Patent application number | Description | Published |
20120269625 | SYSTEM TO COOL THE NACELLE AND THE HEAT GENERATING COMPONENTS OF AN OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE - A system to cool the air inside a nacelle and the heat generating components housed in the nacelle of an offshore wind turbine is presented. An upper cooling circuit is disposed in the nacelle. A reservoir is disposed below the upper cooling circuit and has a lid that freely rotates about a vertical axis of the reservoir along with an inlet and an outlet pipe of the upper cooling circuit as the nacelle yaws, the vertical axis of the reservoir being coincident with a yaw axis of the nacelle. A lower cooling circuit is disposed below the reservoir. Coolant is circulated through the upper cooling circuit using a cooling pump disposed between the nacelle and the upper cooling circuit. The upper cooling circuit carries heat from the heat generating components and from the air inside the nacelle to the reservoir. The lower cooling circuit carries heat from the reservoir to the bottom of the tower and dissipates the heat to the sea water through a heat exchanger that is cooled by the sea water. | 10-25-2012 |
20120308383 | COOLING AND CLIMATE CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AN OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE - A system and method to cool the air inside the nacelle and the heat generating components, particularly of an offshore wind turbine is presented. The ambient air first enters an air handling unit near the tower bottom where the airborne water droplets and salt particles are removed. The clean air is then compressed adiabatically, thus increasing the dew point temperature of the water vapor in the air. The high pressure, high temperature air from the compressor is then cooled and dehumidified in a sea water-to-air heater exchanger or an air-to-air heat exchanger. The high pressure air from the heat exchanger then enters the turbine at the tower bottom and flows up to the nacelle where it is allowed to expand adiabatically in a duct. The duct helps direct the resulting cold air over the heat generating components. The cold air can also used to cool these components internally. The warm air ultimately exits the nacelle at the rear top. | 12-06-2012 |
20130056989 | ENERGY EFFICIENT CLIMATE CONTROL SYSTEM FOR AN OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE - An energy efficient climate control system for an offshore wind turbine that is integrated with the component cooling system is disclosed. The climate control system includes a cooling circuit adapted to carry heat generated by a component of the nacelle to outside the nacelle. The climate control system also includes an airflow system adapted to receive a warm outflow of coolant from the cooling circuit, across a variable flow control valve, the airflow system supplying clean ambient air to the nacelle at a predetermined relative humidity. The variable flow control valve regulates a flow rate of the coolant through the airflow system to adjust the relative humidity of the air entering the nacelle. | 03-07-2013 |
20130071236 | COOLING AND CLIMATE CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR A WIND TURBINE - A system to cool the air inside a nacelle of a wind turbine including the heat generating components such as the drivetrain, the electrical generator, the converter, and the transformer. The system has an upper cooling circuit, with a reservoir disposed below the nacelle. The reservoir has at least one pair of annular chambers and a lid that freely rotates about its axis and about the nacelle yaw axis. Coolant flows from a first annular chamber to a second annular chamber through a heat exchanger in the nacelle, thereby carrying heat from the nacelle to the second annular chamber. The system also has a lower cooling circuit, having a coil that connects the first annular chamber to the second annular chamber and being exposed to the outside of the wind turbine. Coolant flows from the second annular chamber to the first annular chamber through the coil, thereby dissipating the heat to ambient air. | 03-21-2013 |