Wind turbine with a tower-mounted heat exchange structure
AssigneeVestas Wind Systems A/S
InventorsJesper Nyvad, Thue Søndergård Thomsen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A wind turbine with a tower; a nacelle supported by said tower; at least one unit to be cooled and arranged in the tower or the nacelle; a tower mounted heat exchange structure arranged outside the nacelle and tower; and a circuit facilitating a flow of a fluid medium between the at least one unit and the heat exchange structure. To improve thermal convection with the ambient space, the heat exchange structure comprises a set of panels mutually angled and extending outwards from the tower such that a flow of ambient air can pass transversely trough the panels and thereby cool the unit.
Claims17
A wind turbine comprising:
- a tower;
- a nacelle supported by said tower;
- a rotor supported by said nacelle;
- at least one unit to be cooled and arranged in the tower or the nacelle;
- a tower-mounted heat exchange structure arranged outside the nacelle and tower;
- and
- a circuit facilitating flow of a fluid medium between the at least one unit and the heat exchange structure,
- wherein the heat exchange structure comprises at least one set of panels, said set of panels comprising at least a first panel and a second panel each having a generally planar shape and having a mutual angle therebetween of between 5° and 175°, said first panel and said second panel being arranged in a V-shape extending out from said tower.
A method of cooling a unit which is located in a tower or nacelle of a wind turbine, the method comprising the steps of conducting a flow of a fluid from the unit to a heat exchange structure comprising a set of panels located outside the tower and nacelle and cooling the set of panels by a natural flow of air along an outer surface of the tower without using an artificially forced stream of air, wherein said set of panels comprises at least a first panel and a second panel each having a generally planar shape and having a mutual angle therebetween of between 5° and 175°, said first panel and said second panel being arranged in a V-shape extending out from said tower.
A wind turbine comprising:
- a tower;
- a nacelle supported by said tower;
- a rotor supported by said nacelle;
- at least one unit to be cooled and arranged in the tower;
- a tower-mounted heat exchange structure arranged outside the nacelle and tower;
- and
- a circuit facilitating flow of a fluid medium between the at least one unit and the heat exchange structure,
- wherein the heat exchange structure comprises at least one set of panels, said set of panels comprising at least a first panel and a second panel each having a generally planar shape and having a mutual angle therebetween of between 5° and 175°, said first panel and said second panel being arranged in a V-shape extending out from said tower.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.