Patent Application
20130177433
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to wind turbine rotor blades and, more specifically, to wind turbine rotor blades retrofitted to have components comprising multiple materials.
Wind power can be considered one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly energy sources presently available, and wind turbines have gained increased attention in this regard. A wind turbine can include a tower, generator, gearbox, nacelle, and one or more rotor blades comprising a composite material. The rotor blades capture kinetic energy from wind using known foil principles and transmit the kinetic energy through rotational energy to turn a shaft coupling the rotor blades to a gearbox, or if a gearbox is not used, directly to the generator. The generator then converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy that may be deployed to a utility grid.
The rotor blades of wind turbines are thus manufactured to maintain a secure connection while maintaining their structural integrity during rotation. The various components may be selected from a variety of materials to provide the requisite strength, stiffness and other necessary characteristics. However, the materials that are capable of providing the requisite structural characteristics around the root of the wind turbine rotor blade may also weigh down or otherwise impede the performance around the tip.
Accordingly, alternative wind turbine rotor blades and methods for making the same would be welcome in the art.
In one embodiment a multi-material retrofitted wind turbine rotor blade is provided. The multi-material retrofitted wind turbine rotor blade includes a shell having a leading edge opposite a trailing edge and a structural support member that supports the shell and is disposed internal the wind turbine rotor blade between the leading edge and the trailing edge and extends for at least a portion of a rotor blade span length. The structural support member includes an original structural support portion including a first material and a retrofitted structural support portion extending from the original structural support portion at a joint and including a second material.
In one embodiment a multi-material retrofitted wind turbine rotor blade is provided. The multi-material retrofitted wind turbine rotor blade includes a shell having a leading edge opposite a trailing edge, and including an original shell portion comprising a first material and a retrofitted shell portion extending from the original shell portion at a joint and comprising a second material. The multi-material retrofitted wind turbine rotor blade further includes a structural support member that supports the shell and is disposed internal the wind turbine rotor blade between the leading edge and the trailing edge and extends for at least a portion of a rotor blade span length.
In yet another embodiment, a method for retrofitting a wind turbine rotor blade is provided. The method includes providing the wind turbine rotor blade that includes a shell having a leading edge opposite a trailing edge, and a structural support member that supports the shell and is disposed internal the wind turbine rotor blade between the leading edge and the trailing edge and extends for at least a portion of a rotor blade span length. The method further includes removing an original outer section from an original portion of the wind turbine rotor blade, wherein the original portion includes a first material, and, attaching a retrofitted portion to the original portion of the wind turbine rotor blade in place of the original outer section, wherein the retrofitted portion includes a second material.
These and additional features provided by the embodiments discussed herein will be more fully understood in view of the following detailed description, in conjunction with the drawings.
The embodiments set forth in the drawings are illustrative and exemplary in nature and not intended to limit the inventions defined by the claims. The following detailed description of the illustrative embodiments can be understood when read in conjunction with the following drawings, where like structure is indicated with like reference numerals and in which:
One or more specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, all features of an actual implementation may not be described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.
When introducing elements of various embodiments of the present invention, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements.
Multi-material retrofitted wind turbine rotor blades and methods for making the same are disclosed herein. The multi-material retrofitted wind turbine rotor blades can generally comprise an original portion and a retrofitted portion wherein the retrofitted portion replaces an original outer extension of the original portion. The original portion and the retrofitted portion comprise two different materials so that the original portion can still provide the necessary structural support characteristics required for operation while the retrofitted portion can provide additional benefits unique and not provided by the material of the original portion. Such retrofitting may thereby be used to enhance existing wind turbine rotor blades in a variety of settings. This, in turn, can lead to the more efficient utilization and conservation of energy resources such as by promoting the more efficient production and application of key components of wind turbines to materially enhance the quality of the environment by contributing to the restoration and/or maintenance of the basic life-sustaining natural elements.
