Methods and systems for generating wind turbine control schedules

• US 10,871,146 B2
• Filed: 06/29/2016
• Issued: 12/22/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vestas Wind Systems A/S
• Original Assignee: Vestas Wind Systems A/S
• Inventors: Spruce, Chris, Hales, Kelvin, Turner, Judith
• Primary Examiner(s): Yanchus, III, Paul B
• Application Number:
  US15/738,183
• Publication Number:
  US 20180180025A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,637 Days
• Field of Search: None
• 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 7/0292 to reduce fatigue
• CPC Class Codes: F03D 7/046 with learning or adaptive control, e.g. self-tuning, fuzzy logic or neural network
• CPC Class Codes: F03D 7/048 controlling wind farms
• CPC Class Codes: F03D 80/50 Maintenance or repair
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2270/20 to optimise the performance of a machine
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2270/332 Maximum loads or fatigue criteria
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2270/335 Output power or torque
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 13/024 in which a parameter or coefficient is automatically adjusted to optimise the performance
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/72 Wind turbines with rotation axis in wind direction

Abstract

A method of generating a control schedule for a wind turbine is provided, the control schedule indicating how the turbine maximum power level varies over time, the method comprising: receiving input indicative of the maximum number of times that each of one or more turbine components are to be replaced over the remaining lifetime of the turbine; determining a value indicative of the current remaining fatigue lifetime of the turbine, or one or more of the turbine components, based on measured wind turbine site and/or operating data; and varying a parameter of an initial predefined control schedule that specifies how the turbine maximum power level varies over time. The varying is performed by: (i) adjusting the parameter of the initial predefined control schedule; (ii) estimating the future fatigue lifetime consumed by the wind turbine, or one or more turbine components, over the duration of the varied control schedule, based upon the varied control schedule and accounting for the replacements of the one or more turbine components; and (iii) repeating steps (i) and (ii) until the estimated future fatigue lifetime consumed by the wind turbine or each of the one or more turbine components is sufficient to allow a target minimum wind turbine life to be reached.

Claims

1. A method of generating a control schedule for a wind turbine, the method comprising:

receiving an input indicative of a maximum number of times that each of one or more components of the wind turbine are to be replaced over a remaining lifetime of the wind turbine;

determining, based on one or both of site data and operating data of the wind turbine, a value indicative of a current remaining fatigue lifetime of the wind turbine or of one or more of the components; and

generating a control schedule for the wind turbine that specifies how a maximum power level of the wind turbine varies over time, wherein generating the control schedule comprises;

i) adjusting a parameter of a current iteration of the control schedule to generate a varied control schedule;

ii) estimating a future fatigue lifetime consumed by the wind turbine, or of the one or more components, over a duration of the varied control schedule, based upon the varied control schedule and accounting for replacements of the one or more components; and

iii) repeating (i) and (ii) until the estimated future fatigue lifetime is sufficient to reach a target minimum wind turbine life of the wind turbine.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein (iii) further comprises maximizing energy capture over a lifetime of the wind turbine.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the control schedule indicates an amount of power by which the wind turbine may be over-rated above a rated power.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein (i) further comprises adjusting, for each component of one or more of the components, a number of times that the component may be replaced over the remaining lifetime of the wind turbine.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein (i) further comprises adjusting, for each component of one or more of the components, when the component may be replaced during the remaining lifetime of the wind turbine.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the target minimum wind turbine life is a predetermined target value corresponding to a design lifetime of the wind turbine.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising receiving an input indicative of a user-defined value of the target minimum wind turbine life.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein an initial iteration of the control schedule specifies a relative variation of the maximum power level over time.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the value indicative of the current remaining fatigue lifetime comprises applying sensor data from one or more sensors of the wind turbine to one or more lifetime usage estimation algorithms.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the value indicative of the current remaining fatigue lifetime comprises using data from a condition monitoring system.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the value indicative of the current remaining fatigue lifetime comprises using sensor data obtained from sensors of a wind power plant in combination with a site check program that determines loads acting on the one or more components based upon the sensor data sensors and parameters relating to the wind power plant and to the design of the wind turbine.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the sensor data includes sensor data collected prior to one or both of commissioning and construction of the wind turbine or the wind power plant.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein adjusting the parameter comprises applying an offset to the control schedule.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein adjusting the parameter comprises applying an amplification, a de-amplification, or a gain factor to the current iteration of the control schedule.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the parameter is adjusted until all, or substantially all, of a fatigue life of a most-heavily loaded component is consumed over the duration of the schedule.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the parameter is adjusted by equalizing areas of a curve above and below a line showing fatigue damage incurred for the wind turbine operating with a maximum power level set at a site-specific capability for a desired lifetime.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein an initial iteration of the control schedule specifies a gradient of a variation of the maximum power level over time.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein adjusting the parameter comprises adjusting the gradient.

