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US 10,180,129 B2Granted
Coordinated control of a floating wind turbine
AssigneeMHI Vestas Offshore Wind A/S
InventorsIan Couchman, Robert Bowyer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to methods, apparatus and computer program products for coordinating the control of a floating wind turbine (101) between a wind turbine controller (111) and a platform controller (110). One or more wind turbine control systems and/or one or more platform control systems may be altered based on said coordinated control of said floating wind turbine (101).
Claims30
A method for use with a floating wind turbine system comprising a wind turbine coupled with a floating platform, the method comprising:
- receiving, at a wind turbine controller, wind speed data and wind direction data;
- communicating, from the wind turbine controller to a platform controller, first data indicative of one or more factors relating to power production of the wind turbine, wherein the first data includes the wind speed data and the wind direction data;
- controlling operation of one or more platform control systems using the first data, wherein controlling operation of the one or more platform control systems comprises adjusting a ballast distribution of a ballast system of the floating platform responsive to the wind speed data and to the wind direction data;
- communicating, from the platform controller to the wind turbine controller, second data indicative of one or more factors relating to operation of the floating platform;
- and
- controlling operation of one or more wind turbine control systems using the second data.
3 more elements
A method for use with a floating wind turbine system comprising a wind turbine coupled with a floating platform, the method comprising:
- receiving, at a wind turbine controller, yaw error value data;
- communicating, from the wind turbine controller to a platform controller, first data indicative of one or more factors relating to power production of the wind turbine, wherein the first data includes the yaw error value data;
- controlling operation of one or more platform control systems using the first data, wherein controlling operation of the one or more platform control systems comprises adjusting a ballast distribution of a ballast system of the floating platform responsive to the yaw error value data;
- communicating, from the platform controller to the wind turbine controller, second data indicative of one or more factors relating to operation of the floating platform;
- and
- controlling operation of one or more wind turbine control systems using the second data.
3 more elements
A method for use with a floating wind turbine system comprising a wind turbine coupled with a floating platform, the method comprising:
- receiving, at a platform controller, metocean condition data relating to metocean conditions affecting the floating platform;
- communicating, from the platform controller to a wind turbine controller, first data indicative of one or more factors relating to operation of the floating platform, wherein the first data includes the metocean condition data;
- controlling operation of one or more wind turbine control systems using the first data, wherein controlling operation of the one or more wind turbine control systems comprises setting a lower thrust limit for the wind turbine based at least on the metocean condition data;
- communicating, from the wind turbine controller to the platform controller, second data indicative of one or more factors relating to power production of the wind turbine;
- and
- controlling operation of one or more platform control systems using the second data.
3 more elements
A method for use with a floating wind turbine system comprising a wind turbine coupled with a floating platform, the method comprising:
- receiving, at a platform controller, tilt and roll angle data affecting the floating platform;
- communicating, from the platform controller to a wind turbine controller, first data indicative of one or more factors relating to operation of the floating platform, wherein the first data includes the tilt and roll angle data;
- and
- controlling operation of one or more wind turbine control systems using the first data, wherein controlling operation of the one or more wind turbine control systems comprises setting a lower thrust limit for the wind turbine based at least on the tilt and roll angle data;
- communicating, from the wind turbine controller to the platform controller, second data indicative of one or more factors relating to power production of the wind turbine;
- and
- controlling operation of one or more platform control systems using the second data.
4 more elements
A floating wind turbine system comprising:
- a wind turbine coupled with a floating platform;
- and
- a wind turbine controller and a platform controller that are capable of providing coordinated control of the wind turbine and the floating platform,
- wherein the wind turbine controller is operable to:
- receive wind speed data and wind direction data;
- and
- communicate, to the platform controller, first data indicative of one or more factors relating to power production of the wind turbine, wherein the first data includes the wind speed data and the wind direction data,
- wherein the platform controller is operable to:
- control operation of one or more platform control systems using the first data, wherein controlling operation of the one or more platform control systems comprises adjusting a ballast distribution of a ballast system of the floating platform responsive to the wind speed data and to the wind direction data;
- and
- communicate, to the wind turbine controller, second data indicative of one or more factors relating to operation of the floating platform;
- and
- wherein the wind turbine controller is further operable to control operation of one or more wind turbine control systems using the second data.
