Liquid containment assembly for a wind turbine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10788019-B2
Application number	US-201615753992-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 23, 2016
Priority date	Aug 24, 2015
Publication date	Sep 29, 2020
Grant date	Sep 29, 2020

Abstract

The application relates to a liquid containment assembly ( 200 ) for a wind turbine ( 10 ), comprising: a support ( 202 ) for supporting wind turbine equipment ( 220 ); and a flexible container ( 300 ) suspended beneath the support ( 202 ). The flexible container ( 300 ) is arranged such that it is moveable between a collapsed position, in which the liquid containment assembly ( 200 ) has a first depth (D 1 ), and an expanded position, in which the liquid containment assembly ( 200 ) has a second depth (D 2 ), the second depth being greater than the first depth.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A liquid containment assembly for a wind turbine, comprising:
a support for supporting wind turbine equipment; and
a flexible container suspended beneath the support for collecting liquid leaked from the wind turbine equipment, wherein when the flexible container is in a liquid collection capacity during use, the flexible container is moveable between a collapsed position, in which the liquid containment assembly has a first depth, and an expanded position, in which the liquid containment assembly has a second depth, the second depth being greater than the first depth.

2. The liquid containment assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the flexible container has a first capacity when in the collapsed position and a second capacity when in the expanded position, the second capacity being at least twice the first capacity.

3. The liquid containment assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the flexible container comprises a flexible bag.

4. The liquid containment assembly according to claim 3 , wherein the flexible container further comprises a rigid frame from which the flexible bag is suspended.

5. The liquid containment assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the liquid containment assembly further comprises a retaining means for releasably holding the flexible container in the collapsed position.

6. The liquid containment assembly according to claim 5 , wherein the retaining means is selected from the group consisting of: strops; cables; ropes; hook and loop fasteners; temporary welds; snap fasteners; or any combination thereof.

7. The liquid containment assembly according to claim 5 , wherein the retaining means is adapted to release the flexible container from the collapsed position when a weight of liquid in the flexible container exceeds a threshold value.

8. The liquid containment assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the support comprises an access hole for providing access to the flexible container from above the support.

9. The liquid containment assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the flexible container has a capacity of at least 2000 litres when in the expanded position.

10. The liquid containment assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the first depth is less than a 20 cm when in the collapsed position.

11. The liquid containment assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the wind turbine equipment is a liquid-cooled wind turbine transformer.

12. The flexible container for a liquid containment assembly according to claim 1 , the flexible container comprising a flexible bag and a rigid frame from which the flexible bag is suspended.

13. A wind turbine comprising a liquid containment assembly according to claim 1 .

14. The wind turbine according to claim 13 , wherein the wind turbine includes a tower and the liquid containment assembly is arranged within a power conversion module in the tower.

15. The wind turbine according to claim 13 , wherein the wind turbine includes a nacelle and the liquid containment assembly is arranged within the nacelle.

16. The wind turbine according to claim 15 , wherein the liquid containment assembly is connected to a load bearing member of the nacelle.

17. A method of installing a power conversion module in a wind turbine comprising:
providing a power conversion module comprising a liquid containment assembly according to claim 1 ;
holding the flexible container of the liquid containment assembly in the collapsed position or a partially collapsed position;
transporting the power conversion module to an installation site;
positioning the power conversion module in the wind turbine; and
moving the flexible container to its expanded position.

18. An assembly for a wind turbine, comprising:
a support;
wind turbine equipment positioned on the support; and
a flexible container suspended beneath the support for collecting liquid leaked from the wind turbine equipment, wherein when the flexible container is in a liquid collection capacity during use, the flexible container is moveable between a collapsed position, in which the flexible container has a first depth, and an expanded position, in which the flexible container has a second depth, the second depth being greater than the first depth.

Assignees

• Vestas Wind Sys As

Inventors

• Petersen Morten Hedegaard
• Hougaard Steffen
• Hansen Erland Falk
• Jensen Rasmus Dejgaard

Classifications

• F03D80/80 Primary

  Arrangement of components within nacelles or towers · CPC title

• F03D80/00 Primary

  Details, components or accessories not provided for in groups F03D1/00 - F03D17/00 · CPC title

• Y02E10/72

  Wind turbines with rotation axis in wind direction · CPC title

• Y10T137/5762

  With leakage or drip collecting · CPC title

• B65D90/24

  Spillage-retaining means, e.g. recovery ponds · CPC title