Patent Application
20120057978
The present invention relates to the field of wind turbines. More specifically, the invention relates to a wind turbine with a low electromagnetic radiation.
Wind turbines are normally equipped with lightning arrester arrangements serving to conduct an electric discharge from a lightning striking the wind turbine to electrical ground without any permanent damage. Typically lightning receptors are positioned on the blades to catch a lightning, and via a down conductor system the lightning receptors are connected to electrical ground, e.g. in the form of an earth rod at the base of the wind turbine tower. Such lightning arrester arrangements can ensure efficient lightning protection of the wind turbine.
In typical wind turbines the blades are rotatably mounted to the hub, the hub is rotatably mounted in relation to the nacelle, and finally the nacelle is rotatably mounted to the tower. Thus, the down conductor arrangement includes a number of sliding contacts, either in the form of brushes or trolley shoe/rail arrangements, to ensure electric connection across these rotatable mountings. Correctly dimensioned, such sliding contacts function reliably in conducting the rather high currents when lightning strikes.
However, sliding contacts do not necessarily provide a completely continuous electric connection, but rather the connection typically suffers from very short abruptions. This means that electric charges due to static electricity caused by the passage of the blades by the tower are not effectively grounded. Thus, in short periods with poor or no electric connection in the sliding contact, static electric charges can build up and due to the very high voltages, sparks can be created in the down conductor. Such sparks result in short high voltage pulses being transmitted in the down conductor meaning that wide band electromagnetic radiation (EM) energy is radiated from the down conductor. With the large dimension of the down conductor, especially the electrical conductor parts in the blades, the wind turbine can act as a large antenna, and under certain conditions a substantial amount of high frequency EM energy can be radiated from the wind turbine. Especially the frequency range 1-100 MHz is problematic with respect to such EM noise, since this range also serves for numerous wireless communication channels, and thus noise in this range can cause severe disturbance.
Thus, according to the above description, one object of the present invention is to provide a wind turbine with reduced EM radiation.
The invention provides a wind turbine including
one or more rotor blades arranged for rotation in relation to a nacelle,
a tower arranged for carrying the nacelle, and
a lightning arrester system including
By ‘EM radiation reduction (EMRR) device’ is understood a device arranged to magnetically absorb or choke EM radiation due to electrical pulses in the down conductor.
A wind turbine according to the invention solves the problem of EM radiation from the lighting arrester down conductor due to static electric charges causing the sliding contact arrangement to create sparks. The EMRR device serves to reduce transmission of the spark on the down conductor and thereby reduces EM radiated from the down conductor of the wind turbine.
In addition to EM radiation caused by sparks due to static electric charges, the EMRR device has a further EM radiation reducing effect. The presence of the EMRR device serves to destroy the ability of the down conductor to act as a Radio Frequency (RF) receiving antenna because the EMRR device will change the impedance of the down conductor. Thus, EM radiation from the down conductor due to RF signals being received from external transmitters will also be reduced by the EMRR device.
The solution is advantageous since it is rather easy to install EMRR devices on electrical conductor parts of the down conductor, e.g. in the form of common mode choke coils or solid body type chokes on electrical conductor parts of the down conductor. In wind turbines with a down conductor including two or three sliding contact arrangements, EMRR devices may be installed in connection with one, two or three of the sliding contact arrangements successively to reduce EM radiation to a desired level, e.g. a level set by standards. EMRR devices fitting the size of typical electrical conductor parts of the down conductor are standard components, and thus altogether it is possible to reduce EM radiation from existing wind turbines at a low cost and within a limited shut down period.
Since the EMRR devices are not in electrical connection with the down conductor, they do not affect the ability of the down conductor in conducting high electrical currents during strike of lightning.
In the following, preferred embodiments will be described.
In preferred embodiments, the wind turbine includes a plurality of separate EMRR devices encircling different portions of the down conductor. The effective EM reduction effect is determined partly by the portion of the down conductor encircled by EMRR devices. However, the most effective use of EMRR devices to reduce transmission of electric impulses on the down conductor is to arrange EMRR devices on an end part of an electrical conductor part of the down conductor facing the first sliding contact arrangement. Hereby the electric impulses are blocked close to their origin, namely at the sliding contact arrangement. Thus, it is preferred to have at least one EMRR device arranged on an electrical conductor part of the down conductor as close to the sliding contact arrangement as possible.
