Method and system for cooling a wind turbine structure
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorMeng Gao
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A control method and associated component configuration provide cooling for components within a wind turbine structure, such as a tower or nacelle. A recirculating airstream of internal air is established in the structure. For a defined set of operational conditions of the wind turbine that affect a required cooling capacity within the structure, the recirculating airstream is controllably augmented with external air to increase cooling capacity of the recirculating airstream. The amount of external air introduced into the structure is balanced with the amount of relatively hotter internal air within the structure so as to achieve a desired balance of temperature and relative humidity within the structure.
Claims18
A method for cooling components within a wind turbine structure, comprising:
- establishing a recirculating airstream of internal air within the structure;
- for a defined set of operational conditions of the wind turbine that affect a required cooling capacity, controllably augmenting the recirculating airstream with external air to increase cooling capacity of the recirculating airstream;
- and
- balancing the amount of external air introduced into the structure with the amount of relatively hotter internal air within the structure so as to achieve a desired balance of temperature and relative humidity within the structure.
A wind turbine, comprising:
- a tower;
- a nacelle mounted atop said tower;
- a rotor having a plurality of turbine blades rotatably supported by said nacelle;
- at least one of said tower or said nacelle defining a structural component of said wind turbine to be cooled;
- air handling components within said structural component configured to establish a recirculating airstream of internal air within said structural component;
- an external airflow regulator configured with said structural component and configured to control access of external air into said structural component;
- and
- a control system in operably communication with said air handling components and said external airflow regulator whereby for a defined set of operational conditions of the wind turbine that affect a required cooling capacity within said structural component, said control system augments the recirculating airstream with external air through said external airflow regulator to increase cooling capacity of the recirculating airstream while also balancing the amount of external air introduced into said structural component with the amount of relatively hotter internal air within said structural component so as to achieve a desired balance of temperature and relative humidity within said structural component.
The wind turbine as in claim 16, wherein said control system controls the recirculating airstream as an initial function of the temperature of the monitored component in the structural component and external air is not introduced into said structural component until the temperature of the monitored component reaches a setpoint temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.