System and method for extending the operating life of a wind turbine gear train based on energy storage

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9835136-B2
Application number	US-201214646280-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 26, 2012
Priority date	Sep 26, 2011
Publication date	Dec 5, 2017
Grant date	Dec 5, 2017

Abstract

A wind park controller and control method for a wind park ( 10 ) are described. The wind park comprises a plurality of wind turbines ( 20 ) and an Energy Storage System ( 24 ) connected to one another by means of a low voltage power network ( 22, 25 ), which is in turn coupled to the grid. The controller determines a number of operating parameters of the wind turbine gearbox or drive train, and calculates a gearbox or drive train health metric. This can include a measure of the gearbox lifetime. The controller also determines one or more power characteristics of the wind turbine generator or the point of common coupling ( 26 ) to determine a power mismatch indication. Based on the power mismatch indication and said gearbox or drive train health metric, the controller determines a power command for the Energy Storage System and wind turbines based to improve the gearbox health and lifetime.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A wind park control system for a wind park, the wind park comprising a plurality of wind turbines and an energy storage system connected to one another by means of a low voltage power network, wherein the low voltage power network is coupled to an electrical grid, and wherein each wind turbine of the plurality of wind turbines respectively comprises a drive train and a gear box connected between a rotor of the wind turbine and a generator of the wind turbine, and wherein each wind turbine of the plurality of wind turbines is assigned to a group selected from a plurality of groups, the wind park control system comprising:
one or more environmental sensors located in at least a first wind turbine of the plurality of wind turbines, the one or more environmental sensors arranged to determine one or more operating parameters associated with the respective drive train or gear box of the first wind turbine;
one or more power sensors arranged to determine a power mismatch indication between the generator of the first wind turbine and the low voltage power network; and
a controller adapted to;
determine, based on applying the one or more operating parameters to a predefined algorithm, a health metric associated with the drive train or gear box of the first wind turbine;
assign, using the health metric, the first wind turbine to a first group selected from the plurality of groups; and
determine, based on the power mismatch indication and the health metric, a first power command for the energy storage system and a plurality of second power commands for individual wind turbines of the plurality of wind turbines that are assigned to different groups of the plurality of groups,
wherein individual second power commands of the plurality of second power commands are determined based on which group of the different groups that a corresponding individual wind turbine is assigned to.

2. The wind park control system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more operating parameters includes at least one of: torque data, acoustic data, vibrational data, speed data, position data, strain data, and temperature data of one or more components of the drive train or gear box.

3. The wind park control system of claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises a memory storing one or more historical time sequences for the first wind turbine, the one or more historical time sequences comprising at least one of: pitch control commands, wind brake commands, start-up commands, and shut-down commands, and wherein determining the health metric is based on the one or more historical time sequences.

4. The wind park control system of claim 1 , wherein the health metric includes an estimation of gearbox lifetime.

5. The wind park control system of claim 1 , wherein the power mismatch indication is expressed as a delta angle, the delta angle equal to the difference in a rotor angle of the generator and a system phase angle of the low voltage power network.

6. The wind park control system of claim 5 , wherein the first power command for the energy storage system is determined such that the delta angle is restored to a zero value.

7. The wind park control system of claim 1 , wherein determining a second power command for one or more of the plurality of wind turbines is based on an available power from the energy storage system and the health metric.

8. The wind park control system of claim 7 , wherein the controller stores a respective health metric for each wind turbine of the plurality of wind turbines, and wherein the controller is further adapted to:
issue power reference commands to respective wind turbines of the plurality of wind turbines based on the respective health metric.

9. A method of controlling a wind park, the wind park comprising a plurality of wind turbines and an energy storage system connected to one another by means of a low voltage power network, wherein the low voltage power network is coupled to an electrical grid, wherein each wind turbine of the plurality of wind turbines respectively comprises a drive train and a gear box connected between a rotor of the wind turbine and a generator of the wind turbine, and wherein each wind turbine of the plurality of wind turbines is assigned to a group selected from a plurality of groups, the method comprising:
determining one or more environmental operating parameters associated with the respective drive train or gear box of a first wind turbine of the plurality of wind turbines;
determining a power mismatch indication between the generator of the first wind turbine and the low voltage power network;
determining, based on applying the one or more operating parameters to a predefined algorithm, a health metric associated with the drive train or gear box of the first wind turbine;
assigning, using the health metric, the first wind turbine to a first group selected from the plurality of groups; and
determining, based on the power mismatch indication and the health metric, a first power command for the energy storage system and a plurality of second power commands for individual wind turbines of the plurality of wind turbines that are assigned to different groups of the plurality of groups,
wherein individual second power commands of the plurality of second power commands are determined based on which group of the different groups that a corresponding individual wind turbine is assigned to.

10. The method of controlling a wind park of claim 9 , wherein the one or more environmental operating parameters includes at least one of: torque data, acoustic data, vibrational data, speed data, position data, strain data, and temperature data of one or more components of the drive train or gear box.

11. The method of controlling a wind park of claim 9 , further comprising:
storing one or more historical time sequences for the first wind turbine, the one or more historical time sequences comprising at least one of: pitch control commands, wind brake commands, start-up commands, and shut-down commands,
wherein determining the health metric associated with the drive train or gear box of the first wind turbine is based on the one or more historical time sequences.

12. The method of controlling a wind park of claim 9 , wherein the health metric includes an estimation of gearbox lifetime.

13. The method of controlling a wind park of claim 9 , wherein the power mismatch indication is expressed as a delta angle, the delta angle equal to the difference in a rotor angle of the generator and a system phase angle of the low voltage power network.

14. The method of controlling a wind park of claim 13 , wherein the first power command for the energy storage system is determined such that the delta angle is restored to a zero value.

15. The method of controlling a wind park of claim 9 , wherein determining a second power command for one or more of the plurality of wind turbines is based on an available power from the energy storage system and the health metric.

16. The method of controlling a wind park of claim 15 , further comprising:
storing a respective health metric for each wind turbine of the plurality of wind turbines; and
issuing power reference commands to respective wind turbines of the plurality of wind turbines based on the respective health metric.

17. A wind park controller storing a computer program for controlling a plurality of wind turbines and an energy storage system connected to one another by means of a low voltage power network, wherein the low voltage power network is coupled to an electrical grid, wherein each wind turbine of the pl

Assignees

• Vestas Wind Sys As

Inventors

• Haj-Maharsi Mohamed

Classifications

• F03D9/10

  Combinations of wind motors with apparatus storing energy · CPC title

• Y02E10/723

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• F03D7/0292 Primary

  to reduce fatigue · CPC title

• F03D9/257

  the wind motor being part of a wind farm · CPC title

• F16H2057/012

  of gearings · CPC title