Introducing a hydraulic soft yaw concept for wind turbines leads to significant load reductions in the wind turbine structure. The soft yaw system operates as a shock absorption system on a car, hence absorbing the loading from turbulent wind conditions instead of leading them into the stiff wind turbine structure. Results presented shows fatigue reductions of up to 40% and ultimate load reductions of up to 19%. The ultimate load reduction increases even more when the over load protection system in the hydraulic soft yaw system is introduced and results show how the exact extreme load cut off operates. The soft yaw systems influence the power production of the turbine is further analyzed. It is shown that the influence is minimal, but at larger yaw errors the effect is positive. The hydraulic soft yaw system introduces such functions as even load distribution on the pinions, fatigue and ultimate load reduction and backlash compensation making it is possible to increase the number of yaw activations without compromising the lifetime of the components. By increasing the number of activations, the average yaw error may be lowered and hence the energy production raised below rated wind speed.
Hydraulic Soft Yaw System Load Reduction and Prototype Results
EWEC, European Wind Energy Conference, 2013 ; 1189-1198
2013
10 Seiten, Bilder, Tabellen, 3 Quellen
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Englisch
Europäisches Patentamt | 2024
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