SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING WIND TURBINES AND ENHANCED DIAGNOSTICS

• US 20100138182A1
• Filed: 08/28/2009
• Published: 06/03/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Infrastructure Technology, LLC (General Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Jammu, Vinay Bhaskar, Naithani, Nidhi, Perla, Ramesh, Morjaria, Mahesh Amritlal, Madam, Narayanan Urupuniakavu
• Granted Patent: US 7,933,744 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/113
• CPC Class Codes: F03D 17/00 Monitoring or testing of wind motors, e.g. diagnostics testing during commissioning of wind motors F03D13/30
• CPC Class Codes: F03D 7/026 for starting-up
• CPC Class Codes: F03D 7/043 characterised by the type of control logic
• CPC Class Codes: F03D 7/047 characterised by the controller architecture, e.g. multiple processors or data communications
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2240/96 as part of a wind turbine farm
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2270/32 Wind speeds
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/021 adopting a different treatment of each operating region or a different mode of the monitored system, e.g. transient modes; different operating configurations of monitored system
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0229 knowledge based, e.g. expert systems; genetic algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0297 Reconfiguration of monitoring system, e.g. use of virtual sensors; change monitoring method as a response to monitoring results
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/72 Wind turbines with rotation axis in wind direction

Abstract

A method of wind turbine management includes receiving operational information on operational characteristics of a wind turbine. The operational information is analyzed based on a set of rules, and a determination is made as to whether a fault of the wind turbine is resettable. The set of rules may be configured based on operating configuration of the wind turbine. Advanced operational information may be received for conducting enhanced diagnostics and a determination is made as to whether a fault of the wind turbine is resettable.

Claims

1. A method for managing a wind turbine, the method comprising:

receiving operational information on operational characteristics of a wind turbine;

analyzing the operational information based on a set of rules, the set of rules being configurable;

determining that advanced operational information of the wind turbine is required based upon analyzing the operational information;

receiving advanced operational information of the wind turbine;

analyzing the advanced operational information based on the set of rules; and

determining whether a fault of the wind turbine is resettable.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the operational information comprises information on at least one of wind speed, wind speed profile, temperature of wind turbine components, voltage, current, converter, generator, rotor speed sensors, tower vibrations, hardware units of the wind turbine, and/or a grid event, and wherein the analyzing comprises further processing the operational information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing comprises referring to the set of rules with respect to the operational information of the wind turbine.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the set of rules comprises threshold values for the operational characteristics of the wind turbine and derivatives of the operational characteristics of the wind turbine.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the set of rules comprises threshold values for at least one of wind speed, wind speed profile, temperature of the wind turbine components, voltage levels, current levels, converter faults, generator faults, rotor speed sensors faults, tower vibrations, faults in the hardware units of the wind turbine, and a grid event.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of rules are configured based on operational characteristics of the wind turbine.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the set of rules are further configured based on a fault analysis of the wind turbine.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the analyzing further comprises determining if a fault has occurred due to a transient condition.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying if safety conditions of the wind turbine have been met.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a report on the fault of the wind turbine.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the advanced operational information comprises a history of the operational information in the recent past.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the advanced operational information comprises sensor data of the wind turbine up to, and after the trip.

13. A wind turbine management system comprising:

a wind turbine operable to generate electricity using wind energy, the wind turbine comprising operational characteristics related to the operation of the wind turbine;

a control server comprising a wind turbine management module configured to implement the steps of;

receiving operational information on the operational characteristics of the wind turbine,

analyzing the operational information based on a set of rules, the rules being configurable,

determining that advanced operational information of the wind turbine is required based upon analyzing the operational information,

receiving advanced operational information of the wind turbine,

analyzing the advanced operational information based on the set of rules,

determining whether a fault of the wind turbine is resettable; and

a network,

wherein the wind turbine is communicably coupled to the management module via the network, and wherein a rule configuration module is accessible via the network.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the operational information comprises information on at least one of wind speed, wind speed profile, temperature of wind turbine components, voltage, current, converter, generator, rotor speed sensors, tower vibrations, hardware units of the wind turbine, and a grid event.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the analyzing comprises referring to the set of rules with respect to the operational information of the wind turbine.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the set of rules comprises threshold values for operational characteristics of the wind turbine and derivatives of the operational characteristics of the wind turbine.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the set of rules comprises threshold values for at least one of wind speed, wind speed profile, temperature of wind turbine components, voltage, current, converter, generator, rotor speed sensors, tower vibrations, hardware units of the wind turbine, and a grid event.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the control server further comprises a rules engine for configuring the rules based on the operational characteristics of the wind turbine.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the set of rules are further configured based on a fault analysis of the wind turbine.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the analyzing further comprises determining if a fault has occurred due to a transient condition.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein the analyzing comprises identifying if safety conditions of the wind turbine have been met.

22. The system of claim 13, wherein the management module is configured to reset the wind turbine if the fault of the wind turbine is resettable.

23. The system of claim 13, wherein the management module is configured to generate a report on the fault of the wind turbine.

24. The system of claim 13, wherein the wind turbine further comprises a controller configured to receive and process the operational information of the wind turbine.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the controller is further configured to control the operation of the wind turbine.

26. The system of claim 25, further comprising an interface computer configured to receive the operational information of the wind turbine from the controller, and send the operational information of the wind turbine to be communicated over the network.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the interface computer configured to receive instructions for operating the wind turbine, and send the instructions for operating the wind turbine to the controller.

28. The system of claim 27 further comprising a farm server operably coupled to the interface computer and to the network, the farm server configured to receive and/or store operational information of the wind turbine.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the farm server is configured to receive operating instructions for the wind turbine from the control server over the network, and further communicate the operating instructions to the interface computer.