EP3762606A1

EP3762606A1 - Rotor bearing housing, and wind power plant having a rotor bearing housing

Info

Publication number: EP3762606A1
Application number: EP19731134.3A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Markus Rees
Original assignee: Aerodyn Energiesysteme GmbH
Current assignee: Aerovide GmbH
Priority date: 2018-06-08
Filing date: 2019-05-29
Publication date: 2021-01-13
Also published as: DE102018113760B4; DE102018113760A1; KR20210006433A; KR102473253B1; JP2021523322A; CN114270033B; CN114270033A; WO2019233522A1

Abstract

Rotor bearing housing (10) for receiving a rotor (120) of a wind power plant (100), having a circular tower connector (20) and a rotor bearing which has two sleeve bearings (30, 40) which are spaced apart from one another for mounting a rotor shaft (130), characterized in that the sleeve bearings (30, 40) are configured as tapered roller bearings and are arranged inside the tower connector (20) in plan view, wherein the active bearing means of the sleeve bearings (30, 40) are arranged outside the tower connector (20) in plan view.

Description

ROTOR BEARINGS AND WIND POWER PLANT WITH

ROTOR BEARING HOUSING

The invention relates to a rotor bearing housing for receiving a rotor of a

Wind turbine, with a circular turmanschluss and a two spaced-apart ring bearing having rotor bearing for receiving a rotor. The invention also relates to a wind energy plant comprising a tower, a rotor bearing housing arranged on the tower, a rotor mounted in the rotor bearing housing, which has a rotor shaft, a rotor hub connected to the rotor shaft by means of a rotor flange and at least one rotor blade connected to the rotor hub, and one with the rotor blade Rotor connected generator.

The increasing worldwide demand for renewable energy, especially wind energy, together with the rapid decline of suitable locations for wind turbines with sufficient wind speeds leads to the development of ever larger and more efficient wind turbines. This results in the increase in the

Plant performance in ever larger masses and dimensions of the components to be transported and erected and represents a major challenge for logistics in many locations. Insofar the width and height and the total weight of the gondolas of such wind turbines exceeds the permissible limits for road transport more and more. Similarly, the steadily increasing system performance in the offshore sector requires a reduction of tower head masses and dimensions in order to further reduce the costs for the construction of the wind energy plants, the foundation structures and for the construction.

A goal for the development of new wind turbines is therefore always to keep the dimensions and dimensions of the nacelle as small as possible and to further reduce the manufacturing costs in order to increase the efficiency of the wind turbines. The

Use of a compact gear generator unit with low gear ratio and medium speed generator (hybrid drive) provides, especially for large

Wind turbines, the best compromise between the two traditional ones

Drive train concepts with directly driven generator and high-speed generator high gear ratio in terms of dimensions, mass, reliability and cost.

DE10 2007 012 408 already shows a very compact design, here the

Rotor bearing, the gear and the generator is arranged in the power flow of the wind turbine between Rotomabe and tower head and thus on the one hand an exchange of these

Components in case of damage can only be done by a complete disassembly of the entire rotor and drive train which has a negative impact on the maintenance costs of such systems and at the same time the housing of these components must transmit all rotor loads resulting in undesirable deformations in said components, which in turn the function and the Life of the components can adversely affect, and the housing must be made very stiff.

The US 8,907,517 shows a bearing unit which is connected to a transmission-generator unit and thus the transmission of the rotor loads is not done by the housing of the transmission and the generator. A disadvantage of the illustrated solution, however, is the further required connection of the bearing unit with the underlying machine carrier by means of several non-circular executed Flanschschraubflächen and the resulting unfavorable shape of the bearing unit and the machine carrier leads to voltage spikes in the flange and the need for additional mechanical

Machining the flange surfaces and the additional screw connections which leads to an increase in the dimensions, the weight and the manufacturing costs.

The US 4,527,072 shows a tubular support structure in which, however, parts of the gear and generator support structure are integrated and the rotor bearing is arranged to accommodate all rotor forces in front of the tubular support structure in a separate housing. This results in a disadvantageous introduction of force of the rotor loads in the cylindrical support structure, an increased production costs due to the additional required flange connections and the problem of necessary in case of gearbox damage complete disassembly of the nacelle.

