JP2011132859A - Horizontal shaft type wind power generation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a horizontal shaft type wind power generation device permitting stable and safe enlargement by eliminating the constant unbalance state of a load and stress in the whole structure of the horizontal shaft type wind power generation device. <P>SOLUTION: In the horizontal shaft type wind power generation device having the wind turbine W mounted to a yaw following mechanism Y capable of following a wind direction and adjusting a direction thereof, a main shaft 17 is formed in a both-shaft type passing through a hub 16, a wind turbine W is put in a both-end support by supporting the main shaft 17 by shaft support members 20 disposed at both-side two sections putting the hub 16 therebetween, and a plurality of pairs of generators C, C are disposed with the wind turbine W put in a middle thereof. A stable balance state that a static and dynamic eccentric load does not exist is achieved by positioning the center of gravity 23 of such a generator body B at a rotation surface of the wind turbine and making it consistent with the turning operation center of the yaw following mechanism Y. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention reviews the arrangement and support method of various members constituting each part of the horizontal axis wind power generator in the horizontal axis wind power generator, and constantly loads and stresses in the entire horizontal axis wind power generator. The present invention relates to a horizontal axis wind power generator that can be stably and safely increased in size by eliminating an unbalanced state.

  Wind turbines for wind power generation are roughly classified into a vertical axis type wind turbine in which the main shaft is arranged in the vertical direction and a horizontal axis type wind turbine in which the main shaft is arranged in the horizontal direction. The mainstream of current windmills is a horizontal axis type having a so-called propeller type blade arrangement. In the horizontal axis type wind turbine, the use of a large diameter wind turbine having a large sweep area is advantageous in terms of efficiency. In fact, the diameter of the wind turbine for the horizontal axis type wind power generator has been steadily increasing.

  However, the amount of wind power generated in Japan is extremely small, and from the viewpoint of reducing greenhouse gases, it is a miserable situation that occupies the bottom in major developed countries, despite the fact that there is a constant need. is there. The reason for this is that Japan is located in a temperate monsoon zone, a climate zone that lacks steady wind, and there are few suitable wind power generation sites that can obtain an average wind speed suitable for wind power generation. In addition, the wind conditions in Japan are low, but the turbulence, gusty winds, and typhoons, and the wind turbine design and installation are under severe conditions, which is a major cause of sluggish wind power generation. .

  In order to increase the amount of wind power generation under such adverse climate conditions, it seems necessary to take an active measure to increase the amount of wind power generation by making more effective use of a small area suitable for wind power generation. For this purpose, it is effective to expand the scale of the wind power generation apparatus, which is currently in the 1000 kW to 2000 kW scale, to 5000 kW or more.

  However, horizontal axis wind power generators must be said to be very unstable and unique structures, with many components each having an eccentric load as a large-scale structure that is objectively observed. This (see FIG. 2) is a factor that hinders the development of large-scale wind power generators. For example, the hub 2 has a structure in which the bases of the plurality of blades 1 are cantilevered by the hub 2. Therefore, the load when the blade 1 receives wind, the load of the blade 1 itself, the alternating load due to the rotation of the blade 1 and the load caused by the centrifugal force all act as moment loads on the hub 2. In order to increase the size of the wind turbine generator, the strength design of the hub 2 becomes a technical issue.

  Further, the hub 2 is attached to the tip end portion of the main shaft 3 in a state of largely protruding forward from the center of the nacelle 8 because it is necessary to ensure a certain distance between the blade 1 and the tower 11. Therefore, the static load or dynamic load of the plurality of blades 1 and the load of the hub 2 act on the main shaft 3 as a huge moment load. For this reason, the main shaft 3 is required to have not only strength as a torque transmission member but also strength as a load bearing member against a huge moment load. For this reason, the bearing 4 supporting the main shaft 3 requires a large bearing with a special structure that is difficult to obtain, and the development of this bearing 4 promotes the increase in the scale of the wind turbine generator. This is a major technical issue. For this reason, about the support technology of the main axis | shaft 3, the attention degree in the industry is also high (refer the following patent documents 1 and 2).

