Wind Turbine Generator Cooling Air Intake Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wind power installations with air cooling systems face issues with dust, moisture, and rain entering the pod, leading to increased wear and humidity, and inefficient cooling due to the suction of larger particles and raindrops by fans.
Innovation Solution
The fan is positioned to draw in air through a downwardly open air gap between the pylon and the pod, with multiple fans distributed within the pod to ensure uniform airflow, and air guide plates are used to direct cooling air through the generator's air gap, while sealing off other openings to maximize cooling efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If the fan is positioned on the lee side to draw in air from the exterior, then cooling effect is achieved, but dust, moisture and rain are sucked into the pod causing fouling and wear
Solution Approach 1:
The fan is inverted from the conventional lee-side position to the windward side, drawing air from the front of the pod. This reverses the airflow direction to enter through the upwardly open top end rather than being drawn from the rear, thereby achieving cooling while reducing intake of harmful particles and precipitation
Solution Approach 2:
The air intake is moved from a horizontal suction (lee side) to a vertical intake (upwardly open top end). By changing the dimension of air entry from horizontal to vertical, the system captures air from a different spatial dimension where harmful particles and rain are less concentrated
2Temperature
If the fan draws in air from the exterior, then heat dissipation is achieved, but fan noise becomes externally perceptible
Solution Approach 1:
The fan is extracted from the conventional external or rear position and relocated to the windward side within the pod structure. This repositioning allows the fan to be integrated into the pod's fairing, which acts as a noise barrier, reducing the propagation of fan noise to the external environment while maintaining cooling functionality
3Temperature
If multiple fans are arranged within the pod, then uniform airflow distribution is achieved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is segmented into multiple fans distributed at different locations within the pod (windward side and/or rear wall). This segmentation allows each fan to serve specific zones, creating uniform airflow distribution across the generator components while maintaining manageable individual fan units
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 configuration significantly reduces the intake of dust, sand, and rain, enhances cooling efficiency, and minimizes noise, allowing for improved thermal management and reduced wear on components.
Implementation Method 1
a fan within the pod, which draws in outside air through a downwardly open air gap, in particular between the pylon and the pod
Implementation Method 2
the cooling air flows through an opening in the generator and in so doing cools the individual components which heat up
Implementation Method 3
If therefore air is sucked in through a downwardly open air gap, then at most very fine particles can still also be sucked in, which more specifically can be borne upwardly by the air flow, against the effect of the force of gravity. As a result the suction intake of relatively large particles of sand and dust and also the suction intake of raindrops which, as anyone knows, are considerably heavier, is reduced to a high degree
Data Source
AI summary
A wind power installation is provided having a pylon, a pod mounted rotatably on the pylon, a generator arranged within the pod and having a rotor and a stator, and at least one fan in the region of the pod. In order to reduce the entry of moisture, sand and other foreign substances into the pod and also to reduce the fan noise which reaches the exterior, the fan may suck in outside air through a downwardly open first air gap, in particular between the pylon and the pod. The fan may be adapted to blow air out of a rear part of the pod, through an air gap between the stator and the rotor and into a front part of the pod. A seal structure may be positioned in the pod in such a way that an air flow that bypasses the air gap between the stator and the rotor is substantially prevented.