The EMRR device may include a monolithic body of EMRR material, wherein an opening in the monolithic body is arranged to receive a portion of down conductor. Especially, the monolithic body may have a cylindrical shape and comprises a through-going hole.
The EMRR device may alternatively or additionally include a coil with a plurality of windings arranged for encircling a portion of the down conductor. Such coil may include a plurality of windings arranged as layers around the portion of the down conductor. Further, a combination of solid body devices or coils may be used to increase the EMRR effect over a desired frequency range, utilizing the different properties of solid body devices and coils.
As an alternative, the EMRR device may include an assembly of two separate bodies of EMRR material, the two bodies being shaped for encircling the portion of the down conductor when assembled. These embodiments are advantageous, e.g. in the form of snap-on devices, since such devices can be mounted encircling an electrical conductor part of the down conductor without dismantling the electrical conductor part. Thus, such EMRR devices are easily mounted as add-on solutions.
The EMRR devices may be formed by a crystalline material, such as a nano-crystalline material. Nano-crystalline materials are known to be efficient for forming common mode choke bodies or coils high frequencies and thus also covering the critical frequency range 1-100 MHz. However, other materials can be used to form the bodies/coils, such as known in the art. Examples of such materials are ferrous materials.
In embodiments including a plurality of separate EMRR devices, at least two different types of EMRR devices with different EMRR properties may be used, e.g. a combination of coils and solid bodies mounted close to each other. Hereby it is possible e.g. to combine the different EMRR properties to obtain a large EM radiation attenuation covering a desired frequency range, since some type of EMRR devices are most effective in a rather narrow frequency range.
In preferred embodiments, the down conductor includes a first electrical conductor part arranged in a rotor blade, the first electrical conductor part interconnecting the one or more lightning receptors and the first sliding contact arrangement for electrically connecting the first electrical conductor part to a second electrical conductor part, and wherein a first EM reduction device encircles a portion of the first electrical conductor part, preferably an end portion of the first electrical conductor part facing the first sliding contact arrangement. The first sliding contact may serve to provide a rotatable electrical interconnection between the blade and hub/spinner. Typically, the largest part of EM radiated from the down conductor in a wind turbine is radiated from the down conductor parts in the blades, and therefore it is of high priority to install an EM reduction device to reduce EM radiation from electrical conductor parts in the blades. Thus, preferably an EM reduction device is installed on down conductor parts in all blades of the wind turbine. A second EMRR device may be mounted on the second electrical conductor part, preferably at an end portion of the second electrical conductor part facing the first sliding contact arrangement.
Some embodiments include a second sliding contact arrangement interconnecting the second electrical conductor part and a third electrical conductor part of the down conductor, wherein an EMRR device is mounted on the third electrical conductor part, preferably at an end portion of the third electrical conductor part facing the second sliding contact arrangement. The second sliding contact arrangement can serve to provide a rotatable electrical interconnection between the hub/spinner and the nacelle.
Some embodiments include a third sliding contact arrangement interconnecting the third electrical conductor part and a fourth electrical conductor part of the down conductor, wherein an EMRR device is mounted on the fourth electrical conductor part, preferably at an end portion of the fourth electrical conductor part facing the third sliding contact arrangement. The second sliding contact arrangement can serve to provide a rotatable electrical Interconnection between the nacelle and the tower.
For optimum EM reduction, at least one EMRR device is mounted on electrical conductor parts facing all sliding contact arrangements in the down conductor.
