General Electric Company

General Electric Renovables Espana, S.l.

Brandon Shane Gerber

Thomas Franklin Perley

Stefan Herr

Eric Lee Bell

Benoit P Petitjean

Aaron Alpheus Yarbrough

Kevin Wayne Kinzie

Kevin James Standish

Kevin Richard Kirtley

Danian Zheng

Kirk Gee Pierce

Jignesh Govindlal Gandhi

Alexander William Vossler

Rahul Rastogi

Mark Edward Cardinal

Jamie Thomas Livingston

Arne Koerber

Lawrence Donald Willey

Robert Peter Slack

Klaus Ulrich Koegler

Jay F Leonard

Nicholas Keane Althoff

Bernardo Adrian Movsichoff

Venkata Krishna Vadlamudi

David Cole Magnuson

Matthew G Gann

Robert P Grimley

Monika Marwaha

Tim Robert Gerloff

Rastogi Rahul

Jignesh Govindlal Ghandi

Beniot P Petitjean

Kevin J Standish

Lawrence D Willey

The present subject matter is directed to a method for estimating rotor blade loads, e.g. a blade root resultant moment, of a wind turbine. In one embodiment, the method includes measuring, via one or more sensors, a plurality of operating parameters of the wind turbine. Another step includes estimating out-of-plane and in-plane forces acting on the rotor blade based at least partially on the plurality of operating parameters. Further, the method includes determining an application point for the out-of-plane and in-plane forces along a span of the rotor blade. A further step includes estimating out-of-plane and in-plane moments of the rotor blade based at least partially on the out-of-plane and in-plane forces and the respective application points. Thus, the method includes calculating the load acting on the rotor blade based at least partially on the out-of-plane and in-plane moments.

System and method for estimating rotor blade loads of a wind turbine

A system and method for braking a wind turbine includes monitoring rotation of the wind turbine generator rotor. A braking torque is applied to reduce the rotational speed of the rotor at a first setpoint rotational speed. The braking torque is proportionally increased as the rotational speed of the rotor increases beyond the first detected setpoint rotational speed up to a maximum braking torque.

System and method for braking a wind turbine rotor at an overspeed condition

The present subject matter is directed to a system and method for dynamically controlling a wind turbine. The method includes operating the wind turbine based on a thrust set point and a speed set point. A next step includes determining a desired change in actual speed of the wind turbine in response to control actuations starting from an instantaneous operating point. The method also includes determining a desired change in thrust of the wind turbine in response to control actuations starting from the instantaneous operating point. Next, the method determines at least one parameter set point that achieves the desired change in speed and the desired change in thrust and controls the wind turbine based on the parameter set point so as to maintain the actual thrust and the actual speed of the wind turbine within a certain tolerance of the thrust set point and the speed set point, thereby regulating loads acting on the wind turbine while simultaneously maintaining optimal or near optimal power output.

System and method for thrust-speed control of a wind turbine

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.

System and method for preventing excessive loading on a wind turbine

Systems and methods for preventing excessive loading on a wind turbine are disclosed. The method includes: measuring an actual wind parameter upwind from the wind turbine using one or more sensors; providing the measured wind parameter to a processor; providing a plurality of wind turbine operating data to the processor; utilizing the plurality of operating data to determine an estimated wind turbine condition at the wind turbine; generating a control wind profile based on the actual wind parameter and the estimated wind turbine condition; and, implementing a control action based on the control wind profile to prevent excessive loading from acting on the wind turbine.

A control system for a wind turbine includes a detecting system configured to determine at least one of a rotor load, a wind shear, a wind speed, and a load imbalance due to wind shear. An adjusting system is configured to adjust a shaft moment set point correction value based on at least one of the rotor load, the wind shear, the wind speed, and the load imbalance. A compensating system is configured to compute a shaft moment correction command based on the shaft moment set point correction value output from the adjusting system. A pitch system is configured to adjust a pitch of at least one blade of the wind turbine based on the shaft moment set point correction command, or a yaw system is configured to adjust the yaw position of a rotor based on the shaft moment set point correction command.

