GB2416566A - Wind turbine with high temperature superconducting generator - Google Patents

Wind turbine with high temperature superconducting generator Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2416566A
GB2416566A GB0416775A GB0416775A GB2416566A GB 2416566 A GB2416566 A GB 2416566A GB 0416775 A GB0416775 A GB 0416775A GB 0416775 A GB0416775 A GB 0416775A GB 2416566 A GB2416566 A GB 2416566A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
hts
generator
wind turbine
converter
power
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB0416775A
Other versions
GB0416775D0 (en
Inventor
Clive D Lewis
Graham Derek Le Flem
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
GE Power Conversion Brazil Holdings Ltd
Original Assignee
Alstom SA
Alstom Power Conversion Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Alstom SA, Alstom Power Conversion Ltd filed Critical Alstom SA
Priority to GB0416775A priority Critical patent/GB2416566A/en
Publication of GB0416775D0 publication Critical patent/GB0416775D0/en
Publication of GB2416566A publication Critical patent/GB2416566A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F03—MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS; WIND, SPRING, OR WEIGHT MOTORS; PRODUCING MECHANICAL POWER OR A REACTIVE PROPULSIVE THRUST, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F03D—WIND MOTORS
    • F03D9/00—Adaptations of wind motors for special use; Combinations of wind motors with apparatus driven thereby; Wind motors specially adapted for installation in particular locations
    • F03D9/20—Wind motors characterised by the driven apparatus
    • F03D9/25—Wind motors characterised by the driven apparatus the apparatus being an electrical generator
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F03—MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS; WIND, SPRING, OR WEIGHT MOTORS; PRODUCING MECHANICAL POWER OR A REACTIVE PROPULSIVE THRUST, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F03D—WIND MOTORS
    • F03D80/00—Details, components or accessories not provided for in groups F03D1/00 - F03D17/00
    • F03D80/60—Cooling or heating of wind motors
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F05—INDEXING SCHEMES RELATING TO ENGINES OR PUMPS IN VARIOUS SUBCLASSES OF CLASSES F01-F04
    • F05B—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO WIND, SPRING, WEIGHT, INERTIA OR LIKE MOTORS, TO MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS COVERED BY SUBCLASSES F03B, F03D AND F03G
    • F05B2220/00—Application
    • F05B2220/70—Application in combination with
    • F05B2220/706—Application in combination with an electrical generator
    • F05B2220/7064—Application in combination with an electrical generator of the alternating current (A.C.) type
    • F05B2220/70642—Application in combination with an electrical generator of the alternating current (A.C.) type of the synchronous type
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F05—INDEXING SCHEMES RELATING TO ENGINES OR PUMPS IN VARIOUS SUBCLASSES OF CLASSES F01-F04
    • F05B—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO WIND, SPRING, WEIGHT, INERTIA OR LIKE MOTORS, TO MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS COVERED BY SUBCLASSES F03B, F03D AND F03G
    • F05B2260/00—Function
    • F05B2260/20—Heat transfer, e.g. cooling
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02K—DYNAMO-ELECTRIC MACHINES
    • H02K55/00—Dynamo-electric machines having windings operating at cryogenic temperatures
    • H02K55/02—Dynamo-electric machines having windings operating at cryogenic temperatures of the synchronous type
    • H02K55/04—Dynamo-electric machines having windings operating at cryogenic temperatures of the synchronous type with rotating field windings
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
    • Y02E10/70—Wind energy
    • Y02E10/72—Wind turbines with rotation axis in wind direction
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E40/00—Technologies for an efficient electrical power generation, transmission or distribution
    • Y02E40/60—Superconducting electric elements or equipment; Power systems integrating superconducting elements or equipment
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02T—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION
    • Y02T50/00—Aeronautics or air transport
    • Y02T50/60—Efficient propulsion technologies, e.g. for aircraft

Abstract

A direct drive wind turbine comprises a nacelle 2 that may include means for altering a pitch of turbine blades 4 and a main shaft 6 coupled directly to a rotor of high temperature superconducting (HTS) generator 8. The HTS generator 8 may be an axial flux synchronous machine or a radial flux synchronous machine. A cryocooler cooling system may be employed to cool the HTS field windings. Power from the HTS generator 8 is supplied to a power converter 10 preferably of a DC link frequency converter type which includes a machine converter, DC link filter, supply converter and an AC output filter connected to pulse width modulated (PWM) voltage source inverter (VSI) which converts the DC link filter voltage source to an AC output voltage. Power supplied from the power converter 10 is preferably three-phase and at grid frequency such as 50 or 60 Hz.

