Wind Turbine Icing Detection via Power Deviation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wind turbines face unique operational challenges due to manufacturing deviations and icing issues, leading to power losses and safety risks, as existing methods for detecting icing are unreliable and energy-intensive.
Innovation Solution
A method that adapts the operation of wind turbines by monitoring operating parameters and outside temperature, using sensors to detect deviations and adjust stored parameter values or influence turbine operation to prevent icing-related issues, ensuring safe operation by stopping the turbine when icing is suspected.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If rotor blades are heated to prevent ice formation, then icing is prevented, but power consumption increases considerably
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of icing conditions by monitoring operating parameters (power output, rotational speed, wind speed) and stored reference values before ice formation becomes critical. This allows the turbine to adapt operations proactively rather than reactively, preventing ice-related power losses while avoiding continuous heating.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously compares detected operating parameters with stored reference values and adapts the operation based on deviations. This feedback mechanism enables dynamic adjustment of turbine operations to compensate for icing effects without requiring energy-intensive heating, resolving the contradiction between reliability and energy consumption.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the turbine is stopped after icing detection to prevent hazards, then safety is ensured, but power production is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system detects icing conditions preliminarily by monitoring deviations in operating parameters before they lead to hazardous ice accumulation. This early detection allows for gradual operational adaptations rather than abrupt shutdowns, maintaining safety while minimizing power production losses.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adapts turbine operations based on real-time parameter deviations rather than using static stop/go decisions. This dynamic approach allows continuous operation within safe parameters, adjusting power output and rotational speed to compensate for icing effects without complete shutdowns.
3Measurement precision
If heated anemometers are used to prevent icing, then measurement accuracy is maintained, but the heater may fail and protection is incomplete
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the wind turbine's own operational parameters (power output, rotational speed, wind speed) as indicators of icing conditions, eliminating the need for external heated sensors. The turbine's operation itself provides the measurement data needed to detect icing, making the system self-sufficient and avoiding single-point failures associated with heated anemometers.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses operating parameters as intermediary indicators to indirectly detect icing conditions rather than directly measuring temperature or ice formation. This indirect detection method through power output and rotational speed deviations provides reliable icing detection without requiring vulnerable heated sensors in harsh environments.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a method for operating a wind turbine with the steps: detection of the values of predetermined operating parameters by means of suitable sensors, detection of at least one predetermined initial condition, comparison of the detected values to stored values of the operating parameters. The invention further relates to a wind turbine for implementing the method. Therefore, the object of the present invention is, to be able to adapt the operation of a wind turbine to changes using a method of the type named above, such that when the detected parameter values deviate from the stored parameter values, as a function of the initial condition, either the stored parameter values are adapted to the detected parameter values or the operation of the wind turbine is influenced as a function of the detected parameter values. In this way, the invention is based on the knowledge that, from a pragmatic view, the formation of ice on a rotor blade is also a (temporary, meteorologically-related) change to the rotor blade shape. From this it follows that the formation of ice on the rotor blades always leads to a change of the aerodynamic profile and thus to a negative effect of the output of the wind turbine. However, deviations from this shape and thus deviations in the magnitude of the generated output also result just from manufacturing-dependent deviations of the rotor blades from the predetermined optimum shape and from gradual soiling of the rotor blades during operation.