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US 10,954,922 B2Granted
System and method for cooling a tower of a wind turbine
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsEdward Wayne Hardwicke, Jr., Alisha Candace Taylor, Samir Armando Salamah
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Abstract
A system for cooling a tower of a wind turbine including at least one cooling fluid inlet arranged in a tower wall for receiving a cooling fluid into the tower, a filtration assembly arranged within the tower, and at least one cooling fluid outlet for directing the filtered cooling fluid within the tower. The filtration assembly including a plurality of flow guiding structures that define a plurality of flow paths for providing a plurality of flow direction changes and/or flow velocity changes to the cooling fluid.
Claims20
A system for cooling a tower of a wind turbine, the system comprising:
- at least one cooling fluid inlet for receiving a cooling fluid into the tower, the at least one cooling fluid inlet arranged in a tower wall of the tower of the wind turbine, the at least one cooling fluid inlet comprising at least one opening defined by a tower door;
- an intake plenum coupled to an inner face of the tower door and surrounding the at least one opening defined by the tower door;
- at least one platform positioned within the tower at a predetermined height above a foundation of the wind turbine, wherein the predetermined height positions the at least one platform between the foundation of the wind turbine and the tower door, wherein the at least one platform defines a platform passage;
- a seal positioned between the intake plenum and the platform passage so as to fluidly couple the intake plenum to the platform passage;
- a filtration assembly arranged within the tower, the filtration assembly comprising a plurality of flow guiding structures that define a plurality of flow paths for providing a plurality of flow direction changes and/or flow velocity changes to the cooling fluid;
- and
- at least one cooling fluid outlet for directing the filtered cooling fluid within the tower.
4 more elements
A method for cooling a tower of a wind turbine, the method comprising:
- receiving a cooling fluid through at least one cooling fluid inlet and into the tower, the at least one cooling fluid inlet comprising at least one opening defined by a tower door;
- sealing, via a seal, an intake plenum coupled to an inner face of the tower door to a platform passage defined by at least one platform, wherein the at least one platform is positioned within the tower at a predetermined height above a foundation of the wind turbine, wherein the predetermined height positions the at least one platform between the foundation of the wind turbine and the tower door, and wherein the intake plenum surrounds the at least one opening defined by the tower door;
- directing the cooling fluid through a filtration assembly within the tower, the filtration assembly comprising a plurality of flow guiding structures that define a plurality of flow paths for providing a plurality of flow direction changes and/or flow velocity changes to the cooling fluid;
- and
- directing the filtered cooling fluid through at least one cooling fluid outlet so as to cool one or more wind turbine components within the tower.
2 more elements
A wind turbine, comprising:
- a tower secured atop a foundation;
- a nacelle mounted atop the tower;
- a rotor mounted to the nacelle;
- at least one platform positioned within the tower at a predetermined height above the foundation;
- and
- a cooling system positioned within the tower, the cooling system comprising:
- at least one cooling fluid inlet arranged in a tower wall of the tower of the wind turbine, the at least one cooling fluid inlet comprising at least one opening defined by a tower door,
- an intake plenum coupled to an inner face of the tower door and surrounding the at least one opening defined by the tower door,
- at least one platform positioned within the tower at a predetermined height above a foundation of the wind turbine, wherein the predetermined height positions the at least one platform between the foundation of the wind turbine and the tower door, wherein the at least one platform defines a platform passage,
- a seal positioned between the intake plenum and the platform passage so as to fluidly couple the intake plenum to the platform passage,
- a filtration assembly in fluid communication with the at least one cooling fluid inlet and positioned between the platform and the foundation, the filtration assembly comprising a plurality of flow guiding structures that define a plurality of flow paths for providing a plurality of flow direction changes and/or flow velocity changes to a cooling fluid, and
- at least one cooling fluid outlet in fluid communication with the filtration assembly and positioned so as to direct the filtered cooling fluid within the tower.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.