Wind turbine power generation facility and method of operating the same
AssigneeMHI Vestas Offshore Wind A/S
InventorHideyasu Fujioka
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A wind turbine power generation facility includes: at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus; a lightning sensor for detecting or predicting occurrence of lightning in an installation area of the at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus; and a controller for switching an operation mode of the at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus to a lightning-protection mode in which a rotor rotation speed is lower than a rated rotation speed, on the basis of an output signal of the lightning sensor.
Claims15
A wind turbine power generation facility, comprising:
- at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus including a blade;
- a lightning sensor for detecting or predicting occurrence of lightning in an installation area of the at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus, prior to lightning strike to the blade;
- and
- a controller for switching an operation mode of the at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus to a lightning-protection mode in which a rotor rotation speed is lower than a rated rotation speed so as to prevent the lightning strike on an unexpected portion on the blade of the at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus, on a basis of an output signal of the lightning sensor,
- wherein the controller is configured to shift a state of the at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus to a standby state as the lightning-protection mode in which power generation is stopped without fixing a rotor, upon switching to the lightning-protection mode, and
- wherein the lightning-protection mode satisfies at least one of a first condition that the rotor rotation speed of the at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus is 2 rpm or less, or a second condition that a blade tip speed of the at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus is 15 m/s or less.
A method of operating a wind turbine power generation facility including at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus having a blade, the method comprising:
- obtaining detection information or prediction information of occurrence of lightning in an installation area of the at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus, prior to lightning strike to the blade;
- and
- switching an operation mode of the at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus to a lightning-protection mode in which a rotor rotation speed is lower than a rated rotation speed so as to prevent the lightning strike on an unexpected portion on the blade of the at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus, on a basis of the detection information or the prediction information of the lightning,
- wherein the step of switching the operation mode to the lightning-protection mode includes shifting a state of the at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus to a standby state as the lightning-protection mode in which power generation is stopped without fixing a rotor, and
- wherein the lightning-protection mode satisfies at least one of a first condition that the rotor rotation speed of the at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus is 2 rpm or less, or a second condition that a blade tip speed of the at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus is 15 m/s or less.
A wind turbine power generation facility, comprising:
- a plurality of wind turbines;
- a lightning sensor disposed at a location independent of the plurality of wind turbines and configured to detect or predict occurrence of lightning in an installation area of the wind turbines prior to lightning strike to a blade of any one of the wind turbines;
- and
- a controller for outputting a switching command to the plurality of wind turbines to switch an operation mode of the plurality of wind turbines to a lightning-protection mode in which a rotor rotation speed is lower than a rated rotation speed so as to prevent the lightning strike on an unexpected portion on the blade of said any one of the wind turbines, on a basis of an output signal of the lightning sensor.
A method of operating a wind turbine power generation facility including a plurality of wind turbines, the method comprising:
- obtaining detection information or prediction information of occurrence of lightning in an installation area of the plurality of wind turbines prior to lightning strike to a blade of any one of the wind turbines, by using a lightning sensor disposed at a location independent of the plurality of wind turbines;
- and
- outputting a switching command to the plurality of wind turbines to switch an operation mode of the plurality of wind turbines to a lightning-protection mode in which a rotor rotation speed is lower than a rated rotation speed so as to prevent the lightning strike on an unexpected portion on the blade of said any one of the wind turbines, on a basis of an output signal of the lightning sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.