Predictive blade adjustment
OwnerDemos T. Kyrazisinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Predictively adjusting the pitch of blades and/or sections of a blade based on fluid velocity measurements. In one embodiment, the measurements are obtained of an upstream portion of a fluid flow using a laser Doppler velocimeter. The pitch of the blade(s) and/or blade section(s) are then adjusted to achieve a desired amount of lift or to create a stall-configuration as can be useful for conditions in which an excessive fluid velocity is detected.
Claims17
An automated system for achieving a desired amount of lift in a blade comprising:
- a pitch-adjustable blade comprising a plurality of sections that are pitch adjustable;
- a plurality of position sensors configured to monitor said plurality of sections;
- a laser doppler velocimeter configured to measure a three dimensional velocity vector at a plurality of points in space of an up-stream fluid while scanning an area of the upstream fluid;
- and
- a microcontroller or microprocessor configured to initiate an adjustment of a pitch of one or more sections of said pitch-adjustable blade to achieve a desired amount of lift based on the measured up-stream fluid velocity that each of said one or more sections of said pitch-adjustable blade will intersect, while preventing an angle of attack for each of said one or more sections that would result in an excessive rotational speed.
An automated system for achieving a desired amount of lift in a blade comprising:
- a pitch-adjustable blade;
- a position sensor configured to monitor a position of said pitch-adjustable blade;
- a laser doppler velocimeter configured to measure a three dimensional velocity vector at a plurality of points in space of an up-stream fluid while scanning an area of the upstream fluid;
- and
- a microcontroller or microprocessor configured to initiate an adjustment of a pitch of said pitch-adjustable blade to achieve a desired amount of lift based on the measured up-stream fluid velocity that said pitch-adjustable blade will intersect, while preventing an angle of attack that would result in an excessive rotational speed.
An automated method for extracting energy from wind by a wind turbine comprising:
- maintaining a desired lift distribution along a pitch-adjustable blade of the wind turbine as the pitch-adjustable blade rotates about an axis of the wind turbine, the pitch-adjustable blade comprising a plurality of sections that are each pitch-adjustable;
- providing rotary sensors configured to determine pitch angle for the plurality of sections of the pitch-adjustable blade;
- measuring three components of a wind vector with a laser doppler velocimeter as velocity of the wind varies over an altitude range swept out by the pitch-adjustable blade during the pitch-adjustable blade's rotation about the axis of the wind turbine;
- computing variation in a relative wind vector for each of the plurality of sections of the pitch-adjustable blade while the pitch-adjustable blade is rotating about the axis of the wind turbine;
- and
- obtaining a desired amount of lift for each of the plurality of sections of the pitch-adjustable blade by continually adjusting a pitch of each of the plurality of sections as the pitch-adjustable blade rotates about the axis of the wind turbine so as to achieve an angle of attack that provides the desired amount of lift.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.