Wind turbine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11525436-B2
Application number	US-202117195879-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 9, 2021
Priority date	Mar 12, 2020
Publication date	Dec 13, 2022
Grant date	Dec 13, 2022

Abstract

A wind turbine, including a main gear box, which is lubricated and/or cooled by oil, and a thermosiphon cooling system for cooling the oil is provided. The thermosiphon cooling system solves the main challenges facing the oil cooling systems in wind turbines. The high efficiency of the evaporation heat transfer mechanism gives the capacity to transfer the required heat load in relatively smaller size system. In this way, installation space is reduced. The thermosiphon cooling system has no service requirements over the lifetime of the wind turbine since the thermosiphon cooling system has no moving parts. Costs are saved since the simplicity of the thermosiphon cooling system adds a big value to the system business case.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A wind turbine, comprising a main gear box, which is lubricated and/or cooled by oil, and a thermosiphon cooling system for cooling the oil, wherein the thermosiphon cooling system forms a closed loop, wherein the thermosiphon cooling system comprises an evaporator, a condenser, and pipes that couple the evaporator to the condenser such that the thermosiphon cooling system forms the closed loop, and wherein the main gear box is coupled to the evaporator by hoses and/or pipes configured to circulate oil between the main gear box and the evaporator.

2. The wind turbine according to claim 1 , wherein the condenser is arranged above the evaporator when viewed along a height direction.

3. The wind turbine according to claim 1 , further comprising a nacelle that receives the main gear box, wherein the evaporator is arranged inside the nacelle, and wherein the condenser is arranged outside the nacelle.

4. The wind turbine according to claim 3 , wherein the condenser is arranged on top of the nacelle.

5. The wind turbine according to claim 1 , wherein the condenser is tilted in a tilting angle toward a horizontal.

6. The wind turbine according to claim 1 , further comprising a fan that forces air through the condenser.

7. The wind turbine according to claim 1 , further comprising a working fluid that circulates in the thermosiphon cooling system.

8. The wind turbine according claim 7 , wherein the working fluid is a refrigerant.

Assignees

• Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Innovation & Technology SL

Inventors

• Saleh Ahmad

Classifications

• F16H57/0413 Primary

  Controlled cooling or heating of lubricant; Temperature control therefor · CPC title

• F03D80/60 Primary

  Cooling or heating of wind motors · CPC title

• F03D80/70

  Bearing or lubricating arrangements · CPC title

• F28D2015/0216

  having particular orientation, e.g. slanted, or being orientation-independent · CPC title

• F05B2260/232

  characterised by the cooling medium · CPC title