Patents Examined by Thomas K Quigley
  • Patent number: 11566603
    Abstract: Provided is a method of feeding electric reactive power using a wind farm comprising wind turbines. The wind farm feeds a wind farm active power output and the wind farm active power output includes individual plant active power outputs each generated by one of the wind turbines. The wind farm feeds a wind farm reactive power output into the electrical supply network and the wind farm reactive power output includes individual plant reactive power outputs each generated by one of the wind turbines. The method includes determining a total wind farm reactive power output to be fed in by the wind farm and calculating, for each wind turbine, an individual plant reactive power output to be generated. The individual plant reactive power output is determined depending on the individual plant active power output and depending on the wind farm reactive power output to be fed in.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Wobben Properties GmbH
    Inventors: Johannes Brombach, Swantje Amelsberg, Kai Busker
  • Patent number: 11566602
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus for controlling noise of multiple wind turbines. The method includes: determining a noise-influencing sector of each of the multiple wind turbines, based on positions of the multiple wind turbines and a position of a noise-influencing site; acquiring a current wind direction; determining whether there is at least one wind turbine of the multiple wind turbine under the current wind direction operating in the noise-influencing sector; and limiting output power of the at least one wind turbine, in a case that the determination is positive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: BEIJING GOLDWIND SCIENCE & CREATION WINDPOWER EQUIPMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Fashun Ou
  • Patent number: 11569769
    Abstract: A method for operating a power generation system having a drivetrain connected to an electrical grid during one or more grid transient events includes receiving an indication of the one or more grid transient events occurring in the electrical grid. The method also includes selecting between a first set of drivetrain damping control settings or a different, set second set of drivetrain damping control settings based on the indication. The first set of drivetrain damping control settings is for handling a single, first grid transient event, whereas the second set of drivetrain damping control settings is for handling additional, subsequent grid transient events following the first transient event. The method also includes controlling the power generation system based on the selected first or second sets of the drivetrain damping control settings such that the power generation system can remain connected to the electrical grid during the grid transient event(s).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventors: Alfredo Sebastian Achilles, Miriam Monros Garrigosa, Nithya Anand
  • Patent number: 11566596
    Abstract: A buoyant wave energy device is disclosed that incorporates an open-bottomed tube of substantial length in which is partially enclosed a first body of water that oscillates in response to wave action. The device incorporates a buoy to which an upper end of the tube is connected and inside of which is trapped a second body of water of substantial mass. A differential phase in the oscillations of the water trapped in the tube, and the oscillations of the buoy of augmented mass, result in the periodic compression of a pocket of air trapped at the top of the tube, and in the subsequent expulsion of pressurized air through a turbine, thereby generating electrical power.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Lone Gull Holdings, Ltd.
    Inventors: Garth Alexander Sheldon-Coulson, Brian Lee Moffat, Daniel William Place
  • Patent number: 11549488
    Abstract: The method according to the invention for operating a wind turbine, comprising a tower and a rotor arranged at the top of the tower and having at least one rotor blade, which can be adjusted about a blade setting axis, has a first operating mode in which the at least one rotor blade has an operating angular position about the blade setting axis and a wind-force-dependent rotation of the rotor is converted into electrical power using a generator unit, which power is delivered from the wind turbine into an electrical network and/or stored, and a second operating mode in which the at least one rotor blade is adjusted by at least 60° and/or max. 110° about the blade setting axis relative to the operating angular position into a damping angular position, and a counter torque braking the rotor is controlled based on a vibration of the tower.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Service GmbH
    Inventors: Karsten Warfen, Timo Gosch-Pleß
  • Patent number: 11506173
    Abstract: A method for providing grid-forming control of a double-fed wind turbine generator connected to an electrical grid includes receiving at least one control signal associated with a desired total power output or a total current output of the double-fed wind turbine generator. The method also includes determining a contribution of at least one of power or current from the line-side converter to the desired total power output or to the total current output of the double-fed wind turbine generator, respectively. The method also includes determining a control command for a stator of the double-fed wind turbine generator based on the contribution of at least one of the power or the current from the line-side converter and the at least one control signal. Further, the method includes using the control command to regulate at least one of power or current in the stator of the double-fed wind-turbine generator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Dustin Howard, Einar Vaughn Larsen
  • Patent number: 11506174