19. The method according to claim 1, wherein the control schedule is indicative of an amount of fatigue damage that should be incurred over time, the method further comprising operating the wind turbine, based on one or more lifetime usage estimation algorithms, to incur fatigue damage at a rate indicated by the control schedule.

20. The method according to claim 1, further comprising providing the control schedule to a wind turbine controller to control the power output of the wind turbine.

21. The method according to claim 1, wherein the one or more components include one or more of:

blades, pitch bearing, pitch actuation system, hub, main shaft, main bearing, gearbox, generator, converter, yaw drive, yaw bearing, or transformer.

22. A controller comprising:

a memory;

a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and configured to perform an operation, comprising;

receiving an input indicative of a maximum number of times that each of one or more components of a wind turbine are to be replaced over a remaining lifetime of the wind turbine;

determining, based on one or more both of site data and operating data of the wind turbine, a value indicative of a current remaining fatigue lifetime of the wind turbine or of one or more of the components; and

generating a control schedule for the wind turbine that specifies how a maximum power level of the wind turbine varies over time, wherein generating the control schedule comprises;

i) adjusting a parameter of a current iteration of the control schedule to generate a varied control schedule;

ii) estimating a future fatigue lifetime consumed by the wind turbine, or of the one or more components, over a duration of the varied control schedule, based upon the varied control schedule and accounting for replacements of the one or more components; and

iii) repeating (i) and (ii) until the estimated future fatigue lifetime is sufficient to reach a target minimum wind turbine life of the wind turbine.

23. A method of generating a control schedule for a wind power plant comprising two or more wind turbines, the method comprising:

receiving an input indicative of a maximum number of times that each of one or more components, for each wind turbine of the two or more wind turbines, are to be replaced over a remaining lifetime of the wind turbine;

determining, based on one or both of site data and operating data of each wind turbine of the two or more wind turbines, a value indicative of a current remaining fatigue lifetime of the wind turbine or of one or more components of the wind turbine; and

generating a control schedule for the two or more wind turbines that specifies how a maximum power level of each wind turbine of the two or more wind turbines varies over time, wherein generating the control schedule comprises;

i) adjusting a parameter of a current iteration of the control schedule to generate a varied control schedule;

ii) estimating a future fatigue lifetime consumed by the two or more wind turbines, or of the one or more components, over a duration of the varied control schedule, based upon the varied control schedule and accounting for replacement of the one or more components using a site check program that determines loads acting on the one or more components based upon sensor data obtained from sensors of the wind power plant and parameters relating to the wind power plant and to the design of the wind turbine, and includes interactions between the two or more wind turbine; and

iii) repeating (i) and (ii) until the estimated future fatigue lifetime is sufficient to reach a target minimum wind turbine life of the two or more wind turbines.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the sensor data includes sensor data collected prior to one or both of commissioning and construction of the wind turbine or of the wind power plant.

25. The method according to claim 23, wherein (iii) is further constrained such that for any given time period within the control schedule, a sum of a power of the two or more wind turbines does not exceed an amount of power that can be carried in a connection from the wind power plant to a grid.