Description

24 1 6566 - 1
TITLE
Wind turbines
DESCRIPTION
Technical Field
The present invention relates to wind turbines, and in particular to wind turbines that are physically compact, efficient and reliable. The wind turbines are highly suitable for offshore use.
Background Art
Wind turbines are well known and are becoming an increasingly popular way to generate electricity in an environmentally friendly manner. The current trend is for offshore installations where the operating conditions are often more suitable and the visual impact of the wind turbines on the landscape is minimised.
For offshore installations it is usually better to build fewer wind turbines of large diameter and higher power rating. Current designs of wind turbine suitable for offshore use have blades around 120m in diameter and are capable of generating around 5MW of power. However, increasing the blade diameter has the drawback of reducing the rotational speed of the wind turbine because of the need to maintain the speed of the blade tips within mechanically acceptable limits. Standard generators have a speed rating far in excess of the rotational speed of the turbine blades and a gearbox is therefore used to raise the rotational speed of the main shaft to an acceptable level. The gearbox is critical to the operation of conventional wind turbines but like all mechanical components, the gearbox suffers from wear and tear and requires routine maintenance. This represents a particular problem for offshore installations where it can be extremely difficult to get access to the gearbox for servicing and to undertake any repairs.
Omitting the gearbox and coupling the rotor of the generator directly to the main shaft can greatly improve the reliability of wind turbines. However, the low rotational speed of the main shaft and high torque requirement means that only certain types of - 2 generator can be used efficiently. The direct drive wind turbines that are currently on the market (such as those supplied by Enercon GmbH of Aurich, Germany for example) use permanent magnet (PM) generators or externally excited ring generators that are very large and very heavy. Consequently, there is a need for wind turbines using new and innovative types of generator that are smaller and lighter than current designs.
Summary of the Invention
The present invention provides a wind turbine incorporating a High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) generator. Because of the innovative use of HTS technology, the applicant believes that the resulting generator will be approximately 30% of the size and weight of standard generators that are currently being used for wind turbine applications. This allows similar reductions to be made in the size and weight of the wind turbine's supporting structure leading to considerable cost savings. The HTS generator will also show a significant improvement in operating efficiency.
The wind turbine is preferably of the direct drive type so that the rotor of the HTS generator is mechanically coupled directly to the main shaft of the wind turbine. This has the advantage of making the wind turbine more reliable by omitting the gearbox.
It will be readily appreciated that the HTS generator can be of any suitable type, construction and topology. For example, the HTS generator can be a radial or axial flux synchronous machine.
The power produced by the HTS generator is preferably supplied to a power converter
of suitable type.
Drawing Figure I is a schematic diagram of a wind turbine according to the present invention.
A direct drive wind turbine includes a nacelle section 2 that may incorporate means (not shown) for altering the pitch of the turbine blades 4. The main shaft 6 is coupled - 3 directly to the rotor (not shown) of a High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) generator 8.
