Patent Application
20230340941
The present invention relates to a method for making a nacelle and a nacelle for a wind turbine.
The size of wind turbines increases in terms of nominal power output as well as in terms of physical dimensions of the individual parts of the wind turbine. Therefore, the size of the nacelle and tower increases, and the assembly operation becomes more complicated and requires extensive use of cranes.
It is an object of embodiments of the disclosure to facilitate assembly operation in wind turbine manufacturing and potentially to increase safety and working conditions, particularly during assembly.
For these and other purposes, embodiments of the disclosure, in a first aspect, provide a method for making a nacelle for attachment to a wind turbine tower, the method comprising:
The use of the crane before the nacelle is attached to the wind turbine tower may e.g. be during assembly of the nacelle, e.g. at an assembly facility such as a factory away from the site where the wind turbine tower is erected.
Manufacturing sites for nacelles are normally large, dedicated buildings with lifting capacity provided by gantry cranes and similar fixtures of the building. This limits the ability to make nacelles locally, i.e. near the site of the wind turbine tower. Typically, the nacelles are made in serial production and shipped relatively long distances to the point where it is attached to the tower. Attaching a crane to the main frame of the nacelle already before the nacelle is attached to the tower, enables a completely new way of making nacelles, and particularly allows the use of smaller and less dedicated production facilities for nacelle production, e.g. buildings near the site of the tower, and e.g. buildings with no crane facility.
A secondary mounting structure for mounting a secondary crane may be provided on the main frame, and a secondary crane may be mounted to the secondary mounting structure, and the crane and the secondary crane may be used in combination for assembly operation before the nacelle is attached to the wind turbine tower. The two cranes may e.g. be used in combination for heavy or complicated lifting operation, e.g. for lifting parts of the drive train.
In nacelle manufacturing, the main frame and the mounting structure may be produced firstly, and a crane be mounted on the mounting structure. The mounting structure may form an integrated part of the main frame. As an example, the main frame could be a casted component, and the mounting structure could be a surface, e.g. a machined flange of the casted component, or any similar structural part of the main frame which supports mounting of the crane.
Subsequently, that crane may be used for subsequent assembly procedures, e.g. for mounting side panels to form the outer casing of the nacelle, for lifting components onto the main frame, e.g. for mounting the drive train or parts thereof, or for other assembly procedures related to nacelle manufacturing.
In one embodiment, the outer casing of the nacelle or at least parts of the outer casing of the nacelle is mounted to the main frame before the crane is mounted on the mounting structure, and the crane is used for assembling inter alia internal components, e.g. components of the drive train. In another embodiment, the outer casing of the nacelle or at least parts of the outer casing of the nacelle is mounted to the main frame after the crane has been mounted on the mounting structure, and the crane is used for assembling inter alia such casing components and/or internal components, e.g. components of the drive train.
Before use of the crane or secondary crane for assembly operation, the main frame may be fixed to a fixture of the manufacturing site, e.g. to the floor of the assembly facility. This allows more complicated lifting operation and transfer of torque to the floor or similar fixture.
For this purpose, the main frame may include a predefined fixation structure arranged to provide a pre-defined load path from the assembly facility, through the main frame, to the mounting structure and thus to the crane. This allows use of the crane prior to the attachment of the nacelle to the wind turbine tower and allows the forces to be transferred from the crane to the assembly facility in a pre-defined manner—e.g. directly into the floor of the assembly facility.
The crane or the secondary crane may be used for assembly operation on another nacelle than the one to which the crane or secondary crane is mounted. In an assembly facility where several nacelles are made simultaneously and lined up, e.g. side-by-side, the cranes could be used for assembly work on an adjacent nacelle.
In one embodiment, two cranes are used in combination for assembly operation before the nacelle is attached to the wind turbine tower, one of the two cranes are attached to the main frame of a first nacelle, and the other of the two cranes are attached to the main frame of a second nacelle. The assembly operation may be related to the first or second nacelle or to a third nacelle, i.e. a nacelle not connected to any of the two cranes.
