Wind turbine and blade alignment method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10184456-B2
Application number	US-201514706088-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 7, 2015
Priority date	May 13, 2014
Publication date	Jan 22, 2019
Grant date	Jan 22, 2019

Abstract

The present subject matter is directed to a wind turbine blade alignment method. A sensor provided on the blade at a blade station with a known twist angle is used to measure an installation angle of the blade station. The installation angle is adjusted if the installation angle measured by the sensor is not equal to the known twist angle. A wind turbine with such a sensor for measuring an installation angle used for blade alignment is also provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A wind turbine blade alignment method comprising:
measuring an installation angle of a blade station by a sensor provided at the blade station, wherein the blade station has a known twist angle;
comparing the measured installation angle with the known twist angle; and
adjusting the position of the blade until the measured installation angle is equal to the known twist angle.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the position of the blade is adjusted by rotating the blade around a pitch axis of the blade.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising positioning the blade to a certain location before using the sensor to measure the installation angle.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor is positioned at a zero-twist station of the blade.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor is a position sensor, and measuring an installation angle further comprises obtaining position information of the blade station by the position sensor and processing the position information to calculate the installation angle of the blade station.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor is an angle sensor that permits direct angle measurement.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the angle sensor is a micro inertial measurement unit (MIMU) comprising at least one of or any combination of a 3D accelerometer, a 3D gyroscope, and a 3D magnetometer.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor is infused into or assembled to a shear web or a spar cap of the blade station.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor is embedded into a prefab block, which is infused into or assembled to the blade station.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor is spanwisely remote from a root end of the blade.

11. A wind turbine comprising:
a rotor comprising a blade;
a sensor for measuring an installation angle of a blade station, wherein the blade station has a known twist angle; and
a controller comprising a processing unit for determining whether to adjust the position of the blade by comparing the installation angle measured by the sensor to the known twist angle.

12. The wind turbine according to claim 11 , wherein the controller is configured to adjust the position of the blade if the installation angle measured by the sensor is not equal to the known twist angle.

13. The wind turbine according to claim 11 , wherein the blade station has a twist angle of about zero.

14. The wind turbine according to claim 11 , wherein the sensor is a position sensor used to obtain position information, and the processing unit comprises a calculation unit for processing the position information to calculate the installation angle of the blade station.

15. The wind turbine according to claim 11 , wherein the sensor is an angle sensor that permits direct angle measurement.

16. The wind turbine according to claim 15 , wherein the angle sensor is a micro inertial measurement unit (MIMU) comprising at least one of or any combination of a 3D accelerometer, a 3D gyroscope, and a 3D magnetometer.

17. The wind turbine according to claim 11 , wherein the sensor is infused into or assembled to a shear web or a spar cap of the blade station.

18. The wind turbine according to claim 11 , wherein the sensor is embedded into a prefab block, which is infused into or assembled to the blade station.

19. The wind turbine according to claim 11 , wherein the sensor is spanwisely remote from a root end of the blade.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Liu Xiaoming
• Fu Xu
• Busbey Bruce Clark
• Li Rong
• Riahi Amir

Classifications

• F03D1/0658

  Arrangements for fixing wind-engaging parts to a hub · CPC title

• F03D13/10

  Assembly of wind motors; Arrangements for erecting wind motors · CPC title

• F03D7/042

  by means of an electrical or electronic controller · CPC title

• F03D1/0675

  of the blades · CPC title

• F05B2260/83

  Testing, e.g. methods, components or tools therefor · CPC title