WO2014029440A1

WO2014029440A1 - Wind turbine client-server control system and method

Info

Publication number: WO2014029440A1
Application number: PCT/EP2012/066453
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hara Shankar BANERJEE
Original assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
Priority date: 2012-08-23
Filing date: 2012-08-23
Publication date: 2014-02-27

Abstract

Wind turbine system and a method thereof A system and method for wind turbine management is presented. The wind turbine management system (10) includes a central computer system (18) having a processing unit (34), a wind turbine control system (14) for controlling one or more wind turbines (12), wherein the wind turbine control system (14) is coupled to the central computer system (18) via a communication network (46), wherein the processing unit (34) is configured to receive data from the wind turbine control system (14), and a client (20) configured to send a command to the processing unit (34) of the central computer system (18) for controlling the one or more wind turbines (12), characterized in that the wind turbine control system (14) comprises a first module (16) in communication with a second module (19) in the central computer system (18), wherein the modules (16, 19) are configured to exchange data and wherein the processing unit (34) is configured as a service oriented architecture for handling one or more service request from the client (20).

Description

WIND TURBINE CLIENT - SERVER CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD The present invention relates to a wind turbine system and more particularly to a wind turbine management system.

Currently, wind turbine systems are usually controlled by on^¬ board wind turbine control systems that comprise software and hardware components. When operating a large number of wind turbines, maintaining individual software component (computer program) for each of the wind turbines produces substantial technical effort and is a potential source of error. In order to avoid such a maintaining of a plurality of indi^¬ vidual computer programs for the wind turbines, it is known to use the same computer program on each of the wind turbines, and configure the computer program individually for each wind turbine so that program execution takes place dif- ferently on the different wind turbines. Thus, only one com^¬ puter program needs to be maintained, and the technical ef^¬ fort is substantially reduced.

Monitoring and controlling of the wind turbines is achieved using Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, which is typically a computer system to monitor and control various components in an industrial environment, such as but not limited to power, telecommunications, oil and gas re^¬ fining and so forth.

Presently, such systems are unable to provide high modularity and efficient integration capabilities with other supporting systems. Additionally, these systems are unable to provide high reliability and scalability at the hardware controlling and data collection part.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a wind turbine system that is able to provide high modularity and efficient integration capabilities and further provide high reliability and scalability.

The object is achieved by providing a wind turbine management system according to claim 1 and a method according to claim 12.

According to the invention, a wind turbine management system is presented. The wind turbine management system includes a central computer system having a processing unit, a wind turbine control system for controlling one or more wind turbines, wherein the wind turbine control system is coupled to the central computer system via a communication network, and wherein the processing unit is configured to receive data from the wind turbine control system, a client configured to send a command to the processing unit for controlling the one or more wind turbines, characterized in that the control sys^¬ tem comprises a first module in communication with a second module in the central computer system, wherein the modules are configured to exchange data and wherein the processing unit is configured as a service oriented architecture for handling one or more service request from the client. By hav^¬ ing the first module in the control system and the second module in the central computer system in communication with each other for data exchange a real time data acquisition and control of devices in the wind turbine system is achieved. Furthermore, by implementing the service oriented architec^¬ ture in the central computer system high modularity and effi^¬ cient data integration with other systems is achieved.

In one embodiment, the central computer system includes a memory for storing data from one or more wind turbines. By having a memory which stores historical or configuration data of wind turbines, the central computer system can locally ac- cess the data for each of the turbines. This data helps in analysis of the present working state of the turbine, and also work as a configuration reference data. In one embodiment, the client includes a user interface which enables an interaction capability of a user with the wind turbine management system. In one embodiment, the user interface includes a data inter^¬ face and a command interface. By having a data interface, the user is able to view and input data. The command interface enables the user to input command to be executed by the sys^¬ tem.

In one embodiment, the processing unit is further configured to compare a current data obtained from the wind turbine with the previously acquired data of the wind turbine in the mem^¬ ory. This enables periodic monitoring of the status of wind turbine operation.

