Wind turbine generator

Abstract

A wind turbine generator includes: a tower; a rotor supported by the tower to rotate around a rotational axis which is not parallel with an axis direction of the tower by wind power; a generator driven by a rotational force of the rotor; a sensor to detect vibration component in a direction perpendicular to the rotational axis of the rotor; and a control device to control the rotor so that fluctuation of the rotor is caused to suppress the vibration component.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawing which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not intended as a definition of the limits of the present invention, and wherein;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a wind turbine generator 1 of the first to fourth embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control system of the first and second embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of vibration control of the first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a windmill to explain the principle of vibration control of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of vibration control of the second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a control system of the third embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a vibration control of the third embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a control system of the fourth embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a vibration control of the fourth embodiment of the invention.

Claims

1. A wind turbine generator comprising: a tower;a rotor supported by the tower to rotate around a rotational axis which is not parallel with an axis direction of the tower, by wind power;a generator driven by a rotational force of the rotor;a sensor to detect vibration component in a direction perpendicular to the rotational axis of the rotor; anda control device to control the rotor so that fluctuation of the rotor is caused to suppress the vibration component.

2. The wind turbine generator as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: an analyzer to analyze frequency and phase of the vibration component detected by the sensor;wherein the control device controls the rotor so that the fluctuation of the rotor is caused in opposite phase to the phase analyzed by the analyzer, and at the frequency as analyzed by analyzer, when a signal outputted by the sensor exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

3. The wind turbine generator as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: an analyzer to analyze frequency of the vibration component detected by the sensor;wherein the control device controls the rotor so as to avoid fluctuation of the rotor at the frequency analyzed by the analyzer, when a signal outputted by the sensor exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

4. The wind turbine generator as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: an analyzer to analyze phase of the vibration component detected by the sensor;wherein the control device controls the rotor so that the fluctuation of frequency of the rotor is caused in opposite phase to the phase analyzed by the analyzer, and at a predetermined frequency, when a signal outputted by the sensor exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

5. The wind turbine generator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control device controls the rotor so as to avoid fluctuation of the rotor at a predetermined frequency, when a signal outputted by the sensor exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

6. The wind turbine generator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control device controls the rotor by controlling either one or both of the generator and the pitch angle of a blade which composes the rotor.

7. The wind turbine generator as claimed in claim 2, wherein the control device controls the rotor by controlling either one or both of the generator and the pitch angle of a blade which composes the rotor.

8. The wind turbine generator as claimed in claim 3, wherein the control device controls the rotor by controlling either one or both of the generator and the pitch angle of a blade which composes the rotor.

9. The wind turbine generator as claimed in claim 4, wherein the control device controls the rotor by controlling either one or both of the generator and the pitch angle of a blade which composes the rotor.

10. The wind turbine generator as claimed in claim 5, wherein the control device controls the rotor by controlling either one or both of the generator and the pitch angle of a blade which composes the rotor.