Digital twin interface for operating wind farms

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9995278-B2
Application number	US-201514964677-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 10, 2015
Priority date	May 15, 2015
Publication date	Jun 12, 2018
Grant date	Jun 12, 2018

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed to a digital twin interface for managing a wind farm having a plurality of wind turbines. The digital twin interface includes a graphical user interface (GUI) displaying a digital equivalent of the wind farm. For example, the digital equivalent of the wind farm includes environmental information and a digital representation of each of the wind turbines arranged in the wind farm. The interface also includes a control icon arranged with each of the digital representations of the wind turbines. In certain embodiments, the control icons of each wind turbine may correspond to a control dial. More specifically, the control icon of each digital representation of the wind turbines includes information regarding current and optimum operating conditions of the digital wind turbine. The interface also includes one or more control features configured to optimize performance of the wind farm.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A digital twin interface for managing a wind farm having a plurality of wind turbines, the digital twin interface comprising:
a graphical user interface (GUI) for displaying a digital equivalent of the wind farm, the digital equivalent of the wind farm including environmental information and a digital representation of each of the plurality of wind turbines of the wind farm, wherein the graphical user interface is in communication with a wind turbine state controller of each of the plurality of wind turbines of the wind farm, wherein the graphical user interface further includes a control icon arranged with each of the digital representations of the wind turbines, the control icon of each digital representation of the wind turbines comprising information regarding current and optimum operating conditions of the digital wind turbine, and wherein the graphical user interface further includes one or more control features configured to allow a user to optimize performance of the wind farm.

2. The interface of claim 1 , wherein the environmental information comprises at least one of topographical information or site conditions.

3. The interface of claim 1 , wherein the one or more control features comprises one or more selection buttons, each selection button corresponding to one of the wind turbines so as to allow a user to select one or more of the wind turbines for at least one of monitoring or modifying operating conditions.

4. The interface of claim 3 , wherein each of the selection buttons is further associated with wind turbine information comprising at least one of a manufacturer of the wind turbine, age of the wind turbine, size of the wind turbine, or historical information of the wind turbine.

5. The interface of claim 1 , wherein the one or more control features comprises at least one of a wind direction dial, a wind flow meter illustrating the wind flow across the wind farm, a power output of the wind farm, or a turbine speed adjuster configured to allow a user to modify a speed of a selected wind turbine.

6. The interface of claim 1 , further comprising a wake representation between each of the wind turbines of the wind farm.

7. The interface of claim 1 , wherein the control icons correspond with a control dial.

8. A computer-implemented method for generating a digital twin of a wind farm having a plurality of wind turbines, the method comprising:
receiving, using a graphical user interface (GUI) for displaying a digital equivalent of the wind farm, topography and environmental information of the wind farm, wherein the graphical user interface is in communication with a wind turbine state controller of each of the plurality of wind turbines arranged in the wind farm;
generating, using one or more processors, a digital twin representation of each of the wind turbines in the wind farm based on one or more user inputs entered on the graphical user interface;
displaying, using the graphical user interface, a digital equivalent of the wind farm based on the topography and environmental information of the wind farm and the digital representations of each of the wind turbines; and
optimizing, using one or more control features displayed on the graphical user interface, performance of the wind farm.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein generating the digital representation of each of the wind turbines in the wind farm based on one or more user inputs further comprises:
receiving wind turbine information for each of the wind turbines, the wind turbine information comprising at least one of a manufacturer of the wind turbine, age of the wind turbine, size of the wind turbine, or historical information of the wind turbine.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein displaying the digital equivalent of the wind farm further comprises:
displaying, via the graphical user interface, one or more control icons arranged with each of the digital representations of the wind turbines, the control icon of each digital representation of the wind turbines comprising information regarding current and optimum operating conditions of the digital wind turbine.

11. A computer-implemented method for operating a wind farm having a plurality of wind turbines, the method comprising:
generating, using one or more processors, a computer model of the wind farm based on at least one of historical wind farm data, sensor data, or current operating data of the wind farm;
generating, using the computer model, a digital twin representation of the each of the wind turbines of the wind farm using the one or more processors;
displaying, using a user interface, the digital twin representation of each wind turbine of the plurality of wind turbines of the wind farm, wherein the user interface is in communication with a wind turbine state controller of each of the plurality of wind turbines arranged in the wind farm;
assessing current operating parameters of one or more of the wind turbines in the wind farm based on one or more user inputs; and
determining updated operating parameters for the wind farm based on the assessment.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the historical wind farm data, sensor data, or current operating data of the wind farm comprises information regarding at least one of wind speed, wind direction, wake, geographical information, weather conditions, topographical information, or wind turbine information.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the wind turbine information comprises at least one of a manufacturer of the wind turbine, age of the wind turbine, size of the wind turbine, historical information of the wind turbine, or operating conditions of the wind turbine.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the operating conditions of the wind turbine further comprise at least one of turbine speed, turbine loading, turbine location within the wind farm, maintenance schedules, power output, pitch angle, yaw angle, torque, tip speed ratio, or individual turbine settings.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein assessing current operating parameters of one or more of the wind turbines in the wind farm based on the digital twin representation further comprises:
selecting at least one wind turbine to evaluate;
implementing at least one change to a current operating state of the selected wind turbine, and
observing an effect of the change to the current operating state of the selected wind turbine.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein implementing at least one change to the current operating state of the selected wind turbine further comprises implementing the at least one change to the current operating state of the selected wind turbine via at least one control feature displayed on the user interface, wherein the one or more control features comprises at least one of a wind direction dial, a wind flow meter illustrating the wind flow across the wind farm, a power output of the wind farm, or a turbine speed adjuster configured to allow a user to modify a speed of a selected wind turbine.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein observing the effect of the change to the current operating state of the selected wind turbine further comprises observing how the wind farm operates under at least one of one or more weather conditions, business scenarios, or maintenance scenarios.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein observing how the wind farm operates under at least one of one or more weather conditions, business scenarios, or maintenance scenarios further comprises observing a wake effect on neighboring turbines after implementing the change.

19. The me

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Lund Arnold M
• Mochel Karl
• Lin Jeng-Weei
• Onetto Raimundo
• Srinivasan Jayanthi
• Gregg Peter
• Bergman Jeffrey Eric
• Hartling Jr Kenneth D
• Ahmed Anwar
• Chotai Sham

Classifications

• F03D7/048

  controlling wind farms · CPC title

• F05B2230/80

  Repairing, retrofitting or upgrading methods · CPC title

• F03D7/047 Primary

  characterised by the controller architecture, e.g. multiple processors or data communications · CPC title

• F05B2270/323

  Air humidity · CPC title

• F05D2270/312

  Air pressure · CPC title