  The horizontal axis wind power generator includes a nacelle 8 as an upper structure of the tower 11. The nacelle 8 houses main members necessary for controlling the wind turbine such as the generator 5 and the yaw drive mechanism 9, and the total weight of the nacelle 8 has to be increased as the size of the wind power generator increases. I don't get it. The tower 11 responsible for supporting the nacelle 8 at a predetermined sky position preferably supports the position of the center of gravity of the nacelle 8 including the windmill, but it is necessary to maintain a distance from the blade 1 as described above. In addition, it is usually impossible to support the position of the center of gravity. For this reason, a huge eccentric load resulting from the eccentric load of the blade 1 and the shift of the center of gravity of the nacelle 8 is applied to the bearing 10 of the yaw drive mechanism 9. This also becomes a technical problem when the wind turbine generator is enlarged.

  Moreover, the horizontal axis type wind power generator has a structure in which the nacelle 8 is constituted by a single tower 11 erected on the ground foundation 13 as a whole. Therefore, finally, all the accumulated moment loads by the ground foundation 13 must be received through the tower 11. A structure that forcibly suppresses the moment load due to its strength is a kind of instability that is unique even in normal times. However, as a real problem, the structure of the tower 11 and the ground foundation 13 during abnormal weather such as a typhoon is also present. In addition to the breakage accident of the tower 11 caused by the cumulative moment load applied to the power, the upset collapse accident from the ground foundation 13 itself has occurred. The maintenance of the strength of the tower 11 and the cost reduction of the ground foundation 13 associated with an increase in the size of such a wind power generator are problems.

JP 2007-314188 A JP 2009-47280 A

  In the present invention, the factor preventing obstruction of enlargement in the conventional horizontal axis wind power generator extracted based on the above analysis cannot be avoided from the basic concept of the conventional horizontal axis wind power generator. In view of this, we reviewed the arrangement and support methods of the various members that make up each part of the horizontal axis wind power generator, and fundamentally considered the constant unbalanced state of load and stress in the entire horizontal axis wind power generator. It is an object of the present invention to provide a horizontal axis wind power generator that can be stably and safely increased in size by being eliminated.

(Solution 1)
In order to achieve the above object, a horizontal axis wind power generator of the present invention includes a windmill in which a plurality of blades are radially arranged on a main shaft via a hub, and power generation driven by the windmill. In a horizontal axis type wind power generator that is mounted on a yaw following mechanism that can adjust the direction following the wind direction, the main shaft is formed into a double shaft type that penetrates the hub, and two places on both sides sandwiching the hub of the main shaft The wind turbine is supported at both ends by supporting the main shaft via a shaft support member disposed on the wind turbine.

  The main shaft in the above configuration is a double-shaft type that penetrates a hub to which a plurality of blades are attached. By positioning the hub at, for example, a central position in the length of the main shaft, a complete weight balance can be obtained. In addition, the main shaft is supported via a pair of shaft support members arranged at two locations on both sides of the hub, so that the main shaft, which is perfectly balanced in weight when the wind turbine is mounted, is stable while maintaining the balance state. Can be supported at both ends.

(Solution 2)
The horizontal axis type wind power generator according to the present invention is based on the basic invention described in Solution 1 above, and is distributed to two locations on both sides of a hub of a wind turbine that is supported at both ends by a main shaft, and is rotated or driven by the wind turbine. A plurality of pairs of generators are arranged.

  In the above configuration, if the standard of each pair of generators to be used is equal, in the state where the generator is attached to the windmill by the configuration in which the same generator is distributed and arranged on both sides of the windmill. Still, a complete weight balance can be realized, and the reaction torque applied to the main shaft when the generator is driven can be loaded in a balanced manner with respect to the windmill, and load fluctuations can be leveled. In addition, when one generator fails due to lightning or the like, the other generator can be operated.