Finally, CN 201386629 Y shows by way of example the rotor bearing housing mentioned at the outset, which is designed in particular in one piece. This has a circular tower connection, on which a horizontally extending portion is arranged, in which two spaced ring bearings are received for receiving the rotor shaft of a rotor. The disadvantage of this embodiment lies in the design-related space-consuming design, which precludes the formation of a compact wind turbine.

The object of the invention is to provide a nacelle, which has a compact and lightweight design and at the same time allows the exchange of important drive strand components on the site without lifting the entire nacelle from the tower and dismantle.

This object is achieved by the rotor bearing housing with the features of claim 1. The object is also achieved by the wind energy plant with the features of claim 8. The dependent claims give each advantageous embodiments of the invention.

The basic idea of the invention is the rotor bearing housing as a central unit

To design, which - as is known - acts as a rotor bearing unit and at the same time connects all components of the nacelle together. Thus, the components commonly used in other constructions machine carrier, second bearing housing and

Generator carrier to accommodate nacelle components superfluous.

In particular, according to the invention results from the use of only one central rotor bearing unit significantly reduced manufacturing costs and processing costs for the mechanical parts of the wind turbine and compared to already known wind turbines very compact design while maintaining the modularity and interchangeability of the gear generator unit without disassembly of the entire drivetrain Rotor.

In particular, by the arrangement of the two ring bearings on the

Flange connection surface to the azimuth bearing ensures optimum force transmission of the transverse forces transmitted into the bearing in the underlying structure of the rotor bearing unit. The bearing distance is thus essentially as large as the diameter of the lower

Flange connection surface of the rotor bearing housing. Together with the for the power flow in the rotor bearing housing very advantageous shape, consisting essentially of intersecting cylindrical and

conical bodies, resulting in the rotor bearing housing particularly low stresses and deformations which lead to a significant reduction in weight compared to conventional solutions.

By virtue of the rotor bearing housing of the invention, which is very compact, there is also a small distance between the rotor circuit surface and the tower wall of the wind energy plant. The housing of the self-supporting, separate gear-generator unit, which is preferably designed as a hybrid drive is firmly bolted to the rotor bearing housing, whereby an additional machine carrier or generator support for receiving the weight loads of the two components, as well as arranged on both sides of the transmission housing Torque support for receiving the driveline torque can be saved.

The connection of the rotor shaft with the transmission input shaft is either via a compensating coupling or by a fixed flange connection between the two parts. By eliminating the separate machine carrier and the torque arm results in comparison to other constructions significantly reduced overall width and

Total length of the drive train.

The rotor bearing housing is bolted to the lower flange connection with the azimuth bearing and is directly rotatable by means of the azimuth bearing with the uppermost

Connected tower segment. To minimize the transport width of the nacelle, the

To reduce the diameter of the azimuth bearing as much as possible. The small distance between rotor surface and tower axis, caused by the very compact

Rotor bearing housing, and the smallest possible diameter of the azimuth bearing can be realized in particular by a downwind arrangement of the rotor as a leeward runner and the waiver of an active Windrichtungsnachführung (Free Yaw or passive

Direction of rotation).

Due to the Downwind arrangement can be much smaller distances between

Rotorkreisfläche and tower wall can be realized as in the usual upwind arrangement The rotor as a windward runner, since the rotor blades in a Downwind arrangement in normal operation due to the wind loads occurring bend away from the tower.

An upwind arrangement with active wind direction snachführung would require the application of a certain torque to the tower axis to the nacelle of

Be able to track wind direction actively. The occurring wind forces act in this case normally the direction of movement, so they do not support. This required torque must be realized in an active wind direction snachführung by a suitable number of Yaw drives and by a sufficiently large diameter of the azimuth bearing. An active wind direction snachführung thus obstructs the desired minimization of the diameter of the azimuth bearing hindrance.

In the particularly preferred provided Downwind arrangement with passive

Wind direction snachführung However, no moment must be generated around the tower axis for the wind direction snachführung the nacelle, since the nacelle is tracked by the wind loads occurring on the rotor passively on the wind vane principle. Therefore, no yaw drives are necessary and the diameter of the azimuth bearing can be dimensioned solely due to the bending moments to be transmitted and minimized as desired.

