Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy A/s

Jared Frank

Kirk Pierce

Marco Masciola

Srinivas Guntur

Thomas Esbensen

Provided is a method of estimation of rotor operational characteristics, in particular rotor speed, rotor azimuth and rotation direction, of a rotating rotor of a wind turbine, the method including: measuring pulse rising edge time and pulse falling edge time of pulses generated by each of multiple proximity sensors originating from multiple detection targets arranged on the rotor; estimating values of parameters associated with the sensors and/or targets, in particular parameters associated with the positioning and/or detection range of at least one sensor and/or the parameters associated with the positioning and/or size of at least one target, based on the measured pulse rising edge times and pulse falling edge times; estimating rotor operational characteristics, in particular a rotor speed and/or a rotor azimuth and/or a rotation direction, based on the measured pulse rising and/or falling edge times and/or the estimated values of parameters associated with the sensors and/or targets.

Estimation of rotor operational characteristics for a wind turbine

Provided is a method, computing system, and computer program product for reducing floating wind turbine loads induced by ocean waves by adjusting a blade pitch angle of at least one rotor blade of a floating wind turbine to minimize a moment imbalance at a platform top of the floating wind turbine caused by ocean wave activity.

Floating wind turbine blade pitch adjustment for wave activity

Provided is a method of determining a wind parameter value for use in a wind turbine control system, the method including (a) receiving a plurality of wind measurement signals, wherein each wind measurement signal is provided by a respective wind sensor among a plurality of wind sensors, (b) determining a set of statistical values based on the wind measurement signals, (c) calculating a weighting factor for each wind measurement signal based on the set of statistical values, and (d) calculating the wind parameter value as a weighted sum by applying the calculated weighting factors to the corresponding wind measurement signals. Further, a corresponding system and a wind turbine with such a system are provided.

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Broomfield, CO, United States of America

Jared Frank