General Electric Company

Ge Infrastructure Technology, LLC

Ge Vernova Infrastructure Technology LLC

General Electric Renovables Espana, S.l.

Biao Fang

Norman Arnold Turnquist

Pascal Meyer

Gregory Edward Cooper

Xiaopeng Li

Christopher James Kenny

Christopher Edward Wolfe

Mahmut Faruk Aksit

Frederick George Baily

Mark Edward Burnett

Mehmet Demiroglu

William Dwight Gerstler

David D Oliphant

Danian Zheng

Collin McKee Sheppard

Vitali Victor Lissianski

William Clark Weber

Brandon Wayne Miller

Daniel Alan Niergarth

Honggang Wang

James Robert Tobin

Daniel Jason Erno

Ambarish Jayant Kulkarni

Hendrik Pieter Jacobus De Bock

Govardhan Ganireddy

Xiaoqing Zheng

Stefan Herr

Farshad Ghasripoor

Osman Saim Dinc

Matthew David Butts

Hamid Reza Sarshar

Karim Younsi

Rahul Anil Bidkar

Fulton Jose Lopez

Rajni Kant Burra

William Guy Morris

Shorya Awtar

Rodrigo Rodriguez Erdmenger

Mark Howard Giammattei

Bernard Arthur Couture, Jr

George Albert Goller

David Bruce Hall

David Deloyd Anderson

Laura Cerully Dial

Cheryl Margaret Surman

Ahmad Safi

John Carl Glessner

James Henry Madge

Shyam Sivaramakrishnan

Roderick Mark Lusted

Glenn Herbert Nichols

David Justin Brady

Omprakash Samudrala

Todd DarVel Andersen

Munishwar Ahuja

Richard Robert Larsen

Huageng Luo

James C Przytulski

Michael Joseph Murray

Paul Russell Wilson

Bruce William Brisson

Garth M Nelson

David James Monk

Clement Gazzillo

Ingo Paura

Voramon Supatarawanich Dheeradhada

Edip Sevincer

Ken Ivcar Salas Nobrega

James William Stegmaier

Juan Pablo Cilia

Liwei Hao

Jeffrey Reid Thyssen

Alexander Kimberley Simpson

Tara Easter McGovern

Lijun He

Xiaoyue Liu

Matteo Bellucci

Robert Allan Phelps

Robbert Christiaan Pannekeet

Stephanie Glynn Cotten

Balaji Haridasu

Kurt Grover Brink

Nikolina Kourteva Kristeva

Carl Anthony Flecker, Iii

Lei Zuo

Farong Zhu

Keith Michael Parker

Srikrishna Mantravadi

Yinguo Cheng

Richard Cohen Lykins

Krishna Prashanth Anandan

Krishna Ramadurai

Mohammad Attia

John P Davis

A system and method are provided for manufacturing a tower structure. Accordingly, a first printed layer of a wall element is deposited with a printhead assembly, and an actual midline perimeter length of the first printed layer is determined. A horizontal reinforcement assembly is then formed based, at least in part, on the actual midline perimeter length. The formed horizontal reinforcement assembly is positioned in a horizontal orientation on the first printed layer and in axial alignment with the vertical axis of the tower structure. With the horizontal reinforcement assembly positioned on the first printed layer, a second printed layer of the wall element is deposited via the printhead assembly on the horizontal reinforcement layer.

System and method for manufacturing a tower structure

A tower structure particularly suited for a wind turbine includes a lower tower section formed of concrete and an upper tower section formed of steel. A transition system connects the upper tower section to the lower tower section, the transition system including a concrete component having a tubular wall with a base portion fixed on the lower tower section and a head portion connected to the upper tower section. The head portion extends radially outward beyond the upper tower section. A plurality of first tensioning tendons extend longitudinally at least partially through the tubular wall and are anchored to the concrete component at a top face of the head portion at locations radially outward of the upper tower section.

