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US 11,905,933 B2Granted
Electro-thermal heating
AssigneeVestas Wind Systems A/S
InventorsStephen Buggy, Luke Spandley, Paul Badger
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a method and controller for heating a wind turbine blade that comprises a plurality of heating zones. An icing factor is determined based on environmental conditions and one or more heating zones are determined based on the determined icing factor, wherein each heating zone comprises one or more Electro-Thermal Heating Elements. The one or more Electro-Thermal Heating Elements corresponding to the determined heating zones are activated to generate heat.
Claims20
A method of heating a wind turbine blade comprising a plurality of heating zones, the method comprising:
- monitoring one or more environmental conditions or operating conditions;
- determining an icing factor representing a severity of an icing event based on the one or more environmental conditions or operating conditions, and wherein a greater value of the icing factor on an icing factor scale indicates a greater severity of the icing event compared to a lesser value of the icing factor;
- determining one or more heating zones to activate based on the determined icing factor, wherein each heating zone comprises one or more Electro-Thermal Heating Elements;
- activating the one or more Electro-Thermal Heating Elements corresponding to the determined heating zones to generate heat, and
- wherein the icing factor further comprises a first icing factor, a second icing factor, and a third icing factor, the second icing factor is less than the first icing factor and the third icing factor is less than the second icing factor,
- wherein in response to determining that the icing factor changed from the first icing factor to the second icing factor, additional ones of the one or more Electro-Thermal Heating Elements are activated to increase a surface area of the wind turbine blade in which heat is generated, and
- wherein in response to determining that the icing factor changed from the second icing factor to the third icing factor, additional ones of the one or more Electro-Thermal Heating Elements are activated to increase the surface area of the wind turbine blade in which heat is generated.
4 more elements
A controller for controlling heating of a wind turbine blade comprising a plurality of heating zones, the controller being adapted to:
- monitor one or more environmental conditions or operating conditions;
- determine an icing factor representing a severity of an icing event based on the one or more environmental conditions or operating conditions of a wind turbine comprising the wind turbine blade, and wherein a greater value of the icing factor on an icing factor scale indicates a greater severity of the icing event compared to a lesser value of the icing factor;
- determine heating zones to activate based on the icing factor, wherein each of the plurality of heating zones comprises one or more Electro-Thermal Heating elements;
- activate the one or more Electro-Thermal Heating Elements corresponding to the determined heating zones to generate heat;
- wherein the icing factor further comprises a first icing factor, a second icing factor, and a third icing factor, the second icing factor is less than the first icing factor and the third icing factor is less than the second icing factor, and
- in response to determining that the icing factor changed from the first icing factor to the second icing factor, activate additional ones of the one or more Electro-Thermal Heating Elements to increase a surface area of the wind turbine blade in which heat is generated;
- and
- in response to determining that the icing factor changed from the second icing factor to the third icing factor, activate additional ones of the one or more Electro-Thermal Heating Elements to increase the surface area of the wind turbine blade in which heat is generated.
5 more elements
A wind turbine system comprising:
- a wind turbine blade including a plurality of Electro-Thermal Heating elements embedded in the wind turbine blade;
- a controller configured to:
- monitor one or more environmental conditions or operating conditions;
- determine an icing factor based on the one or more environmental conditions or operating conditions of a wind turbine comprising the wind turbine blade;
- determine heating zones to activate based on the icing factor, wherein each of the heating zones comprises one or more of the plurality of Electro-Thermal Heating elements;
- activate the Electro-Thermal Heating Elements corresponding to the determined heating zones to generate heat;
- wherein the icing factor further comprises a first icing factor, a second icing factor, and a third icing factor, the second icing factor is less than the first icing factor and the third icing factor is less than the second icing factor, and
- in response to determining that the icing factor changed from the first icing factor to the second icing factor, activate additional ones of the plurality of Electro-Thermal Heating Elements to increase a surface area of the wind turbine blade in which heat is generated;
- and
- in response to determining that the icing factor changed from the second icing factor to the third icing factor, activate additional ones of the plurality of Electro-Thermal Heating Elements to increase the surface area of the wind turbine blade in which heat is generated.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.