Alternatively, or additionally, the crane or the secondary crane may be used for assembly operation on the nacelle to which the crane or secondary crane is mounted.
At least one of the mounting structure and secondary mounting structure may be used for carrying a crane which is used for further assembly or maintenance operation after the nacelle is attached to the wind turbine tower. This may e.g. be for lifting components or spare parts from the foot of the tower to the tower top, for mounting blades, or for other tasks related to assembly or maintenance operation.
Particularly, the mounting structure may facilitate releasable attachment of a crane to the main frame so that the crane or cranes can be detached after use and reused on another wind turbine or such that the crane can be detached from the main frame before the nacelle is transported to the site of the wind turbine tower, e.g. for re-attachment to the main frame once the nacelle arrives at the site, either before or after the nacelle is attached to the wind turbine tower.
Accordingly, the crane(s) used during manufacturing at an assembly facility away from the site of the tower may be detached and re-used at the side of the assembly facility for assembly of other nacelles. In another embodiment, the crane or cranes used during manufacturing at an assembly facility away from the site of the tower may be detached and shipped to the site of the wind turbine tower where they are re-attached to the nacelle and used for further assembly or maintenance operation before or after the nacelle is attached to the tower. In another embodiment, the crane or cranes used during manufacturing at an assembly facility away from the site of the tower may stay on the mounting structure and shipped together with the nacelle to which it is attached, to the site of the wind turbine tower where they are used for further assembly or maintenance operation before or after the nacelle is attached to the tower.
At least one of the crane and the secondary crane may be used for further assembly operation after the nacelle is attached to the wind turbine tower.
In a second aspect, the disclosure provides a nacelle for mounting on a wind turbine tower and housing components of a wind turbine drive train, the nacelle comprising a main frame configured to form a load path from the drive train to a wind turbine tower to which the nacelle can be attached, the nacelle further comprising a crane mounted on a mounting structure on the main frame.
The nacelle according to second aspect is for mounting on a wind turbine tower meaning that it is not yet mounted on the tower. In this, unmounted, state of the nacelle, the crane is mounted on the mounting structure on the main frame. This allows use of the crane e.g. away from the tower during manufacturing of the nacelle or other nacelles in an assembly facility.
The nacelle thereby becomes self-assembling in the sense that the crane mounted on the nacelle while the nacelle is not yet mounted on the wind turbine tower, can be used for assembling the nacelle itself.
The crane may be detachably mounted to allow re-use on the same or different nacelles during manufacturing or maintenance.
The nacelle may be fixed to a fixture of a manufacturing site configured for manufacturing of nacelles and in the fixed state the crane or cranes can be used for lifting operation while the torque is transferred to the fixture. The fixture may particularly connect the nacelle to a floor or wall of the manufacturing site.
When the cranes are used away from the tower, the crane may powered by a power supply of a manufacturing site configured for manufacturing of nacelles, and when the cranes are used at the tower, e.g. after the nacelle is attached to the tower, the crane or cranes may be powered by an internal power supply of the wind turbine, e.g. powered by power produced by the wind turbine.
Accordingly, the crane may comprise a power connector for releasable connection to a power supply of a manufacturing site configured for manufacturing of nacelles. The power connector and power supply may be configured for hydraulic and/or electric power.
In one embodiment, the power supply for the crane is an internal component of the nacelle. Also in this embodiment, the power supply may be releasably connectable to the crane such that it can be used both during manufacturing of the nacelle in an assembly facility and later at the site of the wind turbine tower with detachment and reattachment of the crane between the two locations.
In a third aspect, the disclosure provides a wind turbine comprising a nacelle according to the second aspect. The wind turbine may comprise a power supply connectable to the power connector of the crane. This will allow easy, safe, and fast reconfiguration from a crane being operable in a manufacturing site away from the tower to a crane being operable on the top of the tower, e.g. for final assembly of the wind turbine or for maintenance after the wind turbine has been commissioned.
