Wind turbine operating method and device based on load and acceleration measurements in the blade
AssigneeVestas Wind Systems A/S
InventorIb Svend Olesen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Improvements Relating to Wind Turbines A wind turbine apparatus and a method of operating said wind turbine to maintain the load on the rotor blade below a predetermined threshold level is provided. The method comprises: measuring load at a root end of the rotor blade; measuring an acceleration at a location on the rotor blade outboard from the root end, the acceleration being caused by transient loads acting on the rotor blade; and controlling the wind turbine based upon the measured load and the measured acceleration to maintain the load on the rotor blade below a predetermined threshold level.
Claims20
A method of operating a wind turbine comprising at least one rotor blade, the method comprising:
- measuring load at a root end of the rotor blade;
- measuring an acceleration at a location on the rotor blade outboard from the root end, the acceleration being caused by transient loads acting on the rotor blade;
- determining a transient load on the rotor blade attributable to the acceleration;
- determining a predicted load on the rotor blade by combining the measured load at the root end of the rotor blade with the transient load;
- and
- controlling the wind turbine based upon the measured load and the measured acceleration to maintain the load on the rotor blade below a predetermined threshold level.
A wind turbine comprising:
- at least one rotor blade;
- a load sensor located at a root end of the rotor blade;
- an accelerometer located on the rotor blade outboard from the root end;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- determine a transient load on the rotor blade attributable to the acceleration;
- determine a predicted load on the rotor blade by combining a measured load at the root end of the rotor blade with the transient load;
- and
- control the wind turbine based upon the measured load and a measured acceleration to maintain a load on the rotor blade below a predetermined threshold level.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.