10 more elements
A floating wind turbine system comprising:
- a wind turbine coupled with a floating platform;
- and
- a wind turbine controller and a platform controller that are capable of providing coordinated control of the wind turbine and the floating platform,
- wherein the wind turbine controller is operable to:
- receive yaw error value data;
- and
- communicate, to the platform controller, first data indicative of one or more factors relating to power production of the wind turbine, wherein the first data includes the yaw error value data;
- wherein the platform controller is operable to:
- control operation of one or more platform control systems using the first data, wherein controlling operation of the one or more platform control systems comprises adjusting a ballast distribution of a ballast system of the floating platform responsive to the yaw error value data;
- and
- communicate, to the wind turbine controller, second data indicative of one or more factors relating to operation of the floating platform, and
- wherein the wind turbine controller is further operable to control operation of one or more wind turbine control systems using the second data.
9 more elements
A floating wind turbine system comprising:
- a wind turbine coupled with a floating platform;
- and
- a wind turbine controller and a platform controller that are capable of providing coordinated control of the wind turbine and the floating platform,
- wherein the platform controller is operable to:
- receive metocean condition data relating to metocean conditions affecting the floating platform;
- and
- communicate, to the wind turbine controller, first data indicative of one or more factors relating to operation of the floating platform, wherein the first data includes the metocean condition data,
- wherein the wind turbine controller is operable to:
- control operation of one or more wind turbine control systems using the first data, wherein controlling operation of the one or more wind turbine control systems comprises setting a lower thrust limit for the wind turbine based at least on the metocean condition data;
- and
- communicate, to the platform controller, second data indicative of one or more factors relating to power production of the wind turbine, and
- wherein the platform controller is further operable to control operation of one or more platform control systems using the second data.
9 more elements
A floating wind turbine system comprising:
- a wind turbine coupled with a floating platform;
- and
- a wind turbine controller and a platform controller that are capable of providing coordinated control of the wind turbine and the floating platform,
- wherein the platform controller is operable to:
- receive tilt and roll angle data affecting the floating platform;
- and
- communicate, to the wind turbine controller, first data indicative of one or more factors relating to operation of the floating wind turbine, wherein the first data includes the tilt and roll angle data;
- and
- wherein the wind turbine controller is operable to:
- control operation of one or more wind turbine control systems using the first data, wherein controlling operation of the one or more wind turbine control systems comprises setting a lower thrust limit for the wind turbine based at least on the tilt and roll angle data;
- and
- communicate, to the platform controller, second data indicative of one or more factors relating to power production of the wind turbine, and
- wherein the platform controller is further operable to control operation of one or more platform control systems using the second data.
10 more elements
A non-transitory computer program product comprising computer readable executable code for use with a floating wind turbine system comprising a wind turbine coupled with a floating platform, wherein the computer readable executable code configures one or more computer processors to perform an operation comprising:
- receiving wind speed data and wind direction data;
- communicating, to a platform controller, first data that is indicative of one or more factors relating to power production of the wind turbine, wherein the platform controller is operable to control operation of one or more platform control systems using the first data, wherein controlling operation of the one or more platform control systems comprises adjusting a ballast distribution of a ballast system of the floating platform responsive to the wind speed data and to the wind direction data;
- receiving, from the platform controller, second data indicative of one or more factors relating to operation of the floating platform;
- and
- controlling operation of one or more wind turbine control systems using the second data.
2 more elements
A method for use with a floating wind turbine system comprising a wind turbine coupled with a floating platform, the method comprising:
- receiving, at a wind turbine controller, data that is indicative of one or more factors affecting operation of the wind turbine;
- coordinating control of the floating wind turbine system by transmitting, to a platform controller, coordination data that is based at least on the received data, wherein the platform controller is configured to alter a ballast system of the floating platform based on the coordination data;
- and
- receiving, from the platform controller, authorization data for the wind turbine to perform a predefined operation, wherein the authorization data indicates that the ballast system is within a predefined amount of a predefined ballast distribution for the predefined operation.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.