Wind Turbine Drive Gear Load Mitigation at Ring Gear Mesh
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wind turbines experience excessive loads at the meshing portions of drive gears and ring gears, leading to potential breakage and requiring costly repairs, which can significantly reduce capacity utilization and necessitate prolonged shutdowns, especially when caused by temporary factors such as wind gusts.
Innovation Solution
A wind turbine drive system with a state quantity detection unit monitoring loads between drive gears and ring gears, and a control unit that reduces loads by stopping drive gear output, engaging brake mechanisms, and adjusting blade pitch angles to mitigate excessive loads, allowing for continued operation and preventing damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the wind turbine stops power generation to investigate excessive load causes, then the reliability and safety of the driving device are improved, but the productivity and capacity utilization deteriorate significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit performs preliminary diagnostic actions by monitoring load values and detecting abnormalities before catastrophic failure occurs. The system continuously monitors the load on each driving device and identifies excessive loads early, allowing for preventive maintenance scheduling rather than forced shutdowns after failure.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit receives feedback from load sensors monitoring each driving device and adjusts operations accordingly. When excessive load is detected, the system provides feedback signals to operators or automatically adjusts the operation of driving devices to redistribute loads, maintaining productivity while preventing damage.
2Productivity
If multiple driving devices operate simultaneously, then the productivity and power generation capacity are improved, but the risk of excessive load generation at meshing portions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit applies different control strategies to different driving devices based on their individual load conditions. Each driving device is monitored independently, and the control unit can adjust the operation of specific devices with excessive loads while maintaining normal operation of other devices, ensuring localized problem resolution without affecting overall system productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit changes operational parameters of individual driving devices when excessive load is detected. It adjusts the load distribution by modifying the operation parameters of specific driving devices, thereby reducing excessive loads at meshing portions while maintaining overall system productivity through coordinated control.
Data Source
AI summary
One object is to improve the control upon detecting an excessive load in the movable section of a wind turbine, thereby to raise the capacity utilization of the wind turbine. A wind turbine drive system includes: a plurality of driving devices installed in one structure at a movable section of a wind turbine, each of the plurality of driving devices including a drive gear meshing with a ring gear installed in another structure at the movable section of the wind turbine; a state quantity detection unit for monitoring, for each of the plurality of driving devices, a load generated between the drive gear of each of the plurality of driving devices and the ring gear; and a control unit for performing control for reducing the load when the state quantity detection unit detects an abnormal load.