Wind turbine with pitch control arranged to reduce life shortening loads on components thereof
AssigneeVestas Wind Systems A/S
InventorsLars Risager, Rasmus Svendsen, Erik Carl Miranda
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A wind turbine is presented where the operation lifetime of the main bearing is extended by relieving the main bearing by reducing the mean bending moment on the bearing by means of individual pitch control of the blades of the rotor so as to create an aerodynamic mean tilt moment on the rotor by means of aerodynamic forces on the blades, the tilt moment at least partly counteracting the bending moment caused by the overhang load forces on the main bearing from the gravitational pull on the rotor mass.
Claims17
A wind turbine, comprising:
- a rotor having a hub and at least two blades,
- a main bearing providing a rotational support of the rotor on a non-rotating part of the wind turbine,
- a blade pitching mechanism for individual adjustment of an angle of each of the blades about their longitudinal axes, and
- a control system for controlling operation of the blade pitching mechanism during ordinary operation of the wind turbine in order to reduce a bending moment on the main bearing caused by overhang load forces from a gravitational pull on the rotor mass.
A method of reducing a mean bending moment on a main bearing of a wind turbine, a rotor being rotationally supported by the main bearing, the method comprising:
- operating a blade pitching mechanism of the wind turbine to individually pitch the rotor blades of the wind turbine in response to a predetermined value of a counteracting aerodynamic mean tilt moment, so that the aerodynamic mean tilt moment on the rotor counteracts the bending moment on the main bearing caused by overhang load forces from gravitational pull on the rotor mass substantially corresponding with the predetermined value.
A wind turbine, comprising:
- a rotor having a hub and at least two blades,
- a main bearing providing a rotational support of the rotor on a non-rotating part of the wind turbine,
- a blade pitching mechanism for individual adjustment of an angle of each of the blades about their longitudinal axes, and
- a control system for controlling operation of the blade pitching mechanism during ordinary operation of the wind turbine to perform adjustment of the angle of each of the blades in response to a predetermined value of a counteracting aerodynamic mean tilt moment so that the aerodynamic mean tilt moment on the rotor counteracts a bending moment on the main bearing caused by overhang load forces from a gravitational pull on the rotor mass.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.