The HTS generator 8 is a synchronous HTS machine of known type and described generally in WO 01/41283 to American Superconducting Corporation of Two Technology Drive, Westborough, Massachusetts 01581, USA. HTS machines incorporate High Temperature Superconducting field windings (made of BSSCO 2223, for example) and have increased flux density characteristics compared to conventional machines. They are compact and provide high power output. Almost all current HTS machines are of the radial flux type having a rotor with HTS field windings mounted within a stator assembly and separated by an air gap, but other types of generator construction could be used. A cooling system, usually incorporating a standard cryocooler, is used to cool the HTS field windings. More details about various HTS machine designs can be found from the following published papers: (i) "Development Status of Superconducting Rotating Machines" by S. S. Kalsi (presented at IEEE PES Meeting, New York, 27-31 January 2002); (ii) "Advances and Prospects of HTS Rotating Machine Development at Siemens" by G. Nerowski, J. Frauenhofer, G. Ries, W. Nick and H.-W. Neumueller; (iii) "High Temperature Superconducting Synchronous Motor" by Young-Sik Jo, Young-Kil Kwon, Myung-Hwan Sohn, Young-Kyoun Kim and Jung-Pyo Hong (IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, Vol. 12 No. 1, March 2002); (iv) "Long-term Operational Experience with First Siemens 400kW HTS Machine in Diverse Configurations" by M. Frank, J. Frauenhofer, P. van Hassalt, W. Nick, H.-W. Neumueller and G Nerowski; and (v) "5MW High Temperature Superconducting Ship Propulsion Motor Design and Test Results" by P. W. Eckels and G. Snitchler of American Superconducting Corporation.
Power from the HTS generator 8 is supplied to a power converter l0. The power converter l0 can be of the DC link frequency converter type and includes a machine converter, DC link filter, supply converter and an AC output filter. With regard to the machine converter, it is assumed that only a fixed field current supply is required to control the HTS generator 8. The generator stator terminal voltage will be approximately proportional to the speed of the main shaft 6 and this voltage is rectified by a diode bridge rectifier arrangement, irrespective of whether conventional or wave windings are employed. DC output voltage will be approximately proportional to the rotational speed of the main shaft 6 and for a wind generator application will require useful output power to be developed over a DC voltage range of approximately 3: l.
For the DC link filter, a conventional LC type filter is used. The filter inductance will limit generator ripple current and resultant low frequency voltage ripple components at filter output terminals. The filter capacitance will source supply converter Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) ripple current components, whilst limiting high frequency voltage ripple components at filter output terminals.
A PWM Voltage Source Inverter (VSI) converts the DC link filter voltage source to an AC output voltage with sufficient waveform quality to minimise the size of AC output filter required to satisfy supply network interface requirements. Since PMW VSIs are a "voltage step down" type and DC link voltage will vary with the speed of the main shaft 6, the voltage rating of the supply converter must be suitable for maximum shaft speed, at which point it will be modulated to develop approximately one third of its maximum prospective AC output voltage.
A conventional 3 phase LC filter is used to remove the PWM carrier wave from the AC output voltage.
Such a power converter 8 may be implemented using ALSTOM MV7000 products, available from ALSTOM Power Conversion Limited, Marine and Offshore Division, Boughton Road, Rugby, CV21 IBU, United Kingdom. - 5
In general, the power supplied to the power converter 10 from the HIS generator 8 can be an arbitrary number of phases and at variable frequency. However, the power supplied from the power converter 10 is preferably three-phase and at the grid frequency such as 50 or 60 Hz, for example.
The nacelle section 2, HIS generator 8 and power converter lO are supported on a tower 12. - 6

