Wind turbine blade with lightning protection receptor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12510057-B2
Application number	US-202418828133-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 9, 2024
Priority date	Nov 6, 2023
Publication date	Dec 30, 2025
Grant date	Dec 30, 2025

Abstract

Proposed is a wind turbine blade with a lightning protection receptor. The wind turbine blade with a lightning protection receptor is a technology that allows for excellent lightning capture rate for both negative and positive lightning by improving lightning measures for conventional wind turbines, which are vulnerable to positive lightning, in line with the increasing wind turbine heights for large-scale power generation and the trend toward offshore wind power, and that minimizes post-repair/supplementary measures by limiting blade damage/coating peeling due to lightning strikes to a narrow area, unlike in the conventional case where damage or peeling of the coating occurs over the entire area of a blade when struck by lightning on an edge wire inserted into the lateral inner side of the blade.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A wind turbine blade with a lightning protection receptor, the blade comprising:
a blade body ( 110 ) disposed on a top of a tower of a wind turbine ( 1 ); a tip receptor ( 120 ) provided at an outer end in a longitudinal direction (L) of the blade body ( 110 ); side receptors ( 130 ) provided on front and rear surfaces ( 111 a ) and ( 111 b ) forming a side ( 111 ) of the blade body ( 110 ); edge receptors ( 140 ) provided on an edge ( 112 ) of the blade body ( 110 ); and a down conductor ( 150 ) located in an internal space ( 113 ) of the blade body ( 110 ), and to which the tip receptor ( 120 ), the side receptors ( 130 ), and the edge receptors ( 140 ) are connected, wherein the side receptors ( 130 ) are arranged at regular intervals within an area of a first arrangement distance (m) from the outer end in the longitudinal direction (L) of the blade body ( 110 ), whereas the edge receptors ( 140 ) are arranged at regular intervals within an area of a second arrangement distance (n) from a point spaced apart by the first arrangement distance (m) from the outer end in the longitudinal direction (L) of the blade body ( 110 ), wherein the second arrangement distance (n) area where the edge receptors ( 140 ) are provided has a larger value than the first arrangement distance (m) area where the side receptors ( 130 ) are provided, so that lightning is induced to the edge receptors ( 140 ).

2 . The blade of claim 1 , wherein the side receptors ( 130 ) and the edge receptors ( 140 ) are provided on a surface of the blade body ( 110 ) in a narrow area of less than a set size.

3 . The blade of claim 1 , wherein a number of the edge receptors ( 140 ) provided within the second arrangement distance (n) is set to be greater than a number of the side receptors ( 130 ) provided within the first arrangement distance (m).

4 . The blade of claim 1 , wherein the edge receptors ( 140 ) are arranged in a line at equal intervals on the edge ( 112 ) of the blade body ( 110 ).

Assignees

• Keri Korea Electrotechnology Res Inst

Inventors

• Woo Jeong Min
• Kang Sung Man
• Ju Mun No
• Lee Jae Bok
• Lee Kyoung Joo
• Kim Yu Min
• Kim Ho Dong
• Nor Kwae Hyup
• Kim Sang Jin

Classifications

• F03D1/0688

  of the leading edge region, e.g. reinforcements · CPC title

• F03D1/069

  of the trailing edge region · CPC title

• F05B2240/307

  Blade tip, e.g. winglets · CPC title

• F03D1/0687

  of the blade tip region · CPC title

• Y02E10/72

  Wind turbines with rotation axis in wind direction · CPC title