(Solution 3)
The horizontal axis type wind power generator of the present invention is a bearing on which the shaft support member of the main shaft rotatably supports the main shaft on the premise of the basic invention described in the solution 1 or the solution 2, and the wind turbine rotates. It transmits to one or several pairs of generators via a main shaft.

In the above configuration, since the rotation of the windmill can be transmitted to each pair of generators via the main shaft, the degree of freedom in the arrangement of the generator can be increased by adjusting the length of the main shaft. At this time, even when a generator with a different standard is used, the total center of gravity of the windmill and the generator can be moved to a desired position.
(Solution 4)
A horizontal axis wind power generator according to the present invention is a shaft support pillow in which a shaft support member of a main shaft supports the main shaft in a non-rotatable manner on the premise of the configuration described in Solution 1 or Solution 2, and the rotation of the windmill Is transmitted directly from the hub to one or more pairs of generators.

  In the above configuration, since the rotation of the windmill can be transmitted directly from the hub to each pair of generators, it is possible to achieve a compact external dimension in a state where the windmill and the generator are combined. As a result, the ratio of the external dimensions to the power generation capacity as the power generation device can be greatly improved.

(Solution 5)
In the horizontal axis type wind power generator according to the present invention, the yaw following mechanism is arranged concentrically with the central axis in the vertical direction and the central axis on the premise of the basic invention described in any one of the above-described solving means 1 to 4. A yaw table that is supported by a plurality of three or more track wheels that run on an annular track so as to be turnable, and a follower drive device that adjusts the direction of the yaw table by following the wind direction. The center of gravity of the machine is mounted on the central axis so that the center of the yaw table is centered, and the center axis of the yaw table maintains the center of rotation of the yaw following mechanism when the yaw table rotates. It is characterized in that the weight of the loaded mounting member is distributed.

  With the configuration in which the total center of gravity of the wind turbine and the generator is mounted so as to be substantially coincident with the center axis of the yaw table, a stable load distribution state with no load bias with respect to the center axis including the yaw table is realized. Further, based on this assumption, it becomes possible to distribute the load evenly to a plurality of three or more race rings concentrically arranged on the center axis of the yaw table, and as a result, the center axis of the yaw table Therefore, the thrust load due to the weight of the load and the moment load due to the bias of the load of the load are not applied at all. Based on this result, the yaw table can be easily swiveled by the small output follow-up drive device. In addition, a rational design without waste can be adopted for the support tower for supporting the yaw table at a predetermined height above the ground on the assumption that the load on the support object is not unevenly distributed. Furthermore, it is possible to adopt a low-cost configuration with a small amount of underground burial for the ground foundation that supports the support tower.

  The horizontal axis type wind power generator according to the present invention has a pair of shaft support members arranged at two locations on both sides of the hub, with the main shaft supporting the hub having a predetermined number of blades formed in a double shaft type penetrating the hub. By adopting a basic configuration that supports two locations of the main shaft via the two, it is possible to support both ends of the windmill, and the arrangement form of these members as a whole can be arranged symmetrically about the hub, and The weight distribution is also bilaterally symmetric, and the overall center of gravity position of all these members can be made substantially coincident with the center position of the hub. Therefore, a yaw following mechanism for supporting these members so as to be rotatable, and the like. For the lower structure that supports the wind turbines such as the support tower and the ground foundation for supporting the members of the above to a predetermined height on the ground, by adopting a symmetry structure centered on the total center of gravity position of the wind turbines, It is possible to realize the entire force generating device as a stable structure which does not exist at all eccentric load. The stable state of the structure does not depend on the size of the structure, and therefore, the wind power generator can be scaled up and output without difficulty. As a result, it is possible to effectively utilize the few suitable wind power generation sites in Japan.

1 is a side view schematically showing an embodiment of a horizontal axis wind power generator of the present invention. It is a side view which shows typically the typical form of the conventional horizontal axis type wind power generator.