The first sliding contact arrangement may include two sliding contacts interconnected by an intermediate electrical conductor part, and wherein an EMRR device encircles the intermediate electrical conductor part. More specifically, the two sliding contacts may each include a rail and a trolley shoe forced into contact with each other by a spring member, so as to provide electrical contact between the rail and the trolley shoe. In these embodiments, an electrical conductor part of the sliding contact arrangement is utilized to introduce further EM radiation reduction which is rather effective, since it is positioned very close to the actual contact part where sparks are generated. Further, the intermediate electrical conductor part may be easy to dismantle and thus easy to provide with solid body and coil type EMRR devices. Especially, for add-on on an existing wind turbine, such intermediate electrical conductor part may be easily replaced by another and longer intermediate electrical conductor part, thus enabling the intermediate electrical conductor part to be looped once or more times around and passing through respective through-going holes in EMRR devices, such as solid body and/or coil types, thereby obtaining an increased EM reduction effect compared to the EMRR device merely encircling the intermediate electrical conductor part once.
In general, to increase the EM reduction effect, the down conductor may be looped a plurality of times around EMRR device, the down conductor passing around a portion of and through a through-going hole in the MRR device, such that the EMRR encircles a plurality of portions of the down conductor. Hereby a larger portion of the conductor is encircled by the EMRR device, and thus a better utilization of the EMRR is obtained, that would otherwise require mounting of several EMRR devices of the same type. Especially, the down conductor may be looped a plurality of times around a plurality of electromagnetic radiation reduction devices, the down conductor passing around a portion of and through respective through-going holes in said plurality of electromagnetic radiation reduction devices. Even more specifically, such plurality of EMRR devices may include at least two EMRR devices with different EM reduction properties.
It is appreciated that the above-mentioned embodiments may each be combined with each other.
In a second aspect, the invention provides a lightning arrester system including
one or more lightning receptors arranged for mounting on a rotor blade of a wind turbine,
a down conductor arranged for electrically connecting the one or more lightning receptors to electrical ground, the down conductor including a first sliding contact arrangement, and
an electromagnetic radiation reduction device encircling a portion of the down conductor so as to reduce electromagnetic radiation from the down conductor.
In one embodiment of such system, the EMRR device is arranged for mounting on a part of a down conductor arranged inside the rotor blade of a wind turbine. Hereby it is possible to especially attenuate EM radiation contribution from the blades, which normally forms a major part of the total EM radiation of a wind turbine.
In one embodiment of such system, the down conductor includes down conductor parts arranged for electrically connecting the first sliding contact arrangement to an electrically conducting wind turbine tower, wherein the electrically conducting wind turbine tower serves as at least part of the electrical connection to electrical ground.
It is appreciated that the embodiments and advantages mentioned for the first aspect apply as well for the second aspect.
In a third aspect, the invention provides a method of reducing electromagnetic radiation from a wind turbine, where the wind turbine includes at least two rotor blades arranged for rotation in relation to a nacelle, a tower arranged for carrying the nacelle, and a lightning arrester system including one or more lightning receptors mounted on the one or more rotor blades as well as a down conductor arranged for electrically connecting the one or more lightning receptors to electrical ground, and where the down conductor includes a sliding contact arrangement, wherein the method includes arranging an electromagnetic radiation reduction device relative to the down conductor so that at least a portion of the down conductor is encircled by the electromagnetic radiation device.
Especially, the electromagnetic radiation reduction device may be arranged to encircle a portion of the down conductor, said portion being located adjacent to the sliding contact arrangement.
It is appreciated that the embodiments and advantages mentioned for the first aspect apply as well for the third aspect.
It is appreciated that the embodiments of the first, second and third aspects may be combined in any way.
The invention will now be described in more detail with regard to the accompanying figures of which:
The figures specifically illustrate ways of implementing the present invention and are not to be construed as being limiting to other possible embodiments falling within the scope of the attached claim set.