System and method for adaptive rotor imbalance control

A method and system for reducing a torsional movement and/or a torsional loading of a tower of a wind turbine is disclosed includes generating a tower torsion signal with a detection system and providing the signal to an asymmetric load control assembly. The tower torsion signal may correspond to an actual torsional movement of the tower or a torsional loading of the tower. The asymmetric load control assembly is configured to mitigate an asymmetric load acting on the wind turbine using the tower torsion signal.

Asymmetric load control for torsion fatigue reduction in a wind turbine tower

Systems and methods for controlling a wind turbine are disclosed. The method includes: measuring a loading condition acting on the wind turbine; determining a first scaler factor based on the measured loading condition; determining a correction parameter for the wind turbine, the correction parameter a function of at least two measured operating conditions and representative of a real-time operational state of the wind turbine; determining a second scaler factor based on the correction parameter; calculating an adjustment set point based on the first scaler factor and the second scaler factor; and, controlling the wind turbine based on the adjustment set point.

System and method for controlling a wind turbine

A method for reducing loads acting on a wind turbine in response to transient wind conditions may generally include determining an actual value for a blade parameter of a rotor blade of the wind turbine using a first sensor associated with the rotor blade, monitoring a secondary operating parameter of the wind turbine using a second sensor, determining a predicted value for the blade parameter based on the secondary operating parameter, comparing the actual value to the predicted value and performing a corrective action to reduce the loads acting on the wind turbine if the actual value differs from the predicted value by at least a differential threshold.

System and method for reducing loads acting on a wind turbine in response to transient wind conditions

A method and system for controlling a wind turbine generator detect wind speeds and, at a first defined wind speed, control generator torque and generator rotational speed to achieve a pre-defined power for the wind turbine generator at the first defined wind speed. As wind speed increases beyond the first defined wind speed, one of generator torque or generator rotational speed is increased and the other of generator rotational speed or generator torque is proportionally decreased to maintain the generator power substantially constant at the pre-defined power.

System and method for controlling speed and torque of a wind turbine during post-rated wind speed conditions

In one aspect, a method for manufacturing a rotor blade for a wind turbine is disclosed. The method may generally include assembling a blade blank comprising a shear member and a volume of core material and removing material from the blade blank to form a body having a pressure side and a suction side extending between a leading edge and a trailing edge. The shear member may have a first end disposed adjacent to the pressure side and a second end disposed adjacent to the suction side. In addition, the method may include positioning a skin around an outer perimeter of the body.

Rotor blade for a wind turbine and methods of manufacturing the same

A method and system for controlling a wind turbine generator at wind speeds in excess of rated wind speed to detect wind speeds and, at rated wind speed, control generator torque and generator rotational speed to achieve a rated power for the wind turbine generator. As wind speed increases beyond the rated wind speed, one of generator torque or generator rotational speed is increased and the other of generator rotational speed or generator torque is proportionally decreased to maintain the generator power substantially constant at rated power.

A blade for a wind turbine includes a total backward twist of between approximately 6 degrees and approximately 15 degrees between an outer approximately 1 percent to approximately 10 percent of a rotor radius of the blade; and a total normalized chord change of between approximately one percent and approximately two percent between the outer approximately 1 percent to approximately 10 percent of the rotor radius of the blade.

Wind turbine blades with twisted and tapered tips

A blade for a wind turbine includes a total backward twist of between approximately 6 degrees and approximately 15 degrees between an outer approximately 1 percent to approximately 10 percent of a rotor radius of the blade.

Wind turbine blades with twisted tips

A rotor blade for a wind turbine is disclosed. The rotor blade may generally include a body formed at least partially from a core material. The body may generally define a pressure side and a suction side extending between a leading edge and a trailing edge. The rotor blade may also include a plurality of shear members and a plurality of stiffening members. The shear members may generally extend between the pressure and suction sides of the body and may each include a first end and a second end. The stiffening members may be spaced apart around the pressure and suction sides of the body, with each stiffening member being disposed at the first end or the second end of one of the shear members. Additionally, the rotor blade may include a skin extending around an outer perimeter of the body.

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Charleston, SC, United States of America

Brandon Shane Gerber