SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING LIFE OF A WIND TURBINE

• US 20160010628A1
• Filed: 07/06/2015
• Published: 01/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2014
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: DHAR, Sandeep, SINGH, Pameet
• Application Number:
  US14/791,907
• Publication Number:
  US 20160010628A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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: F05B 2260/82 Forecasts

Abstract

A method implemented using at least one processor module includes receiving turbine data of a wind turbine having s a plurality of persistent failure modes. The turbine data comprises installation data, operation data and historical data. The method also includes determining a plurality of damage values using a plurality of damage models based on the installation data and determining a plurality of correction values based on the operation data, and the historical data. The plurality of damage values are representative of severity of the plurality of persistent failure modes and the plurality of correction values are representative of severity of a plurality of sporadic failure modes. The method also includes determining a plurality of corrected damage values by modifying the plurality of damage values based on at least one of the plurality of correction values and determining a set point for the wind turbine based on the plurality of corrected damage values.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving turbine data of a wind turbine having a plurality of persistent failure modes, wherein the turbine data comprises installation data, operation data and historical data;

determining a plurality of damage values using a plurality of damage models based on the installation data, wherein the plurality of damage values are representative of severity of the plurality of persistent failure modes;

determining a plurality of correction values based on the operation data, and the historical data, wherein the plurality of correction values are representative of severity of a plurality of sporadic failure modes;

determining a plurality of corrected damage values by modifying the plurality of damage values based on at least one of the plurality of correction values; and

determining a set point for the wind turbine based on the plurality of corrected damage values.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the turbine data comprising environment data;

determining a plurality of probabilistic operating profiles corresponding to the plurality of persistent failure modes based on the environment data and the historical data;

determining a first plurality of projection values based on the plurality of probabilistic operating profiles, wherein the first plurality of projection values are representative of the severity of the plurality of persistent failure modes at a future time instant;

determining a second plurality of projection values based on the plurality of correction values and the historical data, wherein the second plurality of projection values are representative of the severity of the plurality of sporadic failure modes at the future time instant; and

estimating a life duration of the wind turbine based on the first plurality of projection values and the second plurality of projection values.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein receiving the turbine data comprises receiving at least one of supervisory control and data acquisition data, a plurality of pitch angles, a wind speed value, wind shear value, and an ambient turbulence intensity.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of damage values comprises damage due to at least one of gear faults, bearing defects, structural damages, and lubrication failure.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the plurality of correction values comprises determining a damage correction value contributed by a persistent failure mode among the plurality of persistent failure modes, wherein the damage correction value is based on the operation data.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the damage correction value is based on a site-Weibulls distribution.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the damage correction value comprises correlating remote monitoring diagnostics data with the historical data.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the plurality of correction values comprises determining a new signature based on the operation data.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the plurality of correction values comprises determining contributions from field loading within recommended conditions and beyond recommended conditions.

10. A system, comprising:

at least one processor module and a memory module communicatively coupled to a communications bus;

a data acquisition module receiving turbine data of a wind turbine having a plurality of persistent failure modes, wherein the turbine data comprises installation data, operation data, historical data and environment data;

a damage estimation module communicatively coupled to the data acquisition module and configured to determine a damage values using a damage model based on the installation data, wherein the damage value is representative of severity of a persistent failure mode among the plurality of persistent failure modes;

a damage correction module communicatively coupled to the data acquisition module and configured to;

determine at least one correction value based on the operation data, and the historical data, wherein the correction value is representative of severity of a sporadic failure mode; and

determine a corrected damage value by modifying the damage value based on the correction value based on the at least one correction value;

a damage projection module communicatively coupled to the damage estimation module and configured to;

determine a set point for the wind turbine based on the corrected damage value;

determine a probabilistic operating profile corresponding to the persistent failure mode based on the environment data and the historical data;

determine a first projection value based on the probabilistic profile, wherein the first projection value is representative of severity of the persistent failure mode at a future time;

determine a second projection value based on the correction value and the historical data, wherein the second projection value is representative of severity of the sporadic failure mode at the future time instant; and

estimate a life duration of the wind turbine based on the probabilistic operating profile, the first projection value, and the second projection value;

wherein, at least one of the data acquisition module, the damage estimation module, the damage correction module, and the damage projection module is stored in the memory module and executable by the at least one processor module.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the turbine data comprises supervisory control and data acquisition data, a plurality of pitch angles, a wind speed value, wind shear, and an ambient turbulence intensity.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the damage estimation module is further configured to determine a plurality of damage values corresponding to a plurality of persistent failure modes comprising gear damages, bearing defects, structural damages, and lubrication failure.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the damage correction module is further configured to determine a damage correction value contributed by a persistent failure mode among the plurality of persistent failure modes, wherein the damage correction value is based on the operation data.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the damage correction module is configured to determine the damage correction value based on the site-Weibulls distribution.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the damage correction module is configured to determine the damage correction value by correlating remote monitoring diagnostics data with the historical data.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the damage correction module is further configured to determine a new signature based on the operation data.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the damage correction module is further configured to determine contributions from field loading within recommended conditions and beyond recommended conditions.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions to enable at least one processor module to:

receive turbine data from a wind turbine having a plurality of persistent failure modes, wherein the turbine data comprises installation data, operation data, historical data and environment data;

determine a plurality of damage values using a plurality of damage models based on the installation data, wherein the plurality of damage values are representative of severity of the plurality of persistent failure modes;

determine a plurality of correction values based on the operation data, and the historical data, wherein the plurality of correction values are representative of severity of a plurality of sporadic failure modes;

determine a plurality of corrected damage values by modifying the plurality of damage values based on at least one of the plurality of correction values; and

determine a set point for the wind turbine based on the plurality of corrected damage values;

determine a plurality of probabilistic operating profiles corresponding to the plurality of persistent failure modes based on the environment data;

determine a first plurality of projection values based on the plurality of probabilistic operating profiles, wherein the first plurality of projection values are representative of the severity of the plurality of persistent failure modes at a future time instant;

determine a second plurality of projection values based on the plurality of correction values and the historical data, wherein the second plurality of projection values are representative of the severity of the plurality of sporadic failure modes at the future time instant; and

estimate a life duration of the wind turbine based on the first plurality of projection values and the second plurality of projection values.