Frontier Wind, Llc.

Frontier Pro Services, LLC

Other

Energy Unlimited, Inc.

Mark Dawson

Jack E Wallace

A fluid catchment system for a wind turbine is provided. The wind turbine has a nacelle mounted to a tower. The fluid catchment system includes at least one fluid accumulator in fluid communication with the interior of the nacelle and configured to receive fluid exiting from the nacelle. The fluid accumulator is configured to be positioned at least partially beneath the nacelle and to be attached to at least one of the tower and the nacelle. An oil absorbent material may be retained by the fluid accumulator. A fluid collector may be provided to collect fluid from the fluid accumulator. A fluid catchment system having a fluid accumulator located on a wind turbine blade is also provided. Further, a wind turbine including a fluid catchment system is provided.

Fluid catchment system for a wind turbine

Drive units for variable-length rotor blades are located so as to move mass closer to the center of a wind turbine rotor. In some cases, drive units are located within a root portion of a base blade of a blade assembly. In other cases, drive units are located outside of the blade assemblies. In some such cases, drive units are contained within separate couplers used to connect blade assemblies to a wind turbine rotor hub. In other cases, one or more drive units are located within a rotor hub.

Mass-centralizing blade extension drive mount locations for wind turbine

Power and signals may be transmitted from a root portion of an extendable rotor blade to a moving tip portion using a slide block and a slide channel. The slide block is configured to fit within the slide channel and includes a conductive element that comes into contact with a conductive element of the slide channel. The tip portion may be attached to the slide block such that as the slide block moves along the slide channel, the tip portion is extended or retracted accordingly. The conductive elements may be fixed within each of the slide block and slide channel so that when the tip portion is retracted or extended, the conductive elements do not move.

Methods and system for providing power and signals in a turbine

A wind turbine blade having a longitudinal axis is provided. The wind turbine blade includes a root portion and a tip portion. The root portion has a supported end and an unsupported end. The tip portion is configured to be slidably received within the unsupported end of the root portion. A transverse gap is defined between the root portion and the tip portion. A transition element is affixed to the unsupported end of the root portion such that the transition element at least partially bridges the transverse gap. The wind turbine blade may further include blade cleaning elements and/or sensing elements, particularly in the vicinity of the transition element.

Variable length wind turbine blade having transition area elements

A method for repairing a wind turbine is described. The method may include preparing the surface of the blade, removing a plurality of mounting bolts, and replacing the mounting bolts with rod members. The rod members may be bonded to the blade root thereby strengthening the blade root and/or repairing any damaged or weakened regions. This repair may be performed on blades and blade coupling regions of various characteristics as well in modular fashion using pre-molded sections attached together around the blade root. The method of repair may be performed while the blade is still attached to the turbine hub. Wind turbines repaired according to these methods are also described. The method may also be used for attaching and otherwise handling new turbine blades and new wind turbines.

Repair of rotor blade roots

A wind turbine may be controlled in a variety of manners to optimize operating parameters. In one arrangement, for example, the length or the pitch of a wind turbine rotor blade may be adjusted to avoid harmonic resonance frequencies. In another example, the length of a rotor blade may be modified to reduce noise or to optimize profits or both. The controls may be based on data from various types of sensors including accelerometers, sound meters, strain gauges and the like. Actuation of extendable rotor blades can rotate wind turbine rotors without wind or generator pulsing affording multiple advantages. A battery test control may also be used to determine the operational readiness of a battery useful for a variety of purposes in a turbine.

Control modes for extendable rotor blades

A wind turbine blade made of a fixed blade section with an integral mounting flange for attachment to a wind turbine hub. A moveable blade section is attached to the fixed blade section and is free to move in a longitudinal direction relative to the fixed blade section. A positioning device controllably positions the moveable blade section to vary the overall length of the blade. This allows the wind turbine's rotor diameter to be adjusted. The rotor diameter can be increased in order to provide high power output in low wind conditions and it can be decreased in order to minimize loads in high wind conditions.

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Boise, ID, United States of America

Mark Dawson