Wind Turbine Vibration Detection Using Frequency Filtering and Digital Simulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing abnormal vibration detection systems for wind turbine generators fail to reliably continue operation during non-dangerous vibrations while ensuring emergency stops during excessive vibrations, and lack effective failure detection mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
An abnormal vibration detection unit comprising first and second acceleration detectors, a calculation device, and a filtering relay with a filter circuit and output circuit, which extracts predetermined frequency components and performs digital calculations to simulate filter operations, allowing for the detection of excessive vibrations and system failures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the safety system stops the wind turbine generator when detecting vibration near natural frequency, then the reliability is improved, but the productivity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter being monitored from general vibration amplitude to specific frequency components near the natural frequency of the tower. By using frequency-selective monitoring, the system can distinguish between dangerous resonant vibrations and harmless other vibrations, allowing the turbine to operate during non-dangerous vibrations while stopping only when resonant vibrations occur.
2Reliability
If the safety system is designed with failure detection capability, then the reliability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by comparing the actual output signal from the filter circuit with a predicted output signal generated by simulating the filter circuit's operation in the calculation device. This comparison provides feedback that enables failure detection without requiring additional sensors or complex hardware, as the feedback mechanism uses existing computational resources.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the filter circuit by simulating its operation through digital calculation in the calculation device. This virtual model copies the expected behavior of the physical filter circuit, allowing comparison between predicted and actual outputs to detect failures without duplicating the physical hardware.
3Device complexity
If the system monitors only vibration near natural frequency, then the device complexity is reduced, but the measurement precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces frequency filtering as an intermediary process between the acceleration detector and the evaluation logic. The filter circuit selectively extracts frequency components near the natural frequency, acting as an intermediary that isolates the dangerous vibrations from other vibrations. This allows the system to maintain simplicity while achieving precise measurement of the specific frequency range of interest.
Data Source
AI summary
An abnormal vibration detection unit which is capable of stopping a wind turbine generator when excessive vibration is detected. The vibration detection unit has first and second acceleration detectors, a calculation device, a filtering relay, and a safety system which performs an emergency stop of the wind turbine generator in accordance with an output terminal of the filtering relay. The filtering relay has a filter circuit to extract a frequency component from the second analog output signal. The calculation device generates a predicted value of the output signal of the filter circuit part, and detects a failure of the first and second acceleration detectors or the filter circuit part by comparing the predicted value of the output signal of the filter circuit part with a measured value of the output signal of the filter circuit part received from the filtering relay.