Wind turbine tower structure with transition system between sections thereof

A method for manufacturing a tower structure, the method including printing and depositing, with at least one variable-width deposition nozzle of a printhead assembly, one or more layers of at least one wall element of the tower structure, the at least one wall element having an outer circumferential surface and an inner circumferential surface. The method also including forming, with the at least one variable-width deposition nozzle, at least one void into the at least one wall element. The method also including placing at least one reinforcement member within the at least one void so as to position the at least one reinforcement member closer to a neutral axis of the at least one wall element than at least one of the outer circumferential surface or the inner circumferential surface.

A method for monitoring at least one rotor blade of a wind turbine includes implementing, via a controller, a control scheme for monitoring blade damage of the at least one rotor blade. The control scheme includes monitoring at least one electrical condition of a pitch system of the wind turbine. The method also includes converting the electrical condition(s) of the pitch system into a frequency domain. Further, the method includes determining one or more peaks of the frequency domain around a frequency component related to a natural frequency of the rotor blade. Moreover, the method includes determining a frequency deviation between the one or more peaks of the frequency domain and the frequency component related to the natural frequency of the rotor blade. As such, a frequency deviation outside of a predetermined frequency range is indicative of a rotor blade anomaly. Thus, the method includes implementing a control action when the frequency deviation is outside of the predetermined frequency range.

System and method for monitoring rotor blade health of a wind turbine

A method for manufacturing a tower structure of a wind turbine includes printing, via an additive printing device, a plurality of concentric sections of the tower structure of the wind turbine. The concentric sections may be printed simultaneously from concrete, may include tensioning cables or other structural supports, and may define other support flanges or overhangs. After curing, the method may include raising an inner section of the plurality of concentric sections to a top of an adjacent outer section and joining the two sections. This process may be repeated to telescope the concentric sections and raise the tower structure.

Method for manufacturing a telescoping wind turbine tower structure

Example split valves for regulating a first flowrate and a second flowrate of a fluid within a closed loop systems are disclosed herein. An example split valve includes an electrohydraulic servo valve coupled to a first piston via a first hydraulic flowline and a second hydraulic flowline, the first piston to include a piston shaft, a first head, and a second head; one or more bellows fixed to at least one of the first head or the second head, the one or more bellows to hermetically seal the fluid from a hydraulic fluid; and a control system connected to the electrohydraulic servo valve, the control system to adjust the first flowrate and the second flowrate of the fluid through a first fluid chamber, the first piston to be located in the first fluid chamber.

Split valves for regulating fluid flow in closed loop systems

A thermal structure for management of thermal energy, the thermal structure including: a first wall structure defining a first cavity; a second wall structure defining a second cavity, the second cavity in fluid communication with the first cavity; and a barrier cavity defined at least in-part by the first wall structure and the second wall structure, wherein the barrier cavity is disposed between the first cavity and the second cavity and includes a pressurized barrier fluid therein or is configured to receive the pressurized barrier fluid during operation of the thermal structure.

Pressure equilibrated thermal insulation gap

A method for manufacturing a tower structure of a wind turbine at a wind turbine site. The method includes determining an optimized shape of the tower structure based on one or more site parameters. Further, the optimized shape of the tower structure is non-symmetrical. In a further step, the method include printing, via an additive printing device, the optimized shape of the tower structure of the wind turbine at the wind turbine site, at least in part, of a cementitious material. In addition, the method includes allowing the cementitious material to cure so as to form the tower structure of the wind turbine.

Method for manufacturing a wind turbine tower structure based on wind direction

An additive printing device and a method for using the same to manufacture a tower structure of a wind turbine is provided. The additive printing device includes a vertical support structure, a support ring suspended from the vertical support structure, and a printer head movably coupled to the support ring for selectively depositing cementitious material. A drive mechanism, such as a rack and pinion, moves the printer head around the support ring while selectively depositing cementitious material. The vertical support structure may be raised and/or the relative position between the vertical support structure and the printer head may be adjusted to raise the printer head to print subsequent layers. This process may be repeated to print the tower structure layer-by-layer from the ground up.