In general such sliding contact arrangement SC in the form of brushed or trolley shoe and rail arrangements will not provide a perfect continuous electrical conduction. Thus, static electrical discharges can build up in the blades and generate high voltage sparks across the sliding contact arrangement SC, thereby introducing current impulses in the down conductor. To reduce EM due to such impulses travelling along the down conductor, especially electrical conductor parts W in the blades, an EMRR device D is mounted on the electrical conductor part W, encircling the electrical conductor part W and thereby reducing EM radiation radiated from the down conductor. The most effective EM reduction is achieved by positioning the EMRR device D on the electrical conductor part W close to the sliding contact arrangement, i.e. close to where the electric impulses are generated. To most effectively reduce EM radiation from the down conductor, EMRR device D can be mounted on both sides of all sliding contact arrangements SC in the wind turbine. However, typically the major part of the total EM radiation from a wind turbine will be radiated from the down conductor parts in the blades, and thus the most effective EM reduction can be achieved by mounting an EMRR device D on the down conductor parts W in all blades, preferably as close as possible to the sliding contact arrangement SC electrically interconnecting the electrical conductor part W in the blade with the remaining part of the down conductor, such as illustrated in
BARR devices D are known and commercially available in different sizes and materials with different EMRR properties. Thus, EMRR devices D can be selected to fit the actual size of electrical conductor parts W and with EMRR properties adapted to reduce EM radiation in the most critical frequency range. Most often the frequency range 1-100 MHz is the most critical, but under special conditions the frequency range below 1 MHz or above 100 MHz may also require attenuation. To cover a large frequency range, the most effective EMRR effect may be obtained by mounting a plurality of different EMRR devices D close together, since some EMRR devices D are suited to provide effective attenuation in a rather narrow frequency range. E.g. a combination of solid body type EMRR devices D and choke coil type EMRR devices D may be used.
Examples of manufacturers of EMRR devices suitable for wind turbines are: Magnetec and Kitagawa. It is appreciated, however, that many other types of EMRR devices can be used.
To install the EMRR device D on an existing wind turbine may require dismantling of the down conductor part W in case the EMRR device D is in the form of a solid body. However, “snap-on” type of EMRR devices D are also commercially available, i.e. devices with BARR material in two or more pieces e.g. cast into a plastic shell with a locking mechanism arranged for opening during installation, and when closed around the down conductor part, the EMRR material encircles the down conductor part. Such types can be used for add-on installation if dismantling of the down conductor part is complicated due to lack of space or if is too time consuming.
The arrows DI, D2, D3, D4, D5, and D6 indicate possible position for mounting of EMRR devices on the down conductor. Depending on the structure of the wind turbine and the desired level of EM radiation attenuation, one, several or all of these positions can be used for mounting of EMRR devices.
To sum up: the invention provides a wind turbine with a lightning arrester system including one or more lightning receptors mounted on one or more rotor blades. A down conductor electrically connects one or more lightning receptors R to electrical ground via a sliding contact arrangement, and an EMRR device encircles a portion of the down conductor so as to reduce EM radiation from the down conductor. Such wind turbine will have a low EM radiation, since electric impulses in the down conductor are attenuated by such EMRR devices. Such electric impulses can be created because of static electric discharges caused by imperfect electric contact in the sliding contact arrangement. Known types of EMRR devices in the form of commercially available common mode choke coils, cylindrically shaped nano-crystalline solid body types, or the like, can be used. A plurality of different types with different EMRR properties can be used in combination. To obtain more effective EM radiation reduction, a plurality of EMRR devices can be used, e.g. positioned at several portions of the down conductor, especially close to sliding contact arrangements. A preferred position of an EMRR device D is on a down conductor part W in each of the rotor blades, at an end of the electrical conductor W facing the sliding contact arrangement RL serving to electrically connect the electrical conductor W to electrical ground.
Although the present invention has been described in connection with the specified embodiments, it should not be construed as being in any way limited to the presented examples. The scope of the present invention is to be interpreted in the light of the accompanying claim set. In the context of the claims, the terms “including” or “includes” do not exclude other possible elements or steps. Also, the mentioning of references such as “a” or “an” etc. should not be construed as excluding a plurality. The use of reference signs in the claims with respect to elements indicated in the figures shall also not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Furthermore, individual features mentioned in different claims, may possibly be advantageously combined, and the mentioning of these features in different claims does not exclude that a combination of features is not possible and advantageous.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/919,828 filed Aug. 27, 2010 which claims the benefit of International Patent Application No. PCT/DK2008/050052 filed Feb. 29, 2008. Each of these applications is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12919828 | US | |
| Child | 13095305 | US |