Referring now to
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The multi-material retrofitted wind turbine rotor blade 16 may define any suitable aerodynamic profile. Thus, in some embodiments, the multi-material retrofitted wind turbine rotor blade 16 may define an airfoil shaped cross-section. For example, the multi-material retrofitted wind turbine rotor blade 16 may also be aeroelastically tailored. Aeroelastic tailoring of the multi-material retrofitted wind turbine rotor blade 16 may entail bending the multi-material retrofitted wind turbine rotor blade 16 in generally a chordwise direction x and/or in a generally spanwise direction z. As illustrated, the chordwise direction x generally corresponds to a direction parallel to the chord 34 defined between the leading edge 28 and the trailing edge 30 of the multi-material retrofitted wind turbine rotor blade 16. Additionally, the spanwise direction z generally corresponds to a direction parallel to the rotor blade span length 32 of the multi-material retrofitted wind turbine rotor blade 16. In some embodiments, aeroelastic tailoring of the multi-material retrofitted wind turbine rotor blade 16 may additionally or alternatively comprise twisting the rotor blade 16, such as by twisting the rotor blade 16 about an axis parallel to the z span direction.
Referring now to
In even some embodiments, the shell 40 can comprise a plurality of layers (e.g., a plurality of fiberglass layers) that are connected to one another through adhesives (e.g., glues, tapes, etc.), mechanical fasteners (e.g., screws, bolts, etc.) or the like. In some embodiments, the shell 40 can comprise a plurality of layers held together by an adhesive. While specific embodiments of multi-material retrofitted wind turbine rotor blades 16 have been disclosed herein, it should be appreciated that these embodiments are not intended to be limiting and alternative wind turbine rotor blades 16 (e.g., using additional and/or alternative materials, designs or the like) should also be appreciated.
Referring to
For example, as illustrated in
Referring still to
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For example, in one exemplary embodiment, the original structural support portion 55 (and the removed original structural support outer section) can comprise fiberglass providing a heavier but more flexible portion towards the root 20. Conversely, the retrofitted structural support portion 56 can comprise carbon fiber to provide a lighter but stiffer portion towards the tip 22.
Referring to
For example, in one exemplary embodiment, the original shell portion 45 (and the removed original shell outer section) can comprise fiberglass providing a heavier but more flexible portion towards the root 20. Conversely, the retrofitted shell portion 46 can comprise carbon fiber to provide a lighter but stiffer portion towards the tip 22. Such embodiments may be realized when the skin 41 comprises the original shell portion 45 and the retrofitted shell portion 46. In another exemplary embodiment, the original shell portion 45 (and the removed original shell outer section) can comprise foam. Conversely, the retrofitted shell portion 46 can comprise balsa wood to provide a lighter but stiffer portion towards the tip 22. Such embodiments may be realized when the outer panel 42 (supporting the skin 41) comprises the original shell portion 45 and the retrofitted shell portion 46.
As discussed above, the retrofitted portion 66 extends from the original portion 65 at the joint 70. The joint 70 can be disposed at any position along the rotor blade span length 32 to provide any relative lengths of the original portion 65 and the retrofitted portion 66. For example, in some embodiments the original portion 65 may comprise up to and including about 98% of the rotor blade span length 32 (such that the retrofitted portion 66 comprises the final 2% of the rotor blade span length 32 approaching the tip 22). In some embodiments, the original portion 65 may comprise up to and including about 50% of the rotor blade span length 32. In even some embodiments, the original portion 65 may comprise up to and including only about 25% of the rotor blade span length 32. While specific positions of the joint 70 have been disclosed herein, it should be appreciated that these are exemplary only and any other position may also be realized.
Referring now to
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Once the wind turbine rotor blade is provided in step 110, an original outer section is removed in step 120. Referring also to
After the original outer section is removed in step 120, a retrofitted portion is attached in step 130. Referring also to
It should now be appreciated that wind turbine rotor blades may be retrofitted to incorporate a new, second material proximate the tip that is different than a first material proximate its root. By maintaining the existing first material proximate the wind turbine rotor blade's root, the wind turbine rotor blade can maintain the structural properties necessary for operation. However, by removing an original outer section and replacing it with a retrofitted portion comprising a second material, the second material can possess additional properties that can be incorporated into the wind turbine rotor blade to further enhance its performance. A variety of different components and combinations of materials may thus be realized to produce the multi-material retrofitted wind turbine rotor blade.
While the disclosure has been described in detail in connection with certain specific embodiments, it should be readily understood that the invention is not limited to such disclosed embodiments. Rather, the invention can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, while various embodiments of the invention have been described, it is to be understood that aspects of the invention may include only some of the described embodiments. Accordingly, the invention is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