In one embodiment, the wind turbine control system is config^¬ ured to implement a real time publish subscribe model. This enables a communication between multiple vendor data distri- bution service.

In another embodiment, the first module is configured to con^¬ trol the wind turbine based on the command provided by the user. The first module is in data communication with the sec- ond module which enables real time execution of the command provided by the user.

In another embodiment, the service oriented architecture in the processing unit is implemented using Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) . WCF ensures interoperability with other WCF applications running on same machine or dif^¬ ferent machines or standard web services built on platforms such as Java, or other operating systems. In one embodiment, the first module in the control system utilized Data Distribution service (DDS) for interacting with the one or more wind turbines. DDS enables real time data ac- quisition and controlling of devices. It also enables hetero^¬ geneous system to communicate easily with each other.

The above-mentioned and other features of the invention will now be addressed with reference to the accompanying drawings of the present invention. The illustrated embodiments are in^¬ tended to illustrate, but not limit the invention. The draw^¬ ings contain the following figures, in which like numbers re^¬ fer to like parts, throughout the description and drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary wind turbine management system; and

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram depicting a method for managing a wind turbine system, in accordance with aspects of the pre^¬ sent technique.

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to a wind turbine management system, however, the embodiments de- scribed hereinafter may also be used for power systems, en^¬ ergy systems, telecommunication systems, oil and gas refining or any other industrial applications. Such systems employed for managing which includes monitoring and controlling are known as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. SCADA systems are used to control and monitor wind turbines and include a human machine interface (HMI), a com^¬ puter system, remote terminal units and communication infra^¬ structure . Referring now to FIG. 1, a schematic diagram depicting a wind power management system 10 is presented. The wind power man^¬ agement system 10, which may be a SCADA system for example, includes a wind turbine 12. Although in the presently contem^¬ plated configuration a single turbine is shown, it may be noted that the system may include more wind turbines forming a wind turbine park. The wind turbine 12 includes a rotor and other structural components which may comprise generators, bearings, sensors etc. Wind turbine 12 further comprises a wind turbine control system 14 for controlling the wind turbine 12. The wind tur- bine control system 14 may include a processor (not shown) adapted to control the operation of the wind turbine 12.

The wind turbine control system 14 is connected to a central computer system 18 via a communication network 46. The cen- tral computer system 18 includes a processing unit 34 configured to receive data from the wind turbine control system 14. The processing unit 34 is further configured to request data from the wind turbine control system 14, process and inte^¬ grate the data obtained from respective wind turbine control system 14 of the one or more turbines 12.

The central computer system 18 is communicatively coupled to a client 20, which is typically a computer adapted to do cer^¬ tain functions. The client 20 may be a human machine inter- face (HMI) enabling interaction of a user with various components or devices in the system 10. The client 20 includes a data interface 22 and a command interface 24, wherein the command interface 24 allows the user to manipulate the system 10 by issuing commands which may be in the form of text entry as command strings or by using an input trigger. The data in^¬ terface 22 on the other hand allows the system to indicate the effects of the users' manipulation or commands issued by the user. The data interface 22 may indicate the results in the form of a graph or chart or in the form of trend window indicating the operating parameters and condition of the wind turbine 12. The parameters may include as an example, an at^¬ mospheric pressure, wind speed, temperature and so on.

The client 20 is connected to the central computer system 18 via a network which may be a wired or a wireless network. The central computer system 18 includes a memory 30, which may typically be a database, wherein a plurality of configuration files for each of the one or more wind turbines 12 is stored. The memory 30 may store historical data of the wind turbines which may be used for analysis as and when required by the system 10. In accordance with aspects of the present technique, the mem^¬ ory 30 may include a random access memory, read only memory, disk drives, tape drives or combinations thereof. The memory is typically a data storage device that may include a hard disk, a floppy disk, a DVD or any other type of data storage device.