    Abstract: A power control method and apparatus for a wind power generator. The power control method comprises: predicting, according to historical wind resource data, wind resource data within a predetermined future time period (S10); estimating, according to the remaining design lifetime of a wind power generator, the maximum design lifetime allowed to be consumed within the predetermined future time period (S20); determining, according to the predicted wind resource data and the estimated maximum design lifetime, optimal output powers of the wind power generator in respective wind velocity ranges within the predetermined future time period (S30); and controlling operation of the wind power generator according to the determined optimal output powers of the wind power generator in the respective wind velocity ranges within the predetermined future time period (S40).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignee: BEIJING GOLDWIND SCIENCE & CREATION WINDPOWER EQUIPMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Mengting Yu, Pengfei Zhang, Guilin Zhou, Minghui Wang
  • Patent number: 11486355
    Abstract: A method for operating an asynchronous doubly-fed wind turbine generator connected to a power grid in a grid-forming mode to emulate a virtual synchronous machine. The doubly-fed wind turbine generator includes a line-side converter coupled to a rotor-side converter via a direct current (DC) link. The method includes receiving, via a controller, at least one reference command from an external controller. The method also includes controlling rotor flux of the doubly-fed wind turbine generator using the at least one reference command. Further, the method includes providing power droop control for the doubly-fed wind turbine generator through at least one of rotor-side reference frame rotation and d-axis flux control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Hanchao Liu, Maozhong Gong, Di Pan, Yichao Zhang
  • Patent number: 11466655
    Abstract: A vehicle propulsion system comprises a combustion engine with a flywheel secured to a crank shaft of the engine. A starter motor and a generator are combined in one electric machine having a stator rigidly connected to a vehicle frame fixed part and provided with windings connected to an arrangement storing electric energy for being fed with electric energy from the arrangement in motor operation of the electric machine and feeding electric energy to the arrangement in generator operation of the electric machine and a rotor connected to the flywheel so as to make the rotor and flywheel rotating in dependence of each other. At least one of the stator and rotor has a member projecting into a recess portion of the other so as to form air gaps for magnetic flux between the rotor and the stator on both sides of the projecting member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: Scania CV AB
    Inventors: Mehran Arefi-Sigaroodi, Holger Dreher
  • Patent number: 11448190
    Abstract: A system for supplying electric power has at least one moving vehicle, a rotary element provided in the moving vehicle and rotatable by a wind when the moving vehicle is moving, at least one electrical battery provided in the moving vehicle and charging components of the moving vehicle, at least one electrical generator having a rotor connected with and rotatable by the rotary element when the rotary element is rotated during moving of the moving vehicle, so as to generate electric current, and an electrical connection for electrically connecting the electrical generator with the at least one electrical battery so that the at least one electrical battery is charged by the electric current generated by the electrical generator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Inventors: Mark Chak, Alexander Chak
  • Patent number: 11434863
    Abstract: A wave receiving plate is pivotably supported by a support device in the wave force generation system and includes a flexible plate in at least a part of the wave receiving plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignees: The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., The University of Tokyo
    Inventors: Gang Hou, Shigehiko Amano, Masato Tadokoro, Koji Motoyama, Koki Maruyama, Chang-Kyu Rheem, Hidetaka Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 11434872
    Abstract: A method and a system for controlling a wind turbine based on sectors. Original sectors of the wind turbine are reconstructed based on a wind resource parameter and a wake-flow effect. A load is calculated and superposed for a new sector obtained from the sector reconstruction. An optimization algorithm is applied, under a condition that a constraint condition of a fatigue load is met, to find an operation parameter for maximum power generation amount of the wind turbine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: BEIJING GOLDWIND SCIENCE & CREATION WINDPOWER EQUIPMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Pengfei Zhang, Cheng Fang, Guilin Zhou, Minghui Wang
  • Patent number: 11431225
    Abstract: The disclosure is directed to an apparatus for generating energy in response to a vehicle wheel rotation. The apparatus may include a first roller comprising a curved roller surface configured to be positioned in substantial physical contact with a first wheel of the vehicle. The first roller may be configured to rotate in response to a rotation of the first wheel. The apparatus may further include a first shaft rotatably couplable to the first roller such that rotation of the first roller causes the first shaft to rotate. The apparatus may further include a first generator operably coupled to the first shaft. The generator may be configured to generate an electrical output based on the rotation of the first shaft and convey the electrical output to an energy storage device or to a motor of the vehicle that converts electrical energy to mechanical energy to rotate one or more wheels of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Inventor: Anthony Macaluso
  • Patent number: 11401916
