ITBZ20110029A1 - WIND POWER PLANT WITH WIND CONVERTERS. - Google Patents

Description

Title: Wind power plant with wind converters

The present invention relates to a wind power plant in which a plurality of wind converters are carried by load-bearing ropes which in turn reside on supports.

The common feature in currently known wind power plants is the single support, at the top of which there is respectively a wind converter which basically consists of a wind impeller and a generator connected to it through different transmission elements. From the static point of view, single supports are unilaterally interlocked supports that are stressed by strong wind forces, acting at the upper end, with a bending moment increasing from top to bottom. The maximum bending moment occurs at the point of engagement in the foundation on the ground. Conciò traditional concepts require very massive and correspondingly expensive constructions both in relation to the shaft of the support and also to the foundations belonging to it.

In the case of single supports, it is also difficult to configure the static with tie ropes more favorable, as these would collide with the wind turbine.

The purpose of the present invention is not to place, as usual, each wind converter on a suitable support, but to mount a plurality of them on load-bearing ropes which reside on a few widely spaced supports. In this way, according to local conditions, it is obtained that the number of pylons implies by way of example only a quarter of the number of wind converters.

Furthermore, the wind converters can be arranged so that the tie ropes cannot collide with the wind turbine. In the concept according to the invention, anchored supports can be used which allow savings in the dimensioning of the spindle of the support and of the foundation compared to freely arranged single supports.

Basically, all the usual types of construction can be used for the actual wind turbine. Preferably in the concept according to the invention, however, wind impellers with vertical axes are suitable, therefore for examples such as operating according to the Darrieus principle. With a certain additional cost of this type, however, wind turbines mainly used with horizontal axes can also be used here.

Supporting systems with ropes are only sensible if the loads to be carried do not exceed certain orders of magnitude. Currently usual wind converters, equipped individually with transmissions, generators and various secondary units, would here exceed a technically and economically compatible weight limit. So here you have to try to avoid these components as much as possible or to install them on solid ground.

According to the invention this is achieved due to the fact that the energy transmissions from the wind turbine to the ground do not take place as usually electrically, but with pressurized water or compressed air as the transmission medium. This eliminates the generator normally coupled through a transmission with the wind turbine and the related electrical components, cooling units, etc. or respectively these are replaced by a substantially lighter and also cheaper pump. Furthermore a directly driven pump given its purely mechanical operation and less sensitive to rapidly changing loads and overload in the event of a storm, in the case of low rpm it is given a high reliability and lifespan.

The pump is preferably adjustable, ie the flow rate for each revolution can preferably be adapted continuously to the rising momentary wind, so that the range of usable wind speeds can be expanded.

Basically, the pumps used must work according to the principle of moving the fluid to be transported, as these are not linked to the number of constant revolutions, as they would practically not be respected in the case of wind turbines.

Regarding the construction type of the pump, different systems known per se can be used, such as radial pumps or axial piston pumps in which the piston stroke is adjustable. A further possibility for varying the flow rate per revolution would be to use several non-adjustable pumps of different sizes of this type, which can be connected or disconnected according to the onset of the wind. Likewise, only single cylinders could be inserted - or disconnected or a part of individual cylinders could function in the short circuit, so this part does not participate in the transmission of energy.

Basically, the adaptation to the momentary wind supply, on the other hand, with a variation in the flow rate, could also occur with a variation in the pressure of the transmission fluid.

An advantage of the concept according to the invention consists in the fact that pressurized water, produced together by the wind converters, or compressed air streams, are collected in a common pressure duct and all used in a power plant on the ground through a single driving machine with connected generator for the production of electricity. Even in the case of systems with numerous wind converters, an equal number of generators, transmissions, etc. is not so necessary. but only a single generator. This can also work with regulation of the output quantity of the transmission fluid with constant pressure regardless of the wind supply with a constant number of revolutions, which allows the use of robust and economical generators or respectively make an expensive electronic control superfluous. power. The adjustment of the output quantity can take place for example in the case of Pelton turbines in a known way with variation of the cross section on the output nozzle by means of a simple adjustment needle.

The concept for transmitting the power of a plurality of wind converters to a single common driving machine with connected generator can obviously also be applied in the case in which the wind converters are traditionally located on single supports.

Further characteristics and details result from the claims and from the following description of a preferred embodiment, shown in the drawing, in which in

Figure 1 schematically represents a wind power plant according to the invention with wind impellers according to the Darrieus principle.

The carrying cable system consists of at least one upper and at least one lower carrying cable, whose vertical distance in the case of wind impellers with vertical axis 1 is slightly greater than the height of the wind impeller or respectively in the case of wind turbines with horizontal axis (not drawn here) slightly larger than its diameter.

The large vertical distance between the planes of the supporting ropes ensures the stability of the wind turbine against overturning. In the example, two carrier ropes arranged in one plane are provided on the upper side 2 and respectively on the lower side 3. The supporting ropes run parallel to each other are connected in the area of the wind turbine bearing by means of yokes 4.

