on a sleigh platform that can be installed as a complete unit but allows for future removal and replacement of individual components or the entire assembly. This modular segmentation maintains durability through robust installation while enabling maintenance by allowing access to the modular unit as a whole or its components.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating installation arrangement is designed with dynamic considerations for both permanent installation and future maintenance access. The modular sleigh-based design allows the system to transition from a fixed durable installation to a maintainable configuration where the modular unit can be removed and serviced, balancing reliability with ease of repair throughout the system's lifecycle.
4Productivity
If complete heating installation arrangement is built as a separate unit on a sleigh, then installation efficiency is improved, but the complexity of the arrangement increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple heating apparatus components (heating elements, fans, ducting, mounting structures) are merged into a single integrated modular unit assembled on a sleigh platform. This merging improves installation efficiency by allowing the entire assembly to be installed as one unit, while the modular nature of the sleigh-based design actually reduces overall system complexity by organizing components into a standardized, manageable configuration.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables efficient installation and maintenance of heating systems within wind turbine blades, reducing production time and improving de-icing efficiency while ensuring structural integrity and safety from lightning strikes.
Implementation Method 1
a heating arrangement comprising one or more fans, one or more heating elements and ducting is required to be located within the blade
Implementation Method 2
a heating arrangement comprising one or more fans, one or more heating elements and ducting is required to be located within the blade
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a heating installation arrangement and a method of forming the heating installation arrangement for a wind turbine blade. The heating installation arrangement (100) for a wind turbine blade comprises a sleigh (101), wherein the sleigh (101) forms a platform of the heating installation arrangement (100), the sleigh further includes a recess (109), wherein the recess (109) includes one or more connection points (110, 112) for a corresponding one or more heating apparatus.