Nevertheless, azimuth brakes are arranged on the rotor bearing housing and can apply a braking torque to a brake disk firmly connected to the tower. The azimuth brakes here are such that the braking torque is adjustable between zero and a maximum value. This allows the azimuth movement of the nacelle in certain

Operating states or error cases are limited by the activation of the azimuth brakes to an allowable value of the rotational speed or spin. This limitation is especially necessary to avoid improper system operating conditions due to excessive yaw velocities or yaw accelerations, which can cause component overloads and damage.

A slip ring unit transfers the electrical power and necessary control signals from the rotating nacelle to the fixed tower. In the case of concepts with active wind direction, snach guidance is performed after a certain maximum permissible number Gondola revolutions Necessary unwinding of the power cables is not necessary in the above-described use of a slip ring unit accordingly.

For passive wind direction tracking, there is a certain deviation of the nacelle position from the mean wind direction depending on the average wind speed and other wind parameters. This deviation can be passive

Wind direction tracking not actively compensated as otherwise active

Wind direction tracking usual. As a result of the preferred use according to the invention of a lateral axial offset between the rotor axis and the tower vertical axis, this wind direction deviation can be minimized for the wind speed to be expected with the largest percentage share of the energy yield.

According to the invention, therefore, a rotor bearing housing for receiving a rotor of a wind turbine is proposed, wherein the rotor bearing housing has a circular tower connection and a two spaced-apart ring bearing exhibiting rotor bearing for supporting a rotor shaft, wherein the ring bearings arranged in plan view within the tower connection, ie within the circumference of the tower connection are. The ring bearings are designed so that the effective bearing centers of the ring bearing in

Top view are arranged outside the tower connection. This can be easily accomplished in particular by the ring bearings are designed as tapered roller bearings.

The rotor bearing housing further preferably has a substantially vertically extending portion, on the underside of the circular tower connection is formed and which is integrally formed with a substantially horizontally extending portion which receives the rotor bearing. The vertical section is specially designed conical, wherein the rotor bearing housing is particularly preferably formed from a hollow cone blended with a hollow cylinder.

Specifically, in the vertically extending portion, a first manhole for entry through the tower port into the vertical portion of the rotor bearing housing and a second manhole for passage from the vertical portion of the rotor bearing housing into the area outside the rotor bearing housing are provided. This allows a compact Construction and at the same time the passage from the tower of a wind turbine through the rotor bearing housing in the nacelle formed by the nacelle cover.

Furthermore, a connecting flange extending at an angle of substantially 90 ° for the attachment of a generator housing is preferably provided.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the imaginary axis does not pass through the center of the tower connection through the effective bearing centers of the ring bearings.

Accordingly, a wind turbine is claimed, with a tower, arranged on the tower rotor bearing housing, which is formed as previously formed, a rotor bearing housing in the rotor bearing housing a rotor shaft, connected to the rotor shaft by means of a rotor flange Rotomabe and at least one with the rotor hub

having connected rotor blade, and a generator connected to the rotor shaft.

The wind energy plant preferably has a arranged at the upper end of the tower, two mutually rotatable bearing elements exhibiting azimuth system, wherein the

Rotor bearing housing forms the upper bearing element of the azimuth system.

The distance of the ring bearings to one another substantially corresponds to the diameter of the upper section of the tower in the area of the azimuth system. In particular, the

Diameter of the upper section of the tower in the area of the azimuth system maximum 15% greater than the distance between the ring bearings to each other. Specifically, the diameter of the upper section of the tower in the area of the azimuth system is at most 10% greater than the distance between the ring bearings to each other.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the diameter of the rotor flange also essentially corresponds to the distance of the ring bearings from each other and / or in the

Essentially the diameter of the upper section of the tower in the area of

Azimuth Systems. Preferably, the diameter of the rotor flange and the diameter of the upper portion of the tower in the region of the azimuth system in relation to the distance of the ring bearings are at most 15% larger or smaller. Particularly preferred are the diameter of the Rotor flange and the diameter of the upper section of the tower in the area of the azimuth system in relation to the distance of the ring bearing maximum 10% larger or smaller.

By this preferred embodiment, an optimal power flow from the rotor is achieved in the tower.

