General Electric Company

General Electric Renovables Espana, S.l.

Jay F Leonard

Danian Zheng

Joseph Lawrence Chacon

Roman Kolar

Yang Liu

Darren John Danielsen

Brandon Shane Gerber

Kirk Gee Pierce

Edward Wayne Hardwicke, Jr

Andre Langel

Pritesh Jain

Noah Pennington

Lan Xu

Robert P Grimley

Shijiang Liu

Paul William Judge

Vijendra Singh Chauhan

Adam Lord

Eric Paul Shelleman

Brian Keith Andreson

Jiemin Fu

Craig Dement

Jiahong Wang

Scott Shapiro

Gregory Clarence Thomas

An integrated repair system for servicing a component within the nacelle of the wind turbine uptower. The repair system includes at least one mounting location integrally formed into a bedplate support frame of the wind turbine and a frame assembly coupled to the bedplate support frame. The frame assembly supports at least one clamp element and at least one jack element. When the gearbox is moved in the nacelle during repair procedures, the repair system supports the main shaft uptower such that the rotor remains installed onto the rotor shaft.

Integrated system and method for servicing a component of a wind turbine

A method for refurbishing a wind turbine includes positioning a new tower support mount on an existing foundation of the wind turbine, the existing foundation including an existing foundation pad and an existing tower support mount at least partially embedded in the existing foundation pad. The method further includes inserting a plurality of anchors through the new tower support mount.

Methods and apparatus for refurbishing wind turbine foundations

A method for refurbishing a wind turbine includes terminating use of an existing uptower electrical system of the wind turbine. The method also includes installing a new uptower electrical system for the wind turbine at an uptower location of the wind turbine. Further, the method includes providing an electrical adaptor at an uptower location for connecting the new uptower electrical system with an existing downtower electrical system. Moreover, the method includes electrically connecting the electrical adaptor between the existing downtower electrical system and the new uptower electrical system.

Methods for refurbishing wind turbines

The present disclosure is directed to a wind turbine. The wind turbine includes a tower, a machine head having a generator, and a rotor mechanically coupled to the generator. The rotor includes a hub and a plurality of rotor blades coupled to and extending outwardly from the hub. The wind turbine also includes an adaptor coupled between the tower and the machine head, with the adaptor defining an interior chamber. Furthermore, the wind turbine includes one or more electrical components electrically coupled to the generator, with the one or more electrical components being positioned within the interior chamber defined by the adaptor.

Adaptor for wind turbine refurbishment and associated methods

The present disclosure is directed to a cable securement assembly for protecting cables and/or cable bundles within a wind turbine. The cable securement assembly includes a cable spacer having an inner surface and an outer surface separated by a thickness and one or more fastening components. The inner surface defines an open center configured to receive the plurality of cables therein. The inner surface defines a plurality of cable locations defined by one or more through holes configured through the thickness. The one or more fastening components are configured to secure one or more of the plurality of cables at each cable location via the through holes.

Spacer for wind turbine cables

The present disclosure is directed to a tower assembly for a wind turbine having a tower flange that can accommodate foundations and/or nacelles of varying sizes. The tower assembly includes one or more tower sections having an integral tower flange that can be secured to a foundation, atop the tower section(s), and/or at a mid-height tower location. Further, the tower flange includes a substantially cylindrical wall defining an outer diameter and an inner diameter separated by an increased radial thickness. Thus, a radial offset is defined between the outer diameter of the tower flange and the corresponding tower component, i.e. the foundation, another tower section, or a yaw bearing. Accordingly, the larger radial thickness of the tower flange allows the flange to accommodate foundations or turbines of varying sizes with one common tower.

Tower flange for a wind turbine

Methods for refurbishing a wind turbine are provided. A method includes removing an existing machine head and existing top tower section from the wind turbine. The wind turbine further includes a lower tower section, the lower tower section comprising a top flange, the top flange defining a first plurality of fastener holes disposed in a first hole pattern. The method further includes connecting a new machine head and new top tower section to the wind turbine. The new top tower section comprises a bottom flange, the bottom flange defining a second plurality of fastener holes disposed in a second hole pattern. The second hole pattern matches the first hole pattern.

The present disclosure is directed to a rotor blade assembly and/or a joint assembly for a wind turbine blade. In one embodiment, the rotor blade assembly includes at least first and second blade segments connected together at a chord-wise extending joint, one or more shear-loaded pins configured through the chord-wise extending joint, and an anti-rotation locking feature. As such, the rotor blade assembly includes a maintenance-free bolted joint. The first blade segment has a body shell defining a generally aerodynamic profile. The body shell includes a suction side surface and a pressure side surface. The shear-loaded pin may extend in a generally flap-wise direction (i.e. from the suction side surface to the pressure side surface of the body shell) or in a generally chord-wise direction (i.e. from the pressure side to the suction side of the body shell).

Joint assembly for rotor blade segments of a wind turbine

A wind turbine tower includes a door access opening in a down tower area of the tower. A hinged door panel covers the door access opening, with a ventilation opening defined through the door panel. A multi-sided intake structure, such as a box-like structure, is connected to an exterior of the door panel over the first ventilation opening. The intake structure extends transversely from the door panel and includes a top side, a bottom side, and at least two vertical sides extending between the top side and the bottom side. The vertical sides are open to air flow therethrough. The top and bottom sides may also be open to air flow therethrough. Air from multiple directions is drawn into an interior of the wind turbine tower through the intake structure and ventilation opening. A filtering system with first and second stage filters may be incorporated with any of the intake structures.

Multi-sided ventilation assembly for wind turbine tower access door

An assembly configuration between a wind turbine rotor blade and a rotor hub includes a rotor hub having one or more pitch bearings, with each pitch bearing having an outer diameter race and an inner diameter race. Rotor blades are affixed to the respective pitch bearing rings, with the rotor blades having a root end with an outer diameter. An adaptor is configured between the root end and the pitch bearing, with the adaptor affixed to the inner diameter race and the root end affixed to the adaptor. The adaptor defines a mounting surface for the root end radially inward of the pitch bearing such that the root end outer diameter is less than the diameter of the inner diameter race.

Root end assembly configuration for a wind turbine rotor blade and associated forming methods

A fluid dynamic polymer-based contact sensor measures ambient pressure based on the resistivity changes across the sensor under different ambient pressures. The pressure sensor may applied to airfoil structures such as wind turbine blades without impacting the blade structure and fluid dynamic characteristics. The sensor may also be applied to fluid measurements. The pressure measurements are used to measure blade performance with high fidelity. The pressure measurements are transmitted to processing to determine blade characteristics and environment including flow separation, stagnation point, angle of attack, lift and drag and wind speed. Further processing of the pressure distribution may identify wind shear, up-flow and yaw error.

Growing community of inventors

Greenville, SC, United States of America

Jay F Leonard