System and method for manufacturing a wind turbine tower structure

A system and method are provided for manufacturing a tower structure. Accordingly, one or more layers of a wall element are deposited with a printhead assembly. At least one recess is defined in the wall element. The recess(es) has a single, circumferential opening positioned along an inner reference curve or an outer reference curve of the wall element. The recess(es) also has a depth which extends in a radial direction and intersects a midline reference curve. A reinforcing element is placed entirely within the recess(es) at the midline reference curve.

A method and system of additively-manufacturing a structure having a reinforced access opening includes printing, via an additive printing device having at least one printer head, a portion of the structure adjacent to a support surface. The portion of the structure is printed of a cementitious material, and the printed portion of the structure defines an access opening for the structure. Moreover, the method includes providing a void of the cementitious material at a top boundary of the access opening, placing one or more reinforcement members in the void such that the one or more reinforcement members extend across the void, and continuing to print the printed portion of the structure around the void to build up the structure. Thus, the method also includes backfilling the void with a backfill material to incorporate the one or more reinforcement members within the void into the printed portion of the structure.

Additively manufactured structure with reinforced access opening

A method of manufacturing a tower structure includes providing an additive printing device having at least one printer head atop a support surface. The method also includes positioning a pre-fabricated component adjacent to the support surface. The pre-fabricated component is constructed of a composite material reinforced with a plurality of reinforcement members. Further, portions of the plurality of reinforcement members protrude from the composite material. Moreover, the method includes printing and depositing, via the at least one printer head, a cementitious material onto the support surface to build up the tower structure layer by layer around the pre-fabricated component. Thus, the portions of the plurality of reinforcement members that protrude from the composite material reinforce the cementitious material around the pre-fabricated component.

Pre-fabricated component for an additively manufactured wind turbine tower structure

Systems and methods of wind power generation in electrical power systems are described. According to one aspect, a wind turbine system can include a down tower portion having a main transformer configured to transform medium voltage power to another voltage power, a tower portion having one or more medium voltage cables configured to transmit medium voltage power, and, a nacelle portion. The nacelle portion can include a generator comprising a stator and a rotor. The stator may be connected to one or more medium voltage cables via a stator power path. The nacelle portion also includes a power converter coupled to the rotor of the generator, and, a step-up transformer coupled to the power converter and the one or more medium voltage cables. The step-up transformer can be configured to step-up low voltage power to medium voltage power.

System and method for wind power generation and transmission in electrical power systems

A wind turbine system includes a wind turbine generator having a rotor and a nacelle mounted atop a tower structure. The tower structure is mounted to a foundation structure and includes a plurality of tower sections, each including one or more tower section flanges. The wind turbine system further includes one or more connector rings. Each of the one or more connector rings is disposed proximate two adjacent tower section flanges and includes a plurality of pad eye adaptors each having an opening formed therein. The wind turbine system further includes a plurality of tensioned cables, with each coupled to one of the pad eye adaptors at a first end and the foundation structure at a second end. The plurality of tensioned cables are coupled to the tower structure at different or multiple connector ring heights based on site conditions to yield the desired lateral stability.

System and method for stabilizing a wind turbine

A crane system for a wind turbine is disclosed. The crane system includes a support structure, a movable structure, a slidable device, a first actuator unit, and a plurality of second actuator units. The slidable device includes a base, a retention component, and first, second, third, and fourth pairs of clamping arms. The base is coupled to the support structure. The retention component is coupled to either side of the base to define a channel between the retention component and the base. The first and second pairs of clamping arms are spaced apart and coupled to each other and to the base. The third and fourth pairs of clamping arms are disposed within the channel, spaced apart, and coupled to each other. The first actuator unit is coupled to the slidable device and each second actuator unit is coupled to the first, second, third, and fourth pairs of clamping arms.

Crane system and an associated method thereof

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Clifton Park, NY, United States of America

Biao Fang