The processing unit 34 of the central computer system 18 is configured as a service oriented architecture for handling one or more requests from the client. In the service oriented architecture, the processing unit 34 includes a plurality of layers, wherein each layer is configured to perform an asso^¬ ciated function. The layers from top to bottom are the ser^¬ vice layer 36, a business layer 38, a domain model layer 40 and a data access layer 42. Additionally the service oriented architecture includes a cross cutting utility services module 44 which is able to provide a link between two non- communicating layers and provide a service based on the in^¬ formation from the layers 36-42. The service layer 36 is characterized by a number of services that are carrying out individual functions. The service oriented architecture en^¬ ables integration of widely disparate applications in a web based platform and uses multiple implementation platforms.

Service requests or commands from the client 20 are sent to the central computer system 18 into the processing unit 34 at the service layer 36. This is typically known as a service endpoint which is the entry point for implementing service oriented architecture. The endpoint is typically an interface exposed by the central computer system to a client for utili- zation of services it provides, as in the presently contem^¬ plated configuration. As previously noted, the wind turbine control system 14 is connected to the central computer system 18 over a communica^¬ tion network 46. This network 46 also provides interconnec^¬ tion between the control systems of other wind turbines, servers located remotely and also includes network architec^¬ ture .

The wind turbine control system 14 includes a first module 16 and the central computer system 18 includes a second module 19, wherein the modules 16, 19 are configured to exchange data. Specifically, the first module 16 is configured to send data acquired from the wind turbine 12 over the network 46 to the second module 19. The second module 19 on the other hand sends the command or service request from the client 20 after processing to the wind turbine control system 14 over the network 46. The second module 19 is located at the data ac^¬ cess layer 42 of the processing unit 34. It may be noted that a two way communication is established between the first mod^¬ ule 16 and the second module 19.

The network 46 as depicted includes commands or service re^¬ quests, as indicated by block 47 from one or more clients, such as the client 20 and block 48 which includes data ac^¬ quired from one or more wind turbines, such as the wind tur^¬ bine 12.

The wind turbine control system 14 is configured to implement a real-time publish subscribe model, which typically is used in distributed systems. By using the real-time publish sub- scribe (RTPS) model it is possible to separate application requirements with the data exchange. The separation allows use of resources for efficiently accessing information. RTPS further enables real time data acquisition and device con^¬ trolling operations.

In accordance with aspects of the present technique, data distribution service (DDS) is used for interacting with the one or more wind turbines. The second module 19 in the cen- tral computer system 18 provides an interface between the data access layer 42 for exchange of data.

Data exchange is achieved between the first module 16 in the wind turbine control system 14 and the second module 19 in the central computer system 18 by implementing DDS .

In accordance with aspects of the present technique, the ser^¬ vice oriented architecture configured in the processing unit 34 of the central computer system 18 may be implemented using for example Microsoft® Windows Communication Foundation

(WCF) . WCF supports distributed computing where services have remote consumers, like in the present case wherein the cli^¬ ents use various services and services can be used by multi- pie clients.

Furthermore, the service oriented architecture allows modular scalability of the system 10, which essentially implies that new services may be added to the system 10, without shutting down the system 10, or any of its components. Additionally, the currently disclosed system 10 also allows addition of new devices, such as additional wind turbines.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a flow diagram depicting an exem- plary method 50 for managing a wind turbine system 10 is pre^¬ sented. It may be noted that such a method may be implemented in other industrial applications, energy, oil and gas refin^¬ ing and so forth. At step 52, data is acquired from the wind turbine 12 by the wind turbine control system 14. The data is related to the operating conditions of the wind turbine 12.

At step 54, data is sent to the central computer system 18 via a network 46, which may include several other wind tur^¬ bines and devices. The wind turbine control system 14 in^¬ cludes a processor having the first module 16 which is con- figured to acquire data from the wind turbine 12 and send the data to the central computer system 18 via the network 46.