In a fourth aspect, the disclosure provides a combination comprising said nacelle and a manufacturing facility configured for manufacturing of nacelles. The manufacturing facility comprises a fixture arranged to be operable with the main frame for creating a predefined load path from the crane to the assembly site. This increases safety in operation and enables use of the crane while attached on the nacelle for manufacturing of nacelles in the manufacturing facility.
In the following, embodiments of the disclosure will be described in further details with reference to the drawing in which:
The detailed description and specific examples, while indicating embodiments, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of this disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
The main frame may particularly be a heavy steel component, e.g. a casted steel component or a component made of welded steel elements. The mounting structure may particularly comprise steel bars joined by traditional methods such as by welding, or the mounting structure may, as mentioned above, be formed by a surface of a casted component.
The mounting structure forms a platform for attachment of a crane. The crane may be bolted onto the mounting structure thereby forming releasable joining of the crane and nacelle. This allows replacement of the crane, e.g. for reuse of the crane at the manufacturing site and attachment of a new crane on the site of the tower.
In the illustrated embodiment, the main frame comprises two mounting structures for a crane on opposite sides of a vertical plane through the rotor axis illustrated by the dotted line 25. Other embodiments may include one single mounting structure or more than one mounting structure.
In
In the illustrated embodiment, the clamps 32 can slide along the floor rails and thereby provide fixation of the main frame at many different locations in the assembly facility. In a simpler embodiment, the main frame is simply bolted into a concrete floor of the assembly facility.
The main frame is fitted with a crane control module 33, 34 for each mounting structure. The crane control module may include computer control means for controlling crane operation and optionally with power supply for powering the crane. Since the crane control module forms part of the main frame, it can be used with the crane during the assembly procedure in the assembly facility and subsequently be used with the crane when the nacelle arrives at the site of the tower. The crane control module is attached to the crane be a detachable cable interface to allow detachment and reattachment of the crane to the main frame.
The cranes 41, 42 could be attached to the mounting structures during manufacturing and be moved to the site of the tower and to the tower top in an assembled state with the nacelle. Alternatively, the cranes may be used only during manufacturing and be detached from the nacelle before it is shipped to the site of the tower. In this case other cranes can be attached to the mounting structures at the site of the tower either before or after the nacelle is attached to the tower top. The illustrated cranes are hydraulically actuated cranes with a main crane bar 43 being raised or lowered by a hydraulic cylinder 44, but any crane structure may be applied. The crane(s) may alternatively be electrically actuated or partly electrical and partly hydraulically actuated.
For easy handling of the crane, the crane may include an optional crane foundation 45 shown with dotted lines. The crane foundation may include, or supplement said crane control module and may include power supply means, spare parts, tools, and/or other elements useful for operation of the crane. By placing such element in the crane foundation, the crane can, selectively, be replaced with or without the foundation thereby providing the option of replacing the crane with or without replacing all the elements used during crane operation.
The ensures compliance between the crane and the control components for the crane.
In
The crane can comprise any known form of crane including any kind of support column or crane arm, and with or without articulation ability for the arm. The crane may include a jib, e.g. attached to the crane in a manner known from tower cranes, and the crane arm may be expandable, e.g. in a telescopic way. The cranes are used for lifting the hub with the blades in a lifting operation combining the lifting of the cranes. In the illustrated embodiment, the operation is carried out after the nacelle is attached to the tower top.
In the embodiment of
The separate crane housing may include said crane control module.
In the illustration in
When the crane is used at the manufacturing site and subsequently at the tower site, the auxiliary unit may be used for transporting the crane from the manufacturing site to the tower site, and at the tower site, the auxiliary unit with the crane may be joined to the main unit and thereby form the nacelle.
In all drawings, the disclosure relates to a traditional wind turbine of the kind normally referred to as “horizontal axis wind turbine”. The disclosure, however, equally relates to Multiple rotor wind turbines where several nacelles are mounted to the same tower, e.g. via load carrying structures extending outwards from the tower.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PA 2020 70295 | May 2020 | DK | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/DK2021/050142 | 5/5/2021 | WO |