The rotor axis preferably extends outside the tower center in order to counteract the skewed position of the nacelle relative to the wind direction due to the geometry selected during a passive wind direction tracking.

Preferably, the connection flange of the rotor bearing housing is connected to a generator housing receiving the generator. In this case, the rotor shaft is preferably connected to the generator by means of a transmission. Particularly preferably, the transmission and the generator are designed as hybrid drive.

Furthermore, azimuth brakes are preferably arranged on the rotor bearing housing.

Finally, an inventively designed wind turbine is preferably designed as a lee runner.

The invention achieves a very compact design, increases the reliability of the wind turbine and at the same time ensures replacement of the components with the highest risk of failure without complete dismantling of the nacelle. Compared to other power train concepts, this results in significant advantages in terms of investment costs and lifetime costs of inventively designed

W indenergieanlagen.

The invention will be described below with reference to the attached drawings

illustrated, particularly preferred embodiment configured explained. Show it:

Figure 1 is a schematic sectional view of a particularly preferred designed wind turbine in the gondola. and Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the wind turbine of Fig. 1 without

Gondola fairing.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic sectional view of a wind turbine according to the invention in the region of the nacelle, which is particularly preferred as a leeward rotor.

The wind turbine 100 which is particularly preferably configured comprises a tower 110, a rotor bearing housing 10 arranged on the tower 110, a rotor 120 mounted in the rotor bearing housing 10 with a rotor shaft 130, a rotor hub 140 connected to the rotor shaft 130 by means of a rotor flange and a plurality of Rotor blades 150 connected to the rotor hub 140 and a generator connected to the rotor shaft 130 and received by a generator housing 160.

It can be clearly seen that the rotor bearing housing 10 with a circular

Turmanschluss 20 is formed, which forms the upper bearing element of the azimuth system. The rotor bearing housing 10 also accommodates two spaced-apart ring bearings 30, 40, which are formed as tapered roller bearings. As the sectional view shows, the ring bearings 30, 40 are disposed within the circumference of the tower connection 20, wherein the ring bearings 30, 40 are formed so that the effective bearing centers of the ring bearings 30, 40 are outside the tower circumference.

The distance between the ring bearings 30, 40 to one another corresponds approximately to the diameter of the upper portion of the tower 110 in the region of the azimuth system. In this case, the difference between the diameter of the upper portion of the tower 110 in the region of

Azimutsystems the distance between the ring bearings 30, 40 to each other less than 10% based on the distance between the ring bearings 30, 40 to each other.

Likewise, the diameter of the rotor flange substantially corresponds to the distance between the ring bearings 30, 40 to each other and also substantially the diameter of the upper portion of the tower 110 in the region of the azimuth system. In the example shown, the difference between the diameter of the rotor flange and the diameter of the upper portion of the tower 110 in the region of the azimuth system in relation to the distance Ring bearing 30, 40 to each other less than ± 10% based on the distance between the ring bearings.

Finally, Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of the wind turbine of Fig. 1 without nacelle cover.

It can be clearly seen that the rotor bearing housing 10, which is rotatably mounted on the tower 110 of the wind turbine 100 configured as a leeward rotor, has a substantially vertically extending section 12, on the underside of which the circular tower connection 20 is formed, and a substantially horizontally extending section Section 14, which receives the rotor bearing is formed. In this case, the two sections 12, 14 are integrally formed, wherein the vertical portion 12 is conical and the horizontal portion is cylindrical. In particular, the rotor bearing housing 10 is made of a hollow cone 12 which has been cut with a hollow cylinder 14.

In the vertically extending portion 12, a first manhole for entry through the tower connection 20 is arranged in the vertical portion 12 of the rotor bearing housing 10, wherein additionally arranged in the vertically extending wall of the vertical portion 12 second manhole 50 for the passage from the vertical portion 12th the rotor bearing housing 10 is provided in the area outside the rotor bearing housing 10.

Finally, it can be seen in Fig. 2 that the wind turbine 100 with at

Rotor bearing housing 10 arranged azimuth brakes 170 is equipped.

