System and method for preventing excessive loading on a wind turbine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9624905-B2
Application number	US-201314032279-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 20, 2013
Priority date	Sep 20, 2013
Publication date	Apr 18, 2017
Grant date	Apr 18, 2017

Abstract

Systems and methods for preventing excessive loading on a wind turbine are disclosed. The method includes determining a current wind turbine parameter using at least one operating condition via a processor, the operating condition indicative of wind turbine operation; storing the current wind turbine parameter in a memory store over a predetermined time period; calculating a standard deviation of a plurality of the stored current wind turbine parameters; determining a future wind turbine parameter; calculating a maximum wind turbine parameter as a function of the standard deviation of the plurality of stored wind turbine parameters and the future wind turbine parameter; and, controlling the wind turbine based on a difference between the maximum wind turbine parameter and a parameter setpoint to prevent excessive loading from acting on the wind turbine.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for preventing excessive loading on a wind turbine, the method comprising:
determining a current wind turbine parameter indicative of a wind turbine thrust using at least one operating condition via a processor, the operating condition indicative of wind turbine operation;
storing the current wind turbine parameter in a memory store over a predetermined time period;
calculating a standard deviation of a plurality of the stored current wind turbine parameters via the processor;
determining a future wind turbine parameter we of the wind turbine thrust via the processor;
calculating, via the processor, a maximum wind turbine parameter representing a steady-state load from turbine operation and dynamically fluctuating loads due to environmental conditions comprising a function of the standard deviation of the plurality of stored wind turbine parameters added to the future wind turbine parameter;
controlling the wind turbine, via a controller, based on a difference between the maximum wind turbine parameter and a parameter setpoint to prevent excessive loading on the wind turbine.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one operating condition indicative of wind turbine operation comprises any of the following: a pitch angle, a generator speed, a power output, a torque output, a temperature, a pressure, a tip speed ratio, an air density, and a rotor speed.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising varying the parameter setpoint based on at least one of a wind parameter or one of the operation conditions.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the current wind turbine parameter and determining the future wind turbine parameter further comprises utilizing at least one of the following: a plurality of equations, one or more aerodynamic performance maps, or one or more look-up tables.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a plurality of current wind turbine parameters and filtering the plurality of current wind turbine parameters.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein filtering the plurality of current wind turbine parameters further comprises utilizing one of a high pass filter or a low pass filter.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising applying one of a constant or variable gain to the standard deviation.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising multiplying the standard deviation by a scaler factor.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the wind turbine comprises implementing a control action, the control action comprising at least one of the following: altering a pitch angle of a rotor blade, modifying a generator torque, modifying a generator speed, modifying a power output, yawing a nacelle of the wind turbine, braking one or more wind turbine components, or activating an airflow modifying element on a rotor blade.

10. A method for preventing excessive loading on a wind turbine, the method comprising:
estimating, via a processor, a current wind parameter representative of a wind speed using at least one operating condition, the operating condition indicative of wind turbine operation;
calculating a standard deviation of a plurality of a stored current wind turbine parameters via the processor;
determining, via the processor, a loading condition representing a steady-state load from turbine operation and dynamically fluctuating loads due to environmental conditions the loading condition based on the sum of a standard deviation of the current wind parameter;
determining a parameter setpoint, via the processor, based on the current wind parameter, the parameter setpoint reflective of a loading of the wind turbine before excessive loading occurs;
varying the parameter setpoint with the current wind turbine parameter; and
controlling the wind turbine, via a controller, based on a difference between the loading condition and the parameter setpoint to prevent excessive loading on the wind turbine.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the at least one operating condition indicative of wind turbine operation comprise any combination of the following: a pitch angle, a generator speed, a power output, a torque output, a temperature, a pressure, a tip speed ratio, an air density, and a rotor speed.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining the current wind parameter and determining the loading condition further comprises utilizing one or more of the following: a plurality of equations, one or more aerodynamic performance maps, or one or more look-up tables.

13. A method for preventing excessive loading on a wind turbine, the method comprising:
determining a current thrust parameter, via a processor, based on a plurality of operating conditions, the operating conditions indicative of wind turbine operation;
storing the current thrust parameter in a memory store over a predetermined time period;
calculating a standard deviation, via the processor, of a plurality of the stored current thrust parameters;
applying one of a constant gain or variable gain to the standard deviation;
determining a future thrust parameter via the processor;
calculating, via the processor, a maximum thrust parameter representing a steady-state load from turbine operation and dynamically fluctuating loads due to environmental conditions as a function of the sum of the standard deviation and the future wind turbine parameter; and,
implementing a control action, via a controller, based on a difference between the maximum thrust parameter and a parameter setpoint to prevent excessive loading on the wind turbine.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising determining a plurality of current thrust parameters and filtering the plurality of current thrust parameters, wherein filtering the plurality of current thrust parameters further comprises utilizing one of a high pass filter or a low pass filter.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising varying the parameter setpoint based on at least one of a wind parameter or one of the operation conditions.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Perley Thomas Franklin
• Gerber Brandon Shane
• Gandhi Jignesh Govindlal
• Vadlamudi Venkata Krishna

Classifications

• F05B2270/332

  Maximum loads or fatigue criteria · CPC title

• F05B2270/32

  Wind speeds · CPC title

• F05B2260/821

  Parameter estimation or prediction · CPC title

• F03D7/043

  characterised by the type of control logic · CPC title

• F03D7/0292 Primary

  to reduce fatigue · CPC title