Method of diagnosing a wind turbine power generation facility and automatic diagnosis device for wind turbine power generation facility

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11118566-B2
Application number	US-201816178010-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 1, 2018
Priority date	Jul 3, 2018
Publication date	Sep 14, 2021
Grant date	Sep 14, 2021

Abstract

Soundness and a sign of abnormality of a pitch mechanism of a wind turbine blade is quantitatively diagnosed. A method of diagnosing a wind turbine power generation facility includes the steps of: rotating and fixing a wind turbine rotor including at least one wind turbine blade; providing, in a state where the wind turbine rotor is fixed, a pitch control command value to a pitch mechanism that changes a pitch angle of the wind turbine blade, to increase or reduce the pitch angle such that the pitch angle reaches a pitch angle target value from a reference angle; acquiring an actual pitch angular velocity or an actual pitch angle of the wind turbine blade corresponding to the pitch control command value; and diagnosing soundness of the pitch mechanism based on correlation between the acquired actual pitch angular velocity or the acquired actual pitch angle, and the pitch control command value.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of diagnosing a wind turbine power generation facility, the method comprising the steps of:
preparing an automatic diagnosis device including:
a wind turbine rotor that includes at least one wind turbine blade,
a pitch mechanism that changes a pitch angle of the at least one wind turbine blade,
a sensor that acquires an actual pitch angular velocity or an actual pitch angle of the at least one wind turbine blade, and
a controller that controls driving of at least the pitch mechanism and the wind turbine rotor;

rotating and fixing the wind turbine rotor;
providing, in a state where the wind turbine rotor is fixed, a pitch control command value to a pitch mechanism to increase or reduce the pitch angle such that the pitch angle reaches a pitch angle target value from a reference angle;
acquiring, from the sensor, the actual pitch angular velocity or the actual pitch angle of the at least one wind turbine blade corresponding to the pitch control command value; and
diagnosing soundness of the pitch mechanism based on correlation between the acquired actual pitch angular velocity or the acquired actual pitch angle, and the pitch control command value.

2. The method of diagnosing the wind turbine power generation facility according to claim 1 , wherein the step of fixing the wind turbine rotor includes fixing the at least one wind turbine blade that is a diagnosis target, along a vertical direction including a center of the wind turbine rotor.

3. The method of diagnosing the wind turbine power generation facility according to claim 1 , wherein the pitch angle target value or the pitch control command value is provided in a form of a sine wave.

4. The method of diagnosing the wind turbine power generation facility according to claim 1 , further comprising a step of setting a first threshold related to the correlation between the actual pitch angular velocity and the pitch control command value,
wherein the step of diagnosing includes diagnosing abnormality when the correlation between the actual pitch angular velocity and the pitch control command value deviates from the first threshold.

5. The method of diagnosing the wind turbine power generation facility according to claim 1 , further comprising a step of setting a second threshold related to the correlation between the actual pitch angle and the pitch control command value,
wherein the step of diagnosing includes diagnosing abnormality when the correlation between the actual pitch angle and the pitch control command value deviates from the second threshold.

6. The method of diagnosing the wind turbine power generation facility according to claim 1 , wherein the step of providing the pitch control command value includes providing the pitch control command value such that the pitch angle changes toward an amplitude range that is 10% to 50% of an entire pitch angle range between a feather side and a fine side.

7. The method of diagnosing the wind turbine power generation facility according to claim 1 , wherein the step of providing the pitch control command value includes providing the pitch control command value such that the pitch angle changes toward a frequency range from 0.04 to 0.2 Hz.

8. The method of diagnosing the wind turbine power generation facility according to claim 1 , wherein the step of providing the pitch control command value includes providing the pitch control command value such that the pitch angle changes toward a cycle range from 5 to 25 seconds.

9. An automatic diagnosis device for a wind turbine power generation facility that comprises:
a wind turbine rotor including at least one wind turbine blade; and
a pitch mechanism that changes a pitch angle of the at least one wind turbine blade,
the automatic diagnosis device comprising:
a sensor that acquires an actual pitch angular velocity or an actual pitch angle of the at least one wind turbine blade; and
a controller that controls driving of at least the pitch mechanism and the wind turbine rotor,
wherein the controller is configured to
provide, in a state where the wind turbine rotor is fixed, a pitch control command value to the pitch mechanism to increase or reduce the pitch angle such that the pitch angle reaches a pitch angle target value from a reference angle,
acquire, from the sensor, the actual pitch angular velocity or the actual pitch angle of the at least one wind turbine blade corresponding to the pitch control command value, and
diagnose soundness of the pitch mechanism based on correlation between the acquired actual pitch angular velocity or the acquired actual pitch angle, and the pitch control command value.

10. The automatic diagnosis device for the wind turbine power generation facility according to claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to fix the at least one wind turbine blade that is a diagnosis target, along a vertical direction including a center of the wind turbine rotor.

11. The automatic diagnosis device for the wind turbine power generation facility according to claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to provide, to the pitch mechanism, the pitch angle target value or the pitch control command value in a form of a sine wave.

12. The automatic diagnosis device for the wind turbine power generation facility according to claim 9 , further comprising a storage unit that stores a first threshold related to the correlation between the actual pitch angular velocity and the pitch control command value, or a second threshold related to the correlation between the actual pitch angle and the pitch control command value,
wherein the controller is configured to diagnose abnormality when the correlation between the actual pitch angular velocity and the pitch control command value deviates from the first threshold or when the correlation between the actual pitch angle and the pitch control command value deviates from the second threshold.

13. The automatic diagnosis device for the wind turbine power generation facility according to claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to provide the pitch control command value such that the pitch angle changes toward an amplitude range that is 10% to 50% of an entire pitch angle range between a feather side and a fine side.

14. The automatic diagnosis device for the wind turbine power generation facility according to claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to provide the pitch control command value such that the pitch angle changes toward a frequency range from 0.04 to 0.2 Hz.

15. The automatic diagnosis device for the wind turbine power generation facility according to claim 9 , further comprising a notification unit that issues a notification related to the soundness of the pitch mechanism,
wherein the controller is configured to perform the diagnosis of the soundness once in every predetermined cycle, and cause, when abnormality of the pitch mechanism of the at least one wind turbine blade is found, the notification unit to issue a notification indicating the abnormality.

Assignees

• Mitsubishi Heavy Ind Ltd

Inventors

• Baba Mitsuya

Classifications

• F05B2260/70

  Adjusting of angle of incidence or attack of rotating blades · CPC title

• F03D7/0224 Primary

  Adjusting blade pitch · CPC title

• Y02E10/72

  Wind turbines with rotation axis in wind direction · CPC title

• F05B2260/80

  Diagnostics · CPC title

• F05B2270/328

  Blade pitch angle · CPC title