  Hereinafter, a horizontal axis wind power generator according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  The horizontal axis wind power generator of the present invention is roughly divided into an upper structure supported at a predetermined height above the ground and a lower structure supporting the upper structure. The upper structure is a power generator main body B in which members other than the blade 15 are housed in the nacelle 21, and the lower structure is a support tower 32 constructed using the ground foundation 33 as a scaffold, and the yaw following on the support tower 32. It is the turning tower 24 constructed | assembled so that turning operation | movement is freely possible via the mechanism Y (FIG. 1).

  The power generation apparatus main body B as the upper structure mainly includes a windmill W including a plurality of blades 15 and two generators C and C having the same specifications. The windmill W is a general propeller that includes a hub 16, a plurality of blades 15 that are fixedly or pitch-adjustable to the hub 16 at a base end portion, and a horizontal main shaft 17 that is a mounting member of the hub 16. This is a type of windmill W. However, the hub 16 has a characteristic.

  The hub 16 is formed in a cylindrical shape having both end faces instead of a general horizontal elliptical cone shape. Bearings 22 and 22 are respectively attached to the center positions of the end surfaces of the hub 16, and the main shaft 17 is inserted into the center position of the hub 16 through the bearings 22 and 22. The hub 16 is positioned at the center of the length of the main shaft 17, and the shaft end portions of the main shaft 17 inserted through both sides of the hub 16 protrude at the same length. The hub 16 can rotate relative to the main shaft 17 via the bearings 22 and 22 in the positioned position. That is, the main shaft 17 in the present embodiment is a rotating shaft of the hub 16 and does not have a function of transmitting the torque of the windmill W.

  Both ends of the main shaft 17 projecting to the left and right of the hub 16 are horizontally supported by a pair of shaft support members 20, 20 arranged in a posture of facing the revolving tower 24. The shaft support members 20, 20 used here are shaft support pillows 6 that support the main shaft 17 in a non-rotatable manner, that is, in a fixed state, but in the case of “shaft support pillow”, the main shaft 17 is fixedly fixed. As long as it can hold | maintain, it shall contain the general mechanism member which has a shaft support bracket or another equivalent shaft support function or a shaft grip function, for example.

  The rotors 18 and 18 of the generators C and C, each having a rotor coil mounted on the inner peripheral surface thereof, are directly connected to both end surfaces of the hub 16 in an arrangement manner in which they are in a back-to-back posture. In addition, stators 19 and 19 assembled with stator coils are attached to the inside of the rotors 18 and 18 at two locations on the main shaft 17. That is, each of the pair of rotors 18 and 18 and the stators 19 and 19 are respectively left and right positions of the hub 16, and the rotors 18 and 18 are directly connected by the hub 16 inside the pair of shaft support members 20 and 20. This constitutes a direct drive type outer rotor generator that is rotationally driven.

  The hub 16, the pair of generators C, C and the pair of shaft support members 20, 20 are arranged symmetrically about the rotation surface of the blade 15 of the windmill W. These are housed in a nacelle 21 that also has a symmetric ellipsoidal side shape, and constitutes a unit of power generator main body B that is an upper structure in the horizontal axis wind power generator of the present invention. The position of the center of gravity 23 of the power generator main body B is at the center position of the length of the main shaft 17 in the rotation surface of the blade 15.

  The lower structure in the horizontal axis type wind power generator of the present invention comprises a support tower 32 that is a fixed structure, a turning tower 24 that is a movable structure, and a yaw following mechanism Y that is a drive structure. The power generation device main body B is supported in order to give the device main body B a wind environment capable of exhibiting a desired function.