Wind rotors according to the Darrieus principle or similar operating concepts lead here to particularly simple constructions, since the ends of the rotation axis can be supported directly in the upper and lower cable plane respectively. In addition, rotors such as Darrieus type do not require equipment to follow the wind, as their operation is independent of the wind direction.

The wind turbines 1, represented in the example, are thus rotatably supported between an upper 2 and a lower 3 cable plane.

In the example shown, the axis is not present passing from the upper support to the lower one, since in the area of the three blades these can themselves assume the functions of an axis.

However, it is obviously possible to provide a through axis between the lower and upper supports (not drawn here).

instead of wind turbines with a vertical axis they can also be used with a horizontal axis (helix principle). In this case the connection between the upper and lower cable planes must be made by a rigid frame, in which the rotating wind turbines are supported (not shown here).

The supporting ropes are supported by the supports 5 at determined distances, so that the total length of the plant is divided into a plurality of anchoring fields 6, in which several wind converters are respectively arranged.

The supports are preferably stabilized by clamping ropes 7 against lateral forces, so that the shaft of the supports is substantially stressed only by pressure.

The ends of the supporting ropes are normally pulled by the end supports obliquely downwards and anchored for example by drilling anchors 8 on the ground.

The number of supports or respectively anchor fields 6 can be considerable, so that plant lengths of several kilometers are achievable.

The low number of supports relative to the number of wind converters is particularly advantageous in the case of heavy foundations, as for example in the case of offshore wind farms.

Obviously - as mentioned in the drawing - any numerous rope-bearing structures can be arranged parallel to one another. Also in the case of this arrangement, the pressure energy contained in the transmission fluid can be gathered by all the wind converters, preferably in a common power plant 11 and transformed there by a single driving machine 12 with connected generator 13 into electrical energy. .

The pumps 9, present in each wind converter, are connected in parallel with the supply or removal ducts 10 which make the connection with the building of the power plant 11. With the parallel connection, individual wind converters can be connected or disconnected without affect the remaining ones as needed. In the case of water as the transmission fluid there is a closed circuit, that is, the water, with the exception of any leaks, always remains the same. In this way, abrasive inclusions are avoided, which in the case of water-powered machines frequently means a problem of wear.

On the basis of the considerable difference in height between the pump and the driving machine, the atmospheric pressure would normally not be sufficient to prevent a detachment of the water column on the suction side. This problem can be solved, for example, by the fact that the water on the suction side is either supplied by means of a pump or because an increased air pressure is created in the turbine housing by means of a compressor.

In the case of compressed air, a pressurized duct is sufficient, as the air is sucked in by the pump directly from the atmosphere or discharged back into the atmosphere after being discharged into the driving machine.

A further possibility in connection with the invention would be to transform the pressurized water or compressed air coming from the wind converters into electricity not directly by means of a turbine and a generator, but to accumulate at first the transmission fluid. The accumulator could be in the case of water an artificial basin placed higher up or in the case of compressed air, for example a cave. Conciò with the system an accumulation plant would be created, in which, however, the additional path of the currently usual pump accumulation plants from the current to the energy under pressure and subsequently from the energy under pressure to the current would be avoided.

List of reference numbers

1 wind converters

2 carrying ropes

3 carrying ropes

4 yokes

5 supports

anchors

tie ropes

anchors

pumps

feeding or central removal ducts

turbine

generator

Claims (6)

R I V E N D I C A Z I O N I 1. Wind power plant with a plurality of wind converters (1), characterized in that these are carried by carrying ropes (2, 3) which are arranged partially above (2) and partially below (3) the wind converters, whereby the weight to be carried is accepted by the fixing point approximately respectively by half of the lower and respectively upper load-bearing ropes, and that the load-bearing ropes (2, 3) rest on systems (5) which divide the total length of a plant in a plurality of spans (6). 2. Wind power plant according to claim 1, characterized in that the individual wind converters (1) respectively have one or more pumps (9), which through which the energy produced is initially transformed into energy under pressure which is collected through a liquid or gaseous transmission fluid in a common pressure conduit (10) and is transformed at another point in a power plant (11) by a common turbine or equivalent motive machine (12) with coupled generator ( 13) in electricity. 3. Wind power plant according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the flow rate of the pumps (9) for each revolution is continuously adjustable in a per se known manner, the regulation taking place automatically depending on the supply of instant wind. 4. Wind power plant according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the quantity of the transmission fluid is regulated by the fact that several pumps of different size or individual cylinders thereof can be switched on or off depending on the need. 5. Wind power plant according to claims 1, 2, 3 and 4, characterized in that the pressurized energy in the transmission fluid is not fed directly to the turbine (12) with coupled generator (13), but in the case of water under pressure at first in an artificial basin placed higher up 6. Wind power plant according to claims 1, 2, 3 and 4, characterized in that the pressurized energy in the transmission fluid is not fed directly to the turbine (12) with coupled generator (13), but in the case of air compressed for example accumulated in a cave and only at a subsequent instant is adopted corresponding to the need for the production of current.