    Abstract: A method 300 of controlling a wind turbine generator is disclosed. The method comprises operating 302 the wind turbine in accordance with a power curve having a knee region and monitoring 304 a temperature of at least one thermal hotspot of the wind turbine generator. The method further comprises initiating 306 a power boost to temporarily increase an active power generated by the wind turbine generator above a rated power when the wind turbine generator enters the knee region of the power curve and controlling 312 at least one of a magnitude and a duration of the power boost in dependence on the temperature of the at least one thermal hotspot of the wind turbine generator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: Vestas Wind Systems A/S
    Inventors: Tusitha Abeyasekera, Sascha Dominic Erbslöh, Alex Pericleous
  • Patent number: 11394324
    Abstract: A method for operating a multi-level bridge power converter of an electrical power system includes connecting a plurality of phases of the power converter to a common terminal at a DC side of the power converter so as to effectively equate the plurality of phases at a common electrical potential. The method may also include monitoring, via a controller, a plurality of devices of the power converter for faults. Upon detection of a fault in one or more of the plurality of devices, the method includes activating, via the controller, one or more protection devices of a crowbar of the power converter to prevent additional faults from occurring in remaining devices of the plurality of devices by diverting energy away from the remaining devices of the plurality of devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Bacil Shaqqo, Fernando Arturo Ramirez Sanchez, Steven Wade Sutherland
  • Patent number: 11384730
    Abstract: A method for controlling a multirotor wind turbine is disclosed. A first operational state of each of the energy generating units of the wind turbine is obtained. A difference in thrust acting on at least two of the energy generating units is detected. At least one constraint parameter of the set of operational constraints is adjusted in accordance with prevailing operating conditions and in accordance with the detected difference in thrust, and a new operational state for at least one of the energy generating units is derived, based on the at least one adjusted constraint parameter, the new operational state(s) counteracting the detected difference in thrust. Finally, the wind turbine is controlled in accordance with the new operational states for the energy generating units.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: VESTAS WIND SYSTEMS A/S
    Inventors: Søren Dalsgaard, Jesper Lykkegaard Neubauer, Kim Hylling Sørensen, Jacob Brøchner, Erik Carl Lehnskov Miranda, Peter Bøttcher, Julio Xavier Vianna Neto, Torben Petersen
  • Patent number: 11372384
    Abstract: A method for adjusting a multi-dimensional operating space of a wind turbine includes receiving, via a central multi-dimensional operating space controller, a plurality of signals from a plurality of requestors of modified operating space. Each of the plurality of signals includes a data structure having requested set points for a plurality of dimensions in the operating space. The method also includes tracking, via the central multi-dimensional operating space controller, current set points for the plurality of dimensions in the operating space. Further, the method includes dynamically determining, via the central multi-dimensional operating space controller, an output signal based on the requested set points, the output signal comprising one or more changes for the current set points for the plurality of dimensions in the operating space. Moreover, the method includes controlling the wind turbine based on the output signal so as to provide a modified multi-dimensional operating space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Robert Peter Slack
  • Patent number: 11371103
    Abstract: An energy recapturing apparatus is disclosed. The energy recapturing apparatus is housed within a frame that is configured to fit within a preexisting fluid passageway. The frame is further attached to a sliding mechanism, which enables the frame to be easily removed from the preexisting fluid passageway. Further, the frame is configured to accept at least one turbine that contains a plurality of blades. The turbine is able to convert the energy of fluid movement into electricity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: Alternative Sustainability IP LLC
    Inventor: John A. Stevens
  • Patent number: 11365719
    Abstract: A method for forecasting power production of at least one wind turbine, the wind turbine forming part of a wind farm arranged at a site. Global weather forecast data is received at a central data centre. A site specific forecast is then generated at the central data centre, based on the global weather forecast data. The site specific forecast from the central data centre is sent to a local data centre, e.g. arranged at the site of the wind farm. Site specific data is received at the local data centre and comprises site specific weather data and/or site specific wind turbine data measured at the site. The site specific forecast is then updated at the local data centre, using the site specific data. Finally, a power production forecast of the at least one wind turbine is generated based on the updated site specific forecast.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2022
    Assignee: VESTAS WIND SYSTEMS A/S
    Inventors: Tomislav Maric, Martin Qvist, Line Storelvmo Holmberg
  • Patent number: 11359605
    Abstract: A generator module and a wind turbine having the same are provided according to the present application. The generator module includes a generator module housing, a generator unit and a generator rotating shaft. The generator unit is arranged in the generator module housing and includes a rotor and a stator. One end of the generator rotating shaft is connected to the rotor, and the generator rotating shaft is provided with a belt pulley. The generator module according to the present application may be flexibly arranged above a nacelle or inside the nacelle according to requirements, and may be separately replaced and maintained as an independent subsystem, which reduces the maintenance cost.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2022
    Assignee: XINJIANG GOLDWIND SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Qinghu Wu, Zhanhai Wu, Yaosong Liu