Claims

1. rotor bearing housing (10) for receiving a rotor (120) of a wind turbine (100), with a circular turbine port (20) and a two spaced-apart ring bearing (30, 40) having rotor bearing for supporting a

Rotor shaft (130), characterized in that the ring bearings (30, 40) formed as a tapered roller bearing and are arranged in plan view within the turmanschlusses (20), wherein the effective bearing centers of the ring bearing (30, 40) in plan view outside of the turmanschlusses (20) are arranged.

Second rotor bearing housing (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by a substantially vertically extending portion (12), on the underside of the circular tower connection (20) is formed and with a substantially horizontally extending portion (14), which receives the rotor bearing, is integrally formed.

3. rotor bearing housing (10) according to claim 2, characterized in that the vertical portion (12) is conical.

4. rotor bearing housing (10) according to any one of claims 2 and 3, characterized in that the rotor bearing housing (10) consists of a with a hollow cylinder (14)

blended hollow cone (12) is formed.

5. rotor bearing housing (10) according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized by a vertically extending portion (12) arranged in the first manhole for entry through the tower connection (20) in the vertical portion (12) of the

Rotor bearing housing (10) and provided in a wall of the vertical portion (12) second manhole (50) for the passage from the vertical portion (12) of the rotor bearing housing (10) in the area outside the rotor bearing housing (10).

6. rotor bearing housing (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by a at an angle of substantially 90 ° to the tower connection (20) extending connecting flange for the attachment of a generator housing.

7. rotor bearing housing (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized

characterized in that the imaginary axis through the effective bearing centers of the ring bearings (30, 40) does not pass through the center of the tower connection (20).

8. Wind energy plant (100) with a tower (110), one on the tower (110)

arranged rotor bearing housing (10) according to one of the preceding claims, a rotor bearing housing (10) mounted rotor (120) having a rotor shaft (130) connected to the rotor shaft (130) by means of a rotor flange Rotomabe (140) and at least one with the Rotomabe (140) connected rotor blade (150), and a generator connected to the rotor shaft (130).

9. Wind energy plant (100) according to claim 8, characterized by a at the upper end of the tower (110) arranged, two mutually rotatable bearing elements exhibiting azimuth system, wherein the rotor bearing housing (10) the upper

Bearing element of the azimuth system forms.

10. Wind turbine (100) according to any one of claims 8 and 9, characterized in that the distance between the ring bearings (30, 40) to each other substantially the diameter of the upper portion of the tower (110) in the region of

Azimuth system corresponds.

11. Wind turbine (100) according to claim 10, characterized in that the

Diameter of the upper portion of the tower (110) in the region of the azimuth system is at most 15% greater than the distance between the ring bearings (30, 40) to each other.

12. Wind energy plant (100) according to any one of claims 10 and 11, characterized

characterized in that the diameter of the upper portion of the tower (110) in the region of the azimuth system is at most 10% greater than the distance between the ring bearings (30, 40) to each other.

13. Wind energy plant (100) according to one of claims 8 to 12, characterized

characterized in that the diameter of the rotor flange substantially to the distance of the ring bearings (30, 40) to each other and / or substantially the

Diameter of the upper portion of the tower (110) corresponds in the range of the azimuth system.

14. Wind turbine according to one of claims 8 to 13, characterized in that the diameter of the rotor flange and the diameter of the upper portion of the tower (110) in the region of the azimuth system in relation to the distance of the ring bearings (30, 40) at most 15% larger or is smaller.

15. Wind turbine according to one of claims 8 to 14, characterized in that the diameter of the rotor flange and the diameter of the upper portion of the Tower (110) in the region of the azimuth system in relation to the distance of the ring bearings (30, 40) is not more than 10% larger or smaller.

16. Wind energy plant (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized

characterized in that the rotor axis extends outside the tower center.

17. Wind energy plant (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized

in that the connecting flange of the rotor bearing housing (10) is connected to a generator housing (160) accommodating the generator.

18. Wind energy plant (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized

characterized in that the rotor shaft (130) is connected to the generator by means of a gearbox.

19. Wind energy plant (100) according to claim 18, characterized in that the

Gear and the generator are designed as hybrid drive.

20. Wind turbine (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by the rotor bearing housing (10) arranged azimuth brakes (170).

21. Wind energy plant (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized

characterized in that the wind turbine (100) is designed as a leeward rotor.