  The support steel tower 32 is a steel tower that can be assembled using the ground foundation 33 as a scaffold, and a recommended framework structure is a steel truss structure. To evoke the image, it is a steel tower with the same design concept as a high-voltage power transmission line steel tower. However, it is not necessary to have the same height as the high-voltage power transmission line tower, and the height is determined by the ventilation situation at the installation site. The outer shape of the support tower 32 is a polygon in a plan view and a symmetrical trapezoid in a front view and a side view. The support tower having such a structure directly supports the annular track 29 constituting the yaw following mechanism Y by a plurality of main poles 3P. In this state, the loads applied to the main poles 3P ... all support a compressive load of equal size and a lateral load due to wind pressure. The ground foundation 33 is a reinforced concrete foundation with a small amount of underground burial.

  The yaw following mechanism Y includes an annular track 29, a yaw table 25 that is attached to the support tower 32 via the central shaft 30 so as to be capable of turning, a follow-up drive device 31 that rotationally drives the yaw table 25 via the central shaft 30, A plurality of race rings 28 that support the outer periphery of the yaw table 25 are provided. These members are considered in terms of shape and number so as to be symmetrically arranged with respect to the center line CL of the support tower 32.

  The central axis 30 of the yaw following mechanism Y is attached in the vertical direction via an electric chamber 26 attached to the back surface of the yaw table 25. The central shaft 30 is positioned on a dedicated lateral member 27 provided inside the annular track 29 via a radial bearing. At this time, the center axis 30 of the yaw table 25 coincides with the center line CL of the support tower 32. The central shaft 30 passes through the lateral member 27 via a bearing, and a follow-up drive device 31 is connected to the lower end of the central shaft 30. Further, at least three or more track wheels 28 traveling on the annular track 29 are arranged at equiangular intervals on the outer peripheral portion on the back surface side of the yaw table 25. In other words, this is a support method in which the thrust load due to the weight of the load mounted on the yaw table 25 is evenly distributed to the plurality of races 28.

  The electrical chamber 26 attached to the back surface of the yaw table 25 stores all electrical equipment necessary for electrical control of the generator body B. The equipment to be stored includes equipment generally stored in the nacelle 21. This is to reduce the size and weight of the nacelle 21 and to lower the center of gravity of the entire horizontal axis wind power generator to increase the stability as a structure. The control method of the yaw following mechanism Y is a general method of performing feedback control by comparing wind direction information from a wind direction sensor (not shown) with the current direction of the nacelle 21. As the control frequency at this time, for example, even if it is an intermittent control system in which the yaw tracking mechanism is operated at regular intervals based on the average value of the wind direction for 10 minutes, the continuous control system in which the yaw tracking mechanism is operated continuously Any of these can be applied.

On the yaw table 25, the swivel tower 24 is assembled so that the constituent members are arranged symmetrically with respect to the center line CL of the support tower 32. The swivel tower has a frame structure with a plurality of main poles 2P. One of the pair of shaft support members 20 and 20 for the main shaft 17 described above is supported by a plurality of main poles 2P positioned in front of the rotating surface of the windmill W, and the other of the shaft support members 20 is the windmill. It is supported by a plurality of main poles 2P located behind W.

  The basic function of the swivel tower 24 is to support the power generator main body B at a height that clears the operating range of the blades 15 of the windmill W. Therefore, the extent to which a safety margin is added to the radius of the windmill W A height exceeding the height of is not required. However, on the other hand, there is a restriction that interfering frames or the like cannot be arranged in the rotation surface of the blade 15. However, in the present embodiment, the main shaft 17 of the windmill W is fixedly held by the shaft support pillows 6 and 6 as the pair of shaft support members 20 and 20, so that the plurality of main poles 2P. This structure functions as a substantial connecting member at the upper end, and effectively compensates for the lack of strength due to the limited framework of the swivel tower 24.

  In the lower structure in the horizontal axis type wind power generator of the present invention, the center of gravity of each component is located on the center line CL of the support tower 32 in the static state in which the upper structure is mounted by the above configuration. The static balance state is maintained even in a dynamic state in which the turning tower 24 on which the power generation device main body B is mounted turns in an arbitrary direction via the yaw following mechanism Y. This is because the operation center of the yaw following mechanism Y is also located on the center line CL of the support tower 32.

