System and method for wind turbine operation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016123307-A1
Application number	US-201414533566-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 5, 2014
Priority date	Nov 5, 2014
Publication date	May 5, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method for determining a flow condition includes disposing a plurality of sensors on a surface and receiving a first sensor signal and a second sensor signal from the plurality of sensors. The method further includes determining at least one correlation parameter based on the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal. The method also includes receiving a plurality of stored parameters from a database, wherein each of the plurality of stored parameters is representative of a corresponding flow condition. The method also includes comparing the at least one correlation parameter with the plurality of stored parameters and selecting at least one matching stored parameter and determining a matching flow condition based on the at least one matching stored parameter.

First claim

1 . A method, comprising:
disposing a plurality of sensors on a surface; receiving a first sensor signal and a second sensor signal from the plurality of sensors; determining at least one correlation parameter based on the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal; receiving a plurality of stored parameters from a database, wherein each of the plurality of stored parameters is representative of a corresponding flow condition; comparing the at least one correlation parameter with the plurality of stored parameters and selecting at least one matching stored parameter; and determining a matching flow condition based on the at least one matching stored parameter.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of sensors comprises one of a plurality of pressure sensors and a plurality of velocity sensors.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the surface is a blade surface of a wind turbine.

4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising determining at least one of a pitch angle, a tip speed ratio, an angle of attack and an angular speed corresponding to the blade surface based on the matching flow condition.

5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein disposing the plurality of sensors comprises disposing the plurality of sensors at a plurality of spanwise positions on the blade surface, wherein the plurality of spanwise positions include a first spanwise position and a second spanwise position.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein disposing the plurality of sensors comprises disposing the plurality of sensors at a plurality of chordwise positions on the blade surface, wherein the plurality of chordwise positions include a first chordwise position and a second chordwise position.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein receiving the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal comprises measuring a signal from a first sensor disposed at the first spanwise position and the first chordwise position, and another signal from a second sensor disposed at the second spanwise position and the second chordwise position respectively.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one correlation parameter is a cross correlation coefficient between the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of stored parameters correspond to a plurality of cross correlation coefficients of a pair of sensor signals acquired at a plurality of known flow conditions.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the matching flow condition comprises determining one of an attached and laminar flow condition, an attached and transitioning flow condition, an attached and turbulent flow condition, a separated flow condition, or a re-attached flow condition.

11 . A system, comprising:
at least one processor module and a memory module communicatively coupled to a communications bus; a database module storing a plurality of stored parameters, wherein each of the plurality of stored parameters is representative of a corresponding flow condition; a data acquisition module configured to receive a first sensor signal and a second sensor signal from a plurality of sensors disposed on a surface; a correlation generation module communicatively coupled to the data acquisition module and configured to determine at least one correlation parameter based on the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal; and a flow condition generator communicatively coupled to the database module and the correlation generator module and configured to:
compare the at least one correlation parameter with the plurality of stored parameters and selecting at least one matching stored parameter; and
determine a matching flow condition based on the at least one matching stored parameter;
wherein, at least one of the database module, the data acquisition module, the correlation generation module, and the flow condition generation module is stored in the memory and executable by the processor.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of sensors comprises one of a plurality of pressure sensors and a plurality of velocity sensors.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the correlation generation module is configured to determine at least one cross correlation parameter between the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal.

14 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the database stores a plurality of cross correlation parameters of a pair of sensor signals acquired at a plurality of known flow conditions.

15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the surface is a blade surface of a wind turbine.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the flow condition generation module is further configured to determine one or more of a pitch angle, a tip speed ratio, an angle of attack and an angular speed for the blade surface based on the determined flow condition.

17 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of sensors are disposed at a plurality of spanwise positions, wherein the plurality of spanwise positions include a first spanwise position and a second spanwise position.

18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the plurality of pressure sensors are disposed at a plurality of chordwise positions, wherein the plurality of chordwise positions include a first chordwise position and a second chordwise position.

19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the data acquisition module is further configured to receive a signal from a first sensor disposed at the first spanwise position and the first chordwise position, and another signal from a second sensor disposed at the second spanwise position and the second chordwise position respectively; or any other combination of spanwise and chordwise sensor locations.

20 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the flow condition generator module generates one of an attached and laminar flow condition, an attached and transitioning flow condition, an attached and turbulent flow condition, a separated flow condition, or a re-attached flow condition.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Drack Lorenz Edwin
• Petitjean Benoit Philippe
• Patil Pratish

Classifications

• G01P3/00

  Measuring linear or angular speed; Measuring differences of linear or angular speeds (G01P5/00 - G01P11/00 take precedence; {direction and speed indication G01P13/045}; counting mechanisms G06M) · CPC title

• F03D11/0091 Primary

  Mechanical Engineering · mapped topic

• G01L11/00 Primary

  Measuring steady or quasi-steady pressure of a fluid or a fluent solid material by means not provided for in group G01L7/00 or G01L9/00 · CPC title

• G01F1/00

  Measuring the volume flow or mass flow of fluid or fluent solid material wherein the fluid passes through a meter in a continuous flow (measuring a proportion of the volume flow G01F5/00) · CPC title

• G01P3/80 Primary

  using auto-correlation or cross-correlation detection means · CPC title