Wind turbine arranged for independent operation of its components and related method and computer program

• US 8,805,595 B2
• Filed: 01/17/2008
• Issued: 08/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/17/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Menke, Detlef, Rieken, Stefan
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Ramesh B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lin, Jason
• Application Number:
  US12/015,899
• Publication Number:
  US 20090187282A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,399 Days
• Field of Search: 700/287, 700/286, 290/44
• US Class Current: 700/287
• CPC Class Codes: F03D 7/0224 Adjusting blade pitch
• CPC Class Codes: F03D 7/047 characterised by the controller architecture, e.g. multiple processors or data communications
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2270/107 to cope with emergencies
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2270/1074 by using back-up controls
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2270/304 Spool rotational speed
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2270/327 Rotor or generator speeds
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2270/335 Output power or torque
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2270/404 active, predictive, or anticipative
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/72 Wind turbines with rotation axis in wind direction

Abstract

A wind turbine which is composed of several subunits is provided. Each of the several subunits includes a controller. Each of the controllers is adapted to operate in a cooperative mode and in an isolated mode. In the cooperative mode, one of the controllers operates as a master controller and the remaining controllers operate as slave controllers. In the isolated mode, each subunit is exclusively controlled by its respective controller, wherein each of the controllers acts as an independent master controller for its subunit. Further, a method for operating a wind turbine which includes at least two subunits is provided. Each of the at least two subunits includes at least one sensor, at least one actuator and a controller. The method for operating the wind turbine is carried out independently in each subunit and includes detecting at least one sensor signal; and determining and transferring a command to at least one actuator. Further, a segmented computer program for controlling a wind turbine which includes at least two subunits is provided.

Claims

1. A wind turbine comprising:

several subunits, each of the subunits comprising a controller,

wherein each of said controllers is adapted to operate in a cooperative mode and in an isolated mode,

wherein, in the cooperative mode, one of said controllers operates as a master controller and the remaining of said controllers operate as slave controllers to the master controller,

wherein, in the isolated mode, each subunit is exclusively controlled by the respective controller and there is no direct communication among said controllers, each of said controllers acting as an independent master controller for the respective subunit, and

wherein each of the slave controllers is switchable from the cooperative mode to the isolated mode in response to an unexpected command from the master controller or unexpected data from a sensor of the wind turbine.

2. The wind turbine of claim 1, wherein each of the subunits comprises at least one sensor, each of the controllers being connected to the at least one sensor of the respective subunit, wherein, in said isolated mode, each of the controllers is operable to control the respective subunit exclusively on the basis of sensor data provided by said at least one sensor.

3. The wind turbine of claim 1, wherein at least one of the subunits further comprises at least one slave-controller which is adapted to be supervised by the controller of the subunit.

4. The wind turbine of claim 1, wherein at least one of the subunits further comprises a back-up power supply.

5. The wind turbine of claim 1, wherein at least one of the subunits further comprises a sensor for measuring an electrical condition of an internal grid of the wind turbine.

6. The wind turbine of claim 1, wherein one of said subunits is a hub subunit.

7. The wind turbine of claim 6, wherein said hub subunit comprises a sensor for measuring at least one of a load on a rotor axis and a rotational speed of the rotor axis.

8. The wind turbine of claim 1, wherein one of said subunits is a generator subunit.

9. The wind turbine of claim 1, wherein one of said subunits is a tower subunit, a machine subunit or a converter subunit.

10. The wind turbine of claim 2, wherein one of the subunits is a hub subunit which is controlled exclusively by the respective controller functioning as a master controller in the isolated mode.

11. A method for operating a wind turbine comprising at least two subunits, each of the at least two subunits comprising at least one sensor, at least one actuator and a controller, comprising:

detecting at least one sensor signal;

determining and transferring a command to the at least one actuator;

operating the wind turbine in a cooperative mode comprising operating one of the controllers as a master controller controlling the operation of the wind turbine and operating each of the remaining of the controllers as a slave controller to the master controller;

operating each of the controllers independently during operation of the wind turbine in an isolated mode, wherein in the isolated mode, the detecting and the determining and transferring are carried out independently in each subunit and there is no direct communication among the controllers; and

during operating of the wind turbine in the cooperative mode, after receiving an unexpected command from the master controller or an unexpected signal from a sensor of the wind turbine, causing each slave controller to switch to a master mode and operate in the isolated mode.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the controllers use only information available within the respective subunits to control the subunits.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the controllers receive information only from sensors or slave-controllers of the respective subunits.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the controllers communicate only with sensors, actuators and slave-controllers of the respective subunits.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein at least one subunit further comprises at least one slave-controller which is supervised by the controller of the at least one subunit.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the detecting and the determining and transferring are carried out such that the wind turbine produces a predetermined maximum power at a given wind condition.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the detecting, the determining and transferring are carried out such that the wind turbine is ramped down.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least two subunits comprises a hub subunit which is controlled by an independent master.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the hub subunit is accelerated and decelerated after detecting a decreasing and increasing of rotation speed of a rotor axis, respectively.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a segmented computer program for controlling a wind turbine comprising at least two subunits, the segmented computer program comprising at least two computer program parts for controlling the respective subunits, the at least two computer program parts enabling

detecting of sensor signals;

determination and transfer of commands to actuators;

operation of the wind turbine in a cooperative mode wherein one of the at least two computer program parts operates as a master controller controlling the operation of the wind turbine and each of the remaining of the at least two computer program parts operates as a slave controller to the master controller;

operation of the wind turbine in an isolated mode wherein the at least two computer program parts are operable to control the respective subunits independently of each other and there is no direct communication among the at least two computer program parts; and

during operation of the wind turbine in the cooperative mode, after receiving an unexpected command from the master controller or an unexpected signal from a sensor of the wind turbine, causing each slave controller to switch to a master mode and operate in the isolated mode.