KR20100090499A - Wind turbine nacelle with integral service crane for accessing turbine components - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A wind turbine nacelle with an integrated service crane for accessing turbine components is provided to reduce costs for maintenance and repair of the wind turbine so that clean energy costs may be reduced. CONSTITUTION: A wind turbine nacelle with an integrated service crane for accessing turbine components comprises a movable main crane beam(128), a first frame(146), and a fixed front frame(124). The movable main crane beam comprises a track(154) for guiding a trolley(156). In the first frame, a crane beam is connected to a hinge(144). The fixed front frame is connected to a distal end of a crane beam. The track is designed as an over head monorail. The first frame is attached to the nacelle bottom.

Description

WIND TURBINE NACELLE WITH INTEGRAL SERVICE CRANE FOR ACCESSING TURBINE COMPONENTS}

The present invention relates to a wind turbine housed in a nussel at the top of a high tower, and more particularly to an integrated service crane for accessing turbine components at the top of a high tower.

Wind power costs are decreasing due to technological advances and economies of scale. The average turbine size is currently about 1.5 MW with rotors ranging in diameter from 70 m to 85 m. Turbines of this grade have an average of 50 tonnes of nussel (generator, gear box and nussel housing) and about 35 tonnes of rotor. To improve the economics of wind turbines, manufacturers have designed higher towers to use greater wind energy at higher altitudes from the ground. Manufacturers are increasingly relying on 80m and 100m tower designs than previously used lower towers. The cost of unloading or lifting the load from or to the top of a high ground-based tower for repair can be very expensive mainly due to the reach of conventional cranes that require greater crane capacity than the actual load to be loaded. This is due to the bending moment arising from the reach of the conventional crane.

U. S. Patent No. 6,955, 025 discloses a method of raising a wind turbine tower in which the nussel and the turbine generator housed therein are raised together such that once the tower is raised there will be a nussel at the top of the tower. Lowering the tower and the nussel to replace the nussel and the turbine is possible using the method disclosed above. However, lowering the entire nussel for routine maintenance or replacement of just one component, such as a generator, is not cost effective. Only the defective parts need to be unloaded.

According to the prior art method according to the prior art, using a typical crane in the ground, the drive train or parts thereof are lifted up past the top of the nussel, which is located at the top of the high tower. The drive train or component is then lowered through a hatch door at the top of the nussel. The reverse procedure is used to remove and unload parts for repair.

A 400 to 600 ton crane is required to raise the 50 ton drive train. This high capacity is necessary because of the large bending moments associated with crane reach.

In general, to take parts out of the top of the nussel and lower them to the ground for repair or replacement, wind turbines require cranes or special equipment that must be moved to the place where the wind turbine is installed to remove the top of the nussel and access the parts. .

This increases the actual cost for repair and replacement parts, resulting in an increase in energy costs.

There is a need to provide a device that facilitates repair and replacement of wind turbine components and lowers such repair and replacement costs.

The service crane for a wind turbine is part of the crane beam as a first frame comprising a movable main crane beam with a trolley guiding track and a hinge of a pivot point. A first frame connected to the hinge so that the crane beam extends beyond the pivot point, and a fixed beam connected to the distal end of the crane beam such that, in the fixed beam, the crane beam can move laterally along the fixed beam. do.

 The service crane is a component of the wind turbine structure, allowing repair and replacement of parts at any time. By using existing structures, lifting cranes can be cost-effective, reliable and tailored to the required workload. This contributes to lower clean energy costs by lowering the cost of maintenance and repair of wind turbines.

In short, the present invention relates to a wind turbine service crane for raising high load turbine components to the top of very high towers 80m to 100m.

The service crane for a wind turbine is part of the crane beam as a first frame comprising a movable main crane beam with a trolley guiding track and a hinge of a pivot point. A first frame connected to the hinge so that the crane beam extends beyond the pivot point, and a fixed beam connected to the distal end of the crane beam such that, in the fixed beam, the crane beam can move laterally along the fixed beam. do.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the service crane comprises a main crane beam having a track on which the trolley can move. A hinge is provided at a pivot point near the proximate end of the beam such that an aft portion of the beam extends beyond the pivot point to the outside of the turbine, the hinge being attached to the bottom of the nussel and connected to the main beam. Supported by the rear frame.

The distal end of the beam lies on a front beam supported by a forward frame attached to the bottom of the nussel.

A lateral motion actuator operatively connected to the main beam moves the main beam back and forth along the front beam. The trolley includes a longitudinal motion actuator to move back and forth along the main beam.

In operation, the trolley moves into the interior of the turbine and the turbine parts are attached to hooks lowered by cables from the trolley. With the part attached to the hook, the trolley moves to the rear of the main beam extending beyond the turbine. The hook is then lowered to the ground so that the part can be repaired or replaced.

The on-board service crane includes a service crane structure that supports the housing and provides a housing access outside of the nussel from service altitude through the housing door.

The service crane makes it possible to repair wind turbine tower tops without the need for large cranes.

The capacity of the service crane is comparable to the load to be loaded. Since the crane is a component of the nussel, the present invention requires that the ground-based crane or special device to remove the top of the nussel and access the part to the wind turbine installation site for removal or lowering the part for repair or replacement. There is an advantage that does not need to.

The present invention has the advantage of lowering the cost of clean energy (clean energy) by reducing the cost of repair and repair of the wind turbine.

The invention is described in detail below with reference to the following drawings.

