Blade Balancing
AssigneeFrontier Wind, LLC
InventorsJonathon P. Baker, Edward A. Mayda, Erick J. Rickards
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for pressure based load measurement are provided. The system and method measure at least one pressure differential on an airfoil and determine at least one aerodynamic load associated with the at least one pressure differential. The determined at least one load is used to modify characteristics of the airfoil to increase efficiency and/or avoid damage. The determined at least one aerodynamic load may be further utilized to balance and/or optimize loads at the airfoil, estimate a load distribution along the airfoil used to derive other metrics about the airfoil, and/or used in a distributed control system to increase efficiency and/or reduce damage to, e.g., one or more wind turbines.
Claims20
A method for balancing aerodynamic loads, the method comprising:
- determining, by a controller, a plurality of pressure differentials, wherein each of the plurality of pressure differentials corresponds to a difference in pressure between a first pressure location and a second pressure location on each of a plurality of wind turbine blades;
- determining, by the controller, a plurality of aerodynamic loads based on the plurality of pressure differentials, wherein each of the plurality of aerodynamic loads corresponds to each of the plurality of wind turbine blades;
- determining, by the controller, a first aerodynamic load of the plurality of aerodynamic loads is out of balance;
- and
- in response to determining the first aerodynamic load is out of balance, modifying, by the controller, at least one characteristic of a first wind turbine blade of the plurality of wind turbine blades.
A method for optimizing aerodynamic loads, the method comprising:
- determining, by a controller, a plurality of pressure differentials, wherein each of the plurality of pressure differentials corresponds to a difference in pressure between a first pressure location and a second pressure location on each of a plurality wind turbine blades;
- determining, by the controller, a plurality of aerodynamic loads based on the plurality of pressure differentials, wherein each of the plurality of aerodynamic loads corresponds to each of the plurality of wind turbine blades;
- determining, by the controller, a first aerodynamic load of the plurality of aerodynamic loads is not within a predetermined range of acceptable loads;
- and
- in response to determining the first aerodynamic load is not within the predetermined range of acceptable loads, modifying, by the controller, at least one characteristic of a first wind turbine blade of the plurality of wind turbine blades.
A wind turbine comprising:
- a hub;
- a plurality of wind turbine blades connected to and arranged about the hub, wherein each wind turbine blade of the plurality of wind turbine blades comprises:
- a first pressure sensing orifice arranged on a bottom surface of the wind turbine blade;
- and
- a second pressure sensing orifice arranged on a top surface of the wind turbine blade;
- and
- at least one controller, wherein the at least one controller is configured to determine at least one aerodynamic force associated with each of the plurality of wind turbine blades based on a difference in pressure between a location of the first pressure sensing orifice and a location of the second pressure sensing orifice at each wind turbine blade, and wherein the controller is further configured to modify at least one characteristic of a first wind turbine blade in response to determining a first aerodynamic force associated with the first wind turbine blade is out of balance.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.