At step 56, a client 20 connected to the central computer system 18 sends service requests which are processed in the processing unit 34 of the central computer system 18. The processing unit 34 is configured as a service oriented archi^¬ tecture having a plurality of layers 36, 38, 40, 42 config^¬ ured to perform an associated function. The service oriented architecture enables modular scalability of the services be^¬ ing handled by the system 10.

At step 58, the command or service request by the client 20 is sent to the first module 16 of the wind turbine control system 14 by a second module 19 of the central computer sys^¬ tem 18 facilitating data exchange between the wind turbine control system 14 and the central computer system 18. The command from the client 20 after reaching the wind turbine control system 14 initiates data acquisition from the wind turbine 12. The acquired data based on the command or service request may be also compared with the historical data stored in the memory 30 for analysis of the data enabling user to determine the operating condition of the wind turbine 12. Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternate embodiments of the invention, will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the description of the invention. It is therefore contemplated that such modifications can be made without departing from the embodiments of the present inven^¬ tion as defined.

Claims

Patent claims

1. A wind turbine management system (10), comprising

- a central computer system (18) having a processing unit (34),

- a wind turbine control system (14) for controlling one or more wind turbines (12), wherein the wind turbine control system (14) is coupled to the central computer system (18) via a communication network (46), wherein the processing unit (34) is configured to receive data from the wind turbine con^¬ trol system (14), and

- a client (20) configured to send a command to the process^¬ ing unit (34) of the central computer system (18) for controlling the one or more wind turbines (12),

Characterised in that

the wind turbine control system (14) comprises a first module (16) in communication with a second module (19) in the central computer system (18), wherein the modules (16, 19) are configured to exchange data and wherein the processing unit (34) is configured as a service oriented architecture for handling one or more service request from the client (20) .

2. The wind turbine management system (10) according to claim 1, wherein the central computer system (18) comprises a mem- ory (30) for storing data acquired from the one or more wind turbines (30) .

3. The wind turbine management system (10) according to claim 1 and 2, wherein the client (20) is a computer having a dis- play unit.

4. The wind turbine management system (10) according to any of the claims 1 to 3, wherein the client (20) comprises a user interface.

5. The wind turbine management system (10) according to claim 4, wherein the user interface comprises a data interface (22) and a command interface (24) .

6. The wind turbine management system (10) according to any of the claims 1 to 5, wherein the processing unit (34) is further configured to compare a current data obtained from the wind turbine (12) with the previously acquired data stored in the memory (30) .

7. The wind turbine management system (10) according to claims 1 to 6, wherein the wind turbine control system (18) is configured to implement a real time publish subscribe model .

8. The wind turbine management system (10) according to any of the claims 1 to 7, wherein the first module (16) is fur- ther configured to control the wind turbine based on the com^¬ mand issued by the client (20) .

9. The wind turbine management system (10) according to any of the claims 1 to 8, wherein the service oriented architec- ture in the processing unit (34) is implemented using Micro^¬ soft® Windows Communication Foundation.

10. The wind turbine management system (10) according to any of the claims 1 to 9, wherein the first module (16) in the wind turbine control system (14) utilizes Data Distribution Service for interacting with the wind turbine (12) .

11. The wind turbine management system (10) according to any of the claims 1 to 10, wherein the service oriented architec- ture comprises a plurality of layers (36, 38, 40, 42), each layer configured to perform an associated function.

12. A method (50) for managing a wind turbine system, comprising

- acquiring (52) data from one or more wind turbines using a wind turbine control system,

- sending (54) the acquired data to a processing unit of a central computer system based on a command issued by a client connected to the central computer system, wherein the proc^¬ essing unit is configured as a service oriented architecture.

13. The method (50) according to claim 12, further comprising storing the acquired data from the one or wind turbines in a memory of the central computer system.

14. The method (50) according to claims 12 and 13, wherein a data distribution service is employed for data exchange be- tween the wind turbine control system and the central com^¬ puter system.

15. The method (50) according to any of the claims 12 to 14, further comprising comparing a currently acquired data from the wind turbines with the data stored in the memory.