<Actual example>

Reference is made to FIG. 1, which is a perspective view of a crane installed in the nussel to lift the turbine parts up to the nussel located in the tower. On-load service crane with 2 ton capacity is installed at the rear of the nussel. The parts are lowered and the service tool and other materials are raised from the ground through a swing door or roll down door located at the rear of the nussel. The crane enables the service of brakes, yaw motors, generators, gear box pinion cartridges and other components.

Since even a small capacity service crane need not be called, the use of the onboard service crane is expected to generate a positive benefit in both scheduled and unscheduled repair costs.

Reference is made to FIG. 2, which is a front view of the nussel shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3, which is a side view of the port of the nussel shown in FIG. The service crane structure supports the sides and top of the nussel. Wind turbine components are accessed from the service altitude of the nussel outward through the back door as shown in FIG. 1 and through the right part in the diagram of FIG. 3.

The nussel is partially shown in FIG. 4 and designed in a conventional "bathtub" shape. The Nussel receives a turbine with four generators 100, 102, 104, 106 connected via a gearbox 108 to a main shaft 110 fixed by a main bearing 112 attached to the bottom of the bath. . The main shaft is three rotors rotated by wind power

It is connected to a rotor hub 116 which is traditionally equipped with blades 118, 120, and 122. The rotor blades rotate the main shaft and the main shaft moves gears in the gear box 108. The gear rotates a generator that produces electricity from wind power.

The nussel service crane comprises a bent I-beam shaped stationary forward frame 124, wherein the stationary front frame comprises a main bearing 112 and a movable eye beam of linear i-beam rail shape. Attached to beam 128, the rail-shaped crane beam has a fixed front frame 124 with its distal end defined by four rollers 134, 136 and two rollers opposite the rollers labeled '134, 136'. ) At least one of the rollers is connected to a lateral motion main beam actuator, such as a servo motor, that moves the main beam laterally during operation. Optionally, cable and pulley lateral movement actuators can be used for lateral movement.

The proximal end 142 of the rail-shaped crane beam 128 is attached via a hinge 144 to a fixed aft frame 146 mounted to the bottom of the nussel bath portion 114. The rail-shaped crane beam can rotate about the hinge axis 148 within the outer limits 150, 152 set by the length of the front frame on which its distal end lies.

The bottom 154 of the crane-rail eye-beam acts as an overhead mono-rail through which trolley 156 travels. The trolley is suspended from the overhead crane rail by four wheels 158, 160 and two wheels opposite the wheels labeled '158, 160' mounted across the crane rail eye-beam. At least one of the rollers is connected to a longitudinally moving trolley actuator, such as a servo motor, which, in operation, moves the trolley longitudinally along the crane rail. Optionally, cable and pulley longitudinal movement actuators can be used for longitudinal movement.

The trolley has hooks 166 that can be raised and lowered by cables and winches (not shown).

The hook may be attached to a component, such as one of the generators, for transportation to the proximal end of the crane rail outside the nussel. Since the crane rail is movable around the pivot point 148, any one generator can be accessed by a hook by moving the crane rail laterally. Fairing 170 is mounted to the proximal end 142 of the crane rail. The fairing is shaped to reduce drag that can cause yaw motion.

The winch device has the additional ability to operate the crane rail actuator to move the crane rail back and forth over the fixed front frame 124 and to operate the trolley actuator to move the trolley back and forth along the rail-shaped crane beam 128. In a pairing state. The trolley is freely movable past the rear frame 146 and out of the nussel and also into the fairing 170 which is outside of the nussel. Once attached, the hook 166 can be lowered to the ground by the cable for repair of the component once it has moved outside of the nussel.

The nussel is equipped with a swing or roll-up door 171 operated by the device in the fairing so that the trolley can exit the nussel rear. The FAA pod 172 pivots forward over the movable arm 174 to allow access. The crane supports the structural frame, the bent eye-beam fixed front frame 124, the fixed rear frame 146 mounted to the nussel tubing 114, and acts as structural support on the sides and top of the nussel turbine housing. .

The sides and top of the nussel are not shown in FIG. 4. The crane structure allows the parts to be horizontally transferred out of the nussel through the rear door 171 where the parts go down to the ground. According to the conventional design, the removal of the upper part of the nussel is required, and the part extraction is performed vertically. Lateral movement of the main crane beam 128 and movement of the crane trolley 156 along the beam allows access to all turbine components. The service crane is a component of the wind turbine structure, allowing repair and replacement of parts at any time. By using existing structures, lifting cranes can be cost-effective, reliable and tailored to the required workload. This contributes to lower clean energy costs by lowering the cost of maintenance and repair of wind turbines.

Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to particularly preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the foregoing and other changes in form and content of the invention can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. It will be understood by one.

1 is a perspective view of a crane installed in the nussel to lift the turbine parts up to the nussel located in the tower top;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the nussel shown in FIG. 1.

3 is a port side view of the nussel shown in FIG. 1.

4 is a perspective view of a nussel bed with a crane in the nussel;

Claims (1)

A first main frame 146 including a movable main crane beam 128 with a trolley 156 guiding track 154 and a hinge 144 of the pivot point 148 is part of the crane beam 128. The first frame 146 with the crane beam 128 connected to the hinge 144 so as to extend beyond the pivot point 148, and the crane beam 128 in the fixed front frame 124 with the fixed front frame 124. In a service crane for a wind turbine comprising a fixed front frame 124 connected to the distal end of the crane beam 128 so as to move laterally along the The track 154 is designed as an overhead monorail to which the trolley 156 can move, and the first frame 146 supports the lateral structure of the nussel and is attached to the bottom of the nussel crane.

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