Claims (5)

1. A wind turbine incorporating a High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) generator.
2. A wind turbine according to claim l, wherein the HTS generator is coupled directly to the main shaft of the wind turbine.
3. A wind turbine according to claim l or claim 2, wherein the HTS generator is an axial flux synchronous machine.
4. A wind turbine according to claim l or claim 2, wherein the HTS generator is a radial flux synchronous machine.
5. A wind turbine according to any preceding claim, further comprising a power converter.
GB0416775A 2004-07-28 2004-07-28 Wind turbine with high temperature superconducting generator Withdrawn GB2416566A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB0416775A GB2416566A (en) 2004-07-28 2004-07-28 Wind turbine with high temperature superconducting generator

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB0416775A GB2416566A (en) 2004-07-28 2004-07-28 Wind turbine with high temperature superconducting generator

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB0416775D0 GB0416775D0 (en) 2004-09-01
GB2416566A true GB2416566A (en) 2006-02-01

Family

ID=32947541

Family Applications (1)

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GB0416775A Withdrawn GB2416566A (en) 2004-07-28 2004-07-28 Wind turbine with high temperature superconducting generator

Country Status (1)

Country Link
GB (1) GB2416566A (en)

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1959548A1 (en) 2007-02-15 2008-08-20 General Electric Company Method and apparatus for a superconducting generator driven by wind turbine
WO2011120631A1 (en) * 2010-03-30 2011-10-06 Converteam Technology Ltd Protection circuits and methods for electrical machines
CN102593870A (en) * 2012-04-01 2012-07-18 国电联合动力技术有限公司 High-voltage high-power direct-drive offshore wind generating set based on superconducting motor
CN103887812A (en) * 2012-12-21 2014-06-25 远景能源（江苏）有限公司 Wind turbine having a HTS generator with a plurality of phases
US10637328B2 (en) 2015-08-24 2020-04-28 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Synchronous reluctance machine

Citations (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2059172A (en) * 1979-09-13 1981-04-15 Evans S R Electric generators for waterborne craft
GB1593969A (en) * 1977-09-05 1981-07-22 Trimbles Windmills Ltd Windmills
US4926061A (en) * 1988-08-08 1990-05-15 Ecm International Inc. Windtrap energy system
SU1710824A1 (en) * 1989-09-15 1992-02-07 Днепропетровский государственный университет им.300-летия воссоединения Украины с Россией Wind power plant
US20010002777A1 (en) * 1999-12-02 2001-06-07 Raul Ravinovici Single phase autonomous generator with DC excitation
WO2001041283A2 (en) * 1999-10-12 2001-06-07 American Superconductor Corporation Synchronous machine with superconductors
WO2002086312A1 (en) * 2001-04-23 2002-10-31 Forskningscenter Risø (Risø National Laboratory) Wind turbine having secondary rotors
EP1321543A1 (en) * 2001-12-19 2003-06-25 ALSTOM (Switzerland) Ltd Hydrolysis cell and its use in wind power generation system
WO2004051828A1 (en) * 2002-12-05 2004-06-17 Linear Propulsion Motor Company (Pty) Ltd A motor

Patent Citations (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB1593969A (en) * 1977-09-05 1981-07-22 Trimbles Windmills Ltd Windmills
GB2059172A (en) * 1979-09-13 1981-04-15 Evans S R Electric generators for waterborne craft
US4926061A (en) * 1988-08-08 1990-05-15 Ecm International Inc. Windtrap energy system
SU1710824A1 (en) * 1989-09-15 1992-02-07 Днепропетровский государственный университет им.300-летия воссоединения Украины с Россией Wind power plant
WO2001041283A2 (en) * 1999-10-12 2001-06-07 American Superconductor Corporation Synchronous machine with superconductors
US20010002777A1 (en) * 1999-12-02 2001-06-07 Raul Ravinovici Single phase autonomous generator with DC excitation
WO2002086312A1 (en) * 2001-04-23 2002-10-31 Forskningscenter Risø (Risø National Laboratory) Wind turbine having secondary rotors
EP1321543A1 (en) * 2001-12-19 2003-06-25 ALSTOM (Switzerland) Ltd Hydrolysis cell and its use in wind power generation system
WO2004051828A1 (en) * 2002-12-05 2004-06-17 Linear Propulsion Motor Company (Pty) Ltd A motor

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1959548A1 (en) 2007-02-15 2008-08-20 General Electric Company Method and apparatus for a superconducting generator driven by wind turbine
US7821164B2 (en) 2007-02-15 2010-10-26 General Electric Company Method and apparatus for a superconducting generator driven by wind turbine
WO2011120631A1 (en) * 2010-03-30 2011-10-06 Converteam Technology Ltd Protection circuits and methods for electrical machines
CN102593870A (en) * 2012-04-01 2012-07-18 国电联合动力技术有限公司 High-voltage high-power direct-drive offshore wind generating set based on superconducting motor
CN103887812A (en) * 2012-12-21 2014-06-25 远景能源（江苏）有限公司 Wind turbine having a HTS generator with a plurality of phases
CN103887812B (en) * 2012-12-21 2016-08-17 远景能源（江苏）有限公司 There is the wind turbine of heterogeneous high-temperature superconducting generator
US9541064B2 (en) 2012-12-21 2017-01-10 Envision Energy (Denmark) Aps Wind turbine having a HTS generator with a plurality of phases
EP2747258A3 (en) * 2012-12-21 2017-10-11 Envision Energy (Denmark) ApS Wind turbine having a HTS generator with a plurality of phases
US10637328B2 (en) 2015-08-24 2020-04-28 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Synchronous reluctance machine

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
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Owner name: ALSTOM POWER CONVERSION LTD

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WAP Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1)