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US 12,410,780 B2Granted
System and method for controlling a wind turbine
AssigneeGE Vernova Renovables Espana, S.L.
InventorsXu Fu, Hema Kumari Achanta, Satya Mohan Vamsi Andalam
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method are provided for controlling a wind turbine. Accordingly, a component of the wind turbine is monitored by at least one sensor of a sensor system. An output is received from the sensor system which indicates a fault with the sensor. A fault accommodation response is generated by a fault module. The fault accommodation response includes an accommodation signal which replaces the output signal of the faulty sensor.
Claims16
A system for controlling a wind turbine, the system comprising:
- a sensor system comprising a plurality of sensors operably coupled to a rotor blade of the wind turbine, the plurality of sensors comprising a first sensor in a first edgewise location at a leading edge of the rotor blade, second sensor in a different, second edgewise location in proximity to the leading edge of the rotor blade, a third sensor in a first flapwise location on at least one of a pressure side or suction side of the rotor blade, and a fourth sensor in second flapwise location on the same of at least one of the pressure side or the suction side;
- and
- a controller communicatively coupled to the sensor system, the controller comprising at least one processor configured to perform a plurality of operations, the plurality of operations comprising:
- detecting, via a fault module, an output signal from at least one of the first, second, third, or fourth sensors being indicative of a sensor fault;
- identifying the at least one of the first, second, third, or fourth sensors as being a faulty sensor;
- generating, via the fault module, a fault accommodation signal, wherein generating the fault accommodation signal further comprises receiving data indicative of an operating condition from the other of the at least one of the first, second, third, or fourth sensors and applying a weighting factor to the data indicative of the operating condition from the other of the at least one of the first, second, third, or fourth sensors so as to emulate acceptable data indicative of the operating condition from the faulty sensor, wherein the weighting factor accommodates for different locations of the first, second, third, and fourth sensors;
- and
- replacing the output signal of the faulty sensor with the fault accommodation signal so as to cause a change in an operating state of the wind turbine.
5 more elements
A method for controlling a wind turbine, the method comprising:
- receiving, via a controller, data indicative of an operating condition of a rotor blade of the wind turbine from a sensor system, the sensor system comprising a plurality of sensors operably coupled to the rotor blade, the plurality of sensors comprising a first sensor in a first edgewise location at a leading edge of the rotor blade, a second sensor in a different, second edgewise location in proximity to the leading edge of the rotor blade, a third sensor in a first flapwise location on at least one of a pressure side or suction side of the rotor blade, and a fourth sensor in second flapwise location on the same of at least one of the pressure side or the suction side;
- detecting, via a fault module, an output signal from at least one of the first, second, third, or fourth sensors being indicative of a sensor fault;
- identifying the at least one of the first, second, third, or fourth sensors as being a faulty sensor:
- generating, via the fault module, a fault accommodation response, the fault accommodation response comprising an accommodation signal which replaces the output signal indicative of the sensor fault, wherein generating the fault accommodation response further comprises receiving data indicative of an operating condition from the other of the at least one of the first, second, third, or fourth sensors and applying a weighting factor to the data indicative of the operating condition from the other of the at least one of the first, second, third, or fourth sensors so as to emulate acceptable data indicative of the operating condition from the faulty-sensor, wherein the weighting factor accommodates for different locations of the first, second, third, and fourth sensors;
- and
- causing, via the controller, a change in an operating state of the wind turbine based at least upon the accommodation signal.
3 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 rotor blade mounted to the rotor;
- and
- a blade monitoring system operably coupled to the at least one rotor blade, the blade monitoring system comprising:
- a sensor system comprising a plurality of sensors operably coupled to the at least one rotor blade, the plurality of sensors comprising a first sensor in a first edgewise location at a leading edge of the rotor blade, a second sensor in a different, second edgewise location in proximity to the leading edge of the rotor blade, a third sensor in a first flapwise location on at least one of a pressure side or suction side of the rotor blade, and a fourth sensor in second flapwise location on the same of at least one of the pressure side or the suction side;
- and
- a controller communicatively coupled to the sensor system, the controller comprising at least one processor configured to perform a plurality of operations, the plurality of operations comprising:
- detecting, via a fault module, an output signal from at least one of the first, second, third, or fourth sensors being indicative of a sensor fault,
- identifying the at least one of the first, second, third, or fourth sensors as being a faulty sensor;
- generating, via the fault module, a fault accommodation signal, wherein generating the fault accommodation response further comprises receiving data indicative of an operating condition from the other of the at least one of the first, second, third, or fourth sensors and applying a weighting factor to the data indicative of the operating condition from the other of the at least one of the first, second, third, or fourth sensors so as to emulate acceptable data indicative of the operating condition from the faulty-sensor, wherein the weighting factor accommodates for different locations of the first, second, third, and fourth sensors, and
- replacing the output signal of the faulty sensor with the fault accommodation signal so as to cause a change in an operating state of the wind turbine.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.