Wind power installation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11536248-B2
Application number	US-202017031400-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 24, 2020
Priority date	Sep 24, 2019
Publication date	Dec 27, 2022
Grant date	Dec 27, 2022

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a wind power installation having an aerodynamic rotor with at least one rotor blade, wherein the rotor blade has an active flow control device, which is designed to actively influence a flow over the rotor blade, wherein the flow control device comprises an opening in a rotor blade surface, referred to as a rotor blade surface opening, wherein the flow control device is configured to draw off and/or blow out air through the rotor blade surface opening air by way of a controllable air flow, wherein the wind power installation has a controller which is configured to control an amount of the controllable air flow through the rotor blade surface opening according to at least one of the following rules: if a rotational speed threshold value of a rotational speed of the rotor is exceeded, increasing the maximum controllable air flow successively with increasing rotational speed, if a torque threshold value of a torque of the rotor is exceeded, increasing the maximum controllable air flow successively with increasing torque.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A horizontal axis wind power installation comprising:
an aerodynamic rotor and a rotor blade coupled to the aerodynamic rotor, and
a flow control device on the rotor blade, wherein the flow control device is configured to actively influence a flow over the rotor blade,
wherein the flow control device comprises a rotor blade surface opening and at least one fan for providing a controllable air flow through the rotor blade surface opening,
wherein the flow control device is configured to draw off air or blow out air or both through the rotor blade surface opening by way of the controllable air flow,
wherein the horizontal axis wind power installation has a controller configured to control an amount of the controllable air flow through the rotor blade surface opening according to at least one of the following rules:
if a rotational speed threshold value of a rotational speed of the rotor is exceeded, increasing a maximum controllable air flow successively with increasing rotational speed; and
if a torque threshold value of a torque of the rotor is exceeded, increasing the maximum controllable air flow successively with increasing torque.

2. The horizontal axis wind power installation as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the flow control device comprises a plurality of rotor blade surface openings along a length of the rotor blade, wherein the at least one fan of the flow control device has adjustable speeds and is configured to vary an amount of the air flow through the rotor blade surface openings along the length of the rotor blade.

3. The horizontal axis wind power installation as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to control the amount of the controllable air flow through the rotor blade surface openings such that the amount of the air flow decreases over the length of the rotor blade.

4. The horizontal axis wind power installation as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to control the amount of the controllable air flow through the rotor blade surface openings such that the decrease in the amount over the length of the rotor blade decreases with lower atmospheric air density.

5. The horizontal axis wind power installation as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to control the amount of the controllable air flow through the rotor blade surface openings in a manner dependent on an atmospheric turbulence intensity, such that the decrease in the amount over the length of the rotor blade length increases with lower atmospheric turbulence intensity.

6. The horizontal axis wind power installation as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to control the amount of the controllable air flow through the rotor blade surface opening in a manner dependent on an atmospheric air density.

7. The horizontal axis wind power installation as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to vary an amount of the air flow through the rotor blade surface opening in a manner dependent on an azimuth angle of the rotor.

8. The horizontal axis wind power installation as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to control the amount of the air flow through the rotor blade surface opening cyclically over the azimuth angle such that an amount of the air flow through the rotor blade surface opening is greater at an azimuth position of the rotor blade at the 12 o'clock position, than at the azimuth position at the 6 o'clock position.

9. The horizontal axis wind power installation as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the rotor blade surface opening of the flow control device is sectionally inclined to a surface of the rotor blade such that an air flow exits or flows substantially parallel to the surface of the rotor blade.

10. The horizontal axis wind power installation as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the flow control device is configured to control the controllable air flow by controlling at least one of a flow speed by controlling the at least one fan, and a blowing-out or drawing-off rate by controlling a size of the rotor blade surface opening.

11. The horizontal axis wind power installation as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the blowing-out or drawing-off rate is determined as a multiplication of a) a surface porosity as a first factor of the multiplication and b) a quotient as a second factor of the multiplication, the quotient being a division of (i) mean blowing-out or drawing-off speed over the rotor blade surface opening as a dividend and (ii) a relative incident flow speed of an undisturbed flow as a divisor.

12. The horizontal axis wind power installation as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the rotor blade surface opening includes a plurality of sub-openings distributed over a length of the rotor blade.

13. A wind power installation comprising:
an aerodynamic rotor and a rotor blade coupled to the aerodynamic rotor, and
a flow control device on the rotor blade, wherein the flow control device is configured to actively influence a flow over the rotor blade,
wherein the flow control device comprises a rotor blade surface opening and at least one fan for providing a controllable air flow through the rotor blade surface opening,
wherein the flow control device is configured to draw off air or blow out air or both through the rotor blade surface opening by way of the controllable air flow,
wherein the wind power installation has a controller configured to control an amount of the controllable air flow through the rotor blade surface opening according to at least one of the following rules:
if a rotational speed threshold value of a rotational speed of the rotor is exceeded, increasing a maximum controllable air flow successively with increasing rotational speed; and
if a torque threshold value of a torque of the rotor is exceeded, increasing the maximum controllable air flow successively with increasing torque,

wherein the flow control device comprises a plurality of rotor blade surface openings along a length of the rotor blade, wherein the at least one fan of the flow control device has adjustable speeds and is configured to vary an amount of the air flow through the rotor blade surface openings along the length of the rotor blade,
wherein the controller is configured to control the amount of the controllable air flow through the rotor blade surface openings such that the amount of the air flow decreases over the length of the rotor blade, and
wherein the controller is configured to control the amount of the controllable air flow through the rotor blade surface openings such that the decrease in the amount over the length of the rotor blade decreases with lower atmospheric air density.

Assignees

• Wobben Properties Gmbh

Inventors

• Messing Ralf
• Mahmoud Muhanad

Classifications

• F03D1/0675 Primary

  of the blades · CPC title

• F05B2240/3062

  Vortex generators · CPC title

• F03D1/0641 Primary

  of the section profile of the blades, i.e. aerofoil profile · CPC title

• F05B2240/3052

  adjustable · CPC title

• F05B2240/32

  with roughened surface · CPC title