  Further, in the horizontal axis wind power generator as described above that realizes a perfectly balanced state both statically and dynamically, increasing or decreasing the scale does not cause any loss of balance. In other words, it is possible to stably and safely adapt to the downsizing of the wind power generator and the high output that the present application is aiming for.

  Next, the concept of another applied embodiment based on the embodiment of the horizontal axis wind power generator of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 (each illustration is omitted).

(Other embodiment 1)
In the basic embodiment, the main shaft 17 is fixedly supported by the pair of shaft support pillows 6 and 6 as the single shaft support members 20 and 20, and the windmill W rotates with respect to the main shaft 17. Conversely, the wind turbine W may be fixed to the main shaft 17 and the main shaft 17 to which the wind turbine W is attached may be rotatably supported by the shaft support members 20 and 20. This configuration can be easily realized by directly connecting the hub 16 and the main shaft 17 and using the bearing 7 as each shaft support member 20. The advantage of such an application mode is that the torque generated in the wind turbine W can be transmitted to an arbitrary position via the main shaft 17, thereby ensuring the degree of freedom of the installation position of the generator C.

(Other embodiment 2)
Furthermore, in the application form in which the main shaft 17 rotates, in addition to the pair of outer rotor generators C and C in the basic embodiment, one or more pairs of arbitrary types of power generation are further provided at the left and right shaft ends of the main shaft 17. A machine can also be installed. In such an application, for example, both ends of the main shaft 17 are provided so as to penetrate the bearings 7 and 7 as the shaft support members 20 and 20, and the shaft support members 20 and 20 are attached to both shaft ends of the main shaft 17 penetrated. This can be realized by connecting additional generators installed adjacent to each other.

W windmill,
C generator,
Y yaw following mechanism,
Center line of CL support tower 6 axis support pillow,
7 bearing 15 blade,
16 hub,
17 spindle,
20 shaft support member,
23 The center of gravity of the generator body,
25 Yaw table,
27
29 Annular orbit,
30 central axis,
31 Following drive

Claims (5)

Mounted on a yaw tracking mechanism that can adjust the direction of the wind turbine by following the wind direction, and a wind turbine in which a plurality of blades are radially arranged on the main shaft via a hub, and a generator driven by the wind turbine In the horizontal axis wind power generator
The main shaft is formed into a double shaft type penetrating the hub, and the wind turbine is supported at both ends by supporting the main shaft via shaft support members disposed at two positions on both sides of the hub of the main shaft. A horizontal axis wind power generator.   The horizontal-axis type wind power generator according to claim 1, wherein a pair of generators or a plurality of pairs of generators that are rotationally driven by the wind turbines are arranged at two locations on both sides of the wind turbines that are both supported by the main shaft. .   The shaft support member of the main shaft is a bearing that rotatably supports the main shaft, and transmits the rotation of the windmill to one or more pairs of generators via the main shaft. Or the horizontal axis type wind power generator of Claim 2.   The shaft support member of the main shaft is a shaft support pillow that supports the main shaft in a non-rotatable manner, and transmits the rotation of the windmill directly from the hub to one or more pairs of generators. The horizontal axis type wind power generator according to claim 1 or claim 2. The yaw following mechanism includes a yaw table that is supported to freely turn by a central axis in the vertical direction and a plurality of three or more race wheels that run on an annular track concentrically arranged with respect to the central axis, and the yaw table It consists of a follow-up drive device that adjusts the direction following the wind direction,
The yaw table is mounted so that the total center of gravity of the windmill and the generator is substantially coincident with the central axis, and the central axis maintains the turning operation center of the yaw following mechanism during the turning operation of the yaw table, The wind turbine for a horizontal axis type wind power generator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the plurality of race rings distribute and bear the weight of a mounting member mounted on a yaw table.

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