Wind turbine blade and wind turbine with a down conductor spar cap

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12404839-B2
Application number	US-202117922391-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 3, 2021
Priority date	May 14, 2020
Publication date	Sep 2, 2025
Grant date	Sep 2, 2025

Abstract

A wind turbine blade for a wind turbine is provided, the wind turbine blade having a tip portion and a root portion, and the wind turbine blade including a shell and a spar, the spar including two spar caps connected to one another by at least one spar web of the spar and extending in a longitudinal direction of the wind turbine blade, whereby at least one of the two spar caps is configured as a main down conductor of a lightning protection system of the wind turbine blade, the at least one main down conductor including an electrically conductive fiber-reinforced plastic being electroconductively connected to at least one electrical interface of the lightning protection system. Also provided is a wind turbine including such a wind turbine blade.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A wind turbine blade for a wind turbine, the wind turbine blade comprising:
a tip portion;
a root portion;
a shell;
a spar comprising two spar caps connected to one another by at least one spar web of the spar and extending in a longitudinal direction of the wind turbine blade, wherein, at least one of the two spar caps is configured as a main down conductor of a lightning protection system of the wind turbine blade, the at least one main down conductor comprising an electrically conductive fiber-reinforced plastic being electroconductively connected to at least one electrical interface of the lightning protection system, wherein the at least one electrical interface comprises a first electrical interface at the tip portion and a second electrical interface at the root portion;
wherein the two spar caps are connected by a first equipotential bond connection and a second equipotential bond connection;
wherein a first metallic conductor connection connects the first electrical interface to the first equipotential bond connection, and a second metallic conductor connection connects the second equipotential bond connection to the second electrical interface at the root portion;
wherein the first equipotential bond connection and the second equipotential bond connection connect the two spar caps without contacting a metal down conductor arranged between the two spar caps along a thickness direction.

2. The wind turbine blade according to claim 1 , wherein, the at least one main down conductor is configured to mainly conduct electricity from a lightning strike from the tip portion to the root portion of the wind turbine blade.

3. The wind turbine blade according to claim 1 , wherein, the first electrical interface is an electrical air-termination arrangement and/or the second electrical interface is an electrical root terminal.

4. The wind turbine blade according to claim 1 , wherein, each of the two spar caps is configured as a main down conductor comprising an electrically conductive fiber-reinforced plastic being electroconductively connected to the at least one electrical interface of the lightning protection system.

5. The wind turbine blade according to claim 1 , wherein, the at least one main down conductor comprises or is made from electrically conductive fiber-reinforced plastic.

6. The wind turbine blade according to claim 1 , wherein, the electrically conductive fiber-reinforced plastic of the at least one main down conductor is carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic.

7. The wind turbine blade according to claim 1 , wherein the first equipotential bond connection and the second equipotential bond connection are arranged in between the two spar caps.

8. The wind turbine blade according to claim 7 , wherein, multiple equipotential bond connections connect the two spar caps in between the tip portion and the root portion, whereby the multiple equipotential bond connections are arranged at a distance from one another along the longitudinal direction of the wind turbine blade.

9. The wind turbine blade according to claim 7 , wherein, the first equipotential bond connection and the second equipotential bond connection comprises or is made from electrically conductive fiber-reinforced plastic.

10. The wind turbine blade according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrical interface comprises metal or is made from metal.

11. The wind turbine blade according to claim 1 , wherein, the at least one electrical interface is electroconductively connected to the electrically conductive fiber-reinforced plastic of the at least one main down conductor by a metallic conductor connection comprising metal or being made from metal.

12. The wind turbine blade according to claim 1 , wherein, a longitudinal portion of the wind turbine blade in between the tip portion and the root portion and in between the two spar caps does not comprise a metallic down conductor comprising or being made from metal.

13. The wind turbine blade according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one spar web or the wind turbine blade does not comprise a metallic down conductor comprising metal or being made from metal.

14. A wind turbine comprising at least one wind turbine blade according to claim 1 , wherein the lightning protection system of the at least one wind turbine blade is electroconductively connected to a lightning protection system of the wind turbine.

15. The wind turbine blade according to claim 1 , wherein the two spar caps are the only down conductors of the wind turbine blade.

16. The wind turbine blade according to claim 1 , wherein the wind turbine blade does not comprise a metallic down conductor arranged between the two spar caps between the tip and the root of the wind turbine blade.

Assignees

• Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy As

Inventors

• Nauheimer Michael
• Ponnada Sri Markandeya Rajesh

Classifications

• F03D1/0681

  Spar caps · CPC title

• F05B2280/2006

  Carbon, e.g. graphite · CPC title

• F03D1/0679

  Load carrying structures, e.g. beams · CPC title

• F03D80/301

  Lightning receptor and down conductor systems in or on blades · CPC title

• F05B2280/6003

  Composites; e.g. fibre-reinforced · CPC title