22 patents in this list

Updated:

Wind turbines are a vital source of renewable energy, but their operation can generate significant noise, impacting nearby communities and wildlife. Active noise control for wind turbines is emerging as a groundbreaking solution to this challenge.

This article delves into the latest advancements in active noise control technology and how it is being applied to reduce the noise generated by wind turbines. By actively counteracting unwanted sound, these innovations promise to create a quieter, more harmonious environment without compromising energy production.

As these technologies continue to evolve, they hold the potential to make wind energy more community-friendly and sustainable, fostering greater acceptance and expansion of this green energy source.

1. Active and Passive Noise Control System for Wind Turbine Noise Reduction

HUANENG LANCANG RIVER HYDROPOWER CO LTD, XIAN THERMAL POWER RES INST CO, XIAN THERMAL POWER RESEARCH INSTITUTE CO LTD, 2023

A wind farm noise and vibration reduction system that uses active noise control and passive noise control techniques to effectively reduce wind turbine blade noise and vibration. The system involves installing secondary sound sources on the wind turbine blades, collecting blade noise signals, and using adaptive filtering algorithms to generate control signals that drive the secondary sources to emit offsetting sound waves. Passive mufflers are also used to control mid- and high-frequency noise. This allows real-time adaptation to blade noise changes, improving noise reduction and energy savings without increasing blade resistance or impacting performance.

2. Active Noise Control System for Wind Turbine Blade Noise Reduction

SIEMENS GAMESA RENEWABLE ENERGY AS, 2023

Reducing noise from wind turbine blades by using sensors and actuators on the blade surface to actively cancel out edge noise. The blade has sensors spaced non-uniformly along the edge to detect flow characteristics. An actuator near the sensor provides an anti-noise signal based on the sensor data. This cancels out flow-induced edge noise generated by the blade. By arranging the sensors and actuator with spacing that avoids aliasing, it allows separation of efficiently radiated noise vs inefficient noise.

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3. Active Noise Cancellation System for Wind Turbines to Mitigate Noise Pollution

SIEMENS GAMESA RENEWABLE ENERGY AS, 2023

Reducing noise from wind turbines using an active noise cancellation system. The system has sensors on the blades and tower to measure blade tip turbulence and tower-side noise. An actuator on the blade emits an anti-noise signal based on the sensor outputs. This cancels out blade tip noise in the far field. By coordinating blade and tower sensors, the system can adaptively cancel noise as the blade position changes.

4. Active Noise Control System for Wind Turbines to Minimize Residential Noise Impact

HUANENG CLEAN ENERGY RES INSTITUTE, HUANENG CLEAN ENERGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE, HUANENG SHAANXI DINGBIAN ELECTRIC POWER CO LTD, 2023

Active noise control for wind turbines to reduce noise levels near residential areas without shutting down the turbines. The method involves monitoring the noise levels in the surrounding sensitive areas and selectively adjusting the wind turbine operation to mitigate the noise. This is done by comparing the sensitive area noise levels to a background level and choosing a noise reduction control scheme based on that difference. The chosen scheme, like varying generator speed, is then implemented to reduce the wind turbine noise. The goal is to effectively reduce wind turbine noise without resorting to shutdowns or other measures that impact power generation.

5. Adaptive Active Noise Control System for Wind Turbines Utilizing Blade and Tower Sensors

SIEMENS GAMESA RENEWABLE ENERGY AS, 2022

Active noise reduction for wind turbines that uses sensors and actuators on the blades and tower to cancel trailing edge noise. The system has unsteady pressure sensors on the blades to detect turbulent flow conditions. Noise sensors on the tower or nacelle measure blade noise. An adaptive filter controlled by a unit on the blades generates an anti-noise signal based on the sensor outputs. Actuators like speakers emit the anti-noise to counter blade noise. The filter adjusts based on blade orientation to optimize cancellation when the blade is downward.

6. Enhanced Reference Signal Construction for Active Noise Control in Wind Turbine Fan Ducts

DALIAN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING UNIV, DALIAN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING UNIVERSITY, 2022

Method to construct a high-quality reference signal for active noise control (ANC) systems in fan ducts using microphone arrays. The method aims to improve the quality of the reference signal in feedforward ANC systems by accounting for coherent and incoherent interferences in fan ducts. It involves using a microphone array in the duct to capture the fan noise and extracting the fan rotational noise component using beamforming. This extracted signal is used as the reference for the ANC. It also compensates for signal delays in the duct using quadratic interpolation. This improves the reference signal quality by reducing interference compared to using a single microphone.

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7. Active Noise Cancellation System for Wind Turbines to Mitigate Noise Emissions

SIEMENS GAMESA RENEWABLE ENERGY AS, 2022

Active noise cancellation system for wind turbines that reduces noise emissions using sensors and actuators on the blades and tower. The system has unsteady pressure sensors on the blades, a noise sensor on the tower/nacelle, and a control unit. The control unit uses the blade pressure sensor output to generate an anti-noise signal that is sent to an actuator on the blade. It also uses the tower noise sensor to adjust the anti-noise signal. This active cancellation aims to counteract the blade trailing edge noise that contributes to wind turbine noise. The control unit can adapt the cancellation based on blade orientation using sensors on the blade.

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8. Active Noise Reduction System for Power Transformer Boxes Using Reversed Sound Waves

国网浙江省电力公司温州供电公司, 温州电力设计有限公司, 2018

Active noise reduction system for power transformer boxes that uses reversed sound waves to cancel out the original noise. The system has a microphone inside the transformer box to capture the noise, a processor to reverse process the sound, and a speaker outside the box to emit the reversed sound. The reversed sound waves interfere with the original noise to reduce it. The transformer box has shock absorbers and sliding rods to adjust the position of the microphone and speaker for optimal noise cancellation.

9. Active Noise Control System for Wind Turbines Using Inverse Sound Wave Generation

张博强, 2018

Active noise control method and system for wind turbines to reduce operating noise without structural modifications. The method involves identifying and analyzing the wind turbine's noise frequencies, then generating inversely phased noise at those frequencies in the turbine's vicinity using active speakers. This superposition of sounds cancels out the original noise to reduce overall noise levels. The system includes microphones, a controller, and speakers positioned around the turbine.

10. Active Noise Reduction System for Wind Turbines Using Anti-Noise Technology

SHANGHAI DIANJI UNIV, SHANGHAI DIANJI UNIVERSITY, 2017

Active noise reduction system for wind turbines using active silencers to significantly reduce wind turbine noise without requiring modifications to the turbine itself. The system consists of a microphone to collect turbine noise, a signal analyzer to extract the noise characteristics, and an anti-noise generator to create a matching noise waveform. This anti-noise is then output through a dynamic speaker to cancel out the original turbine noise.

11. Active Noise Control System for Wind Turbines to Mitigate Blade Noise

SAMSUNG HEAVY IND, SAMSUNG HEAVY IND CO LTD, 2016

Noise reduction system for wind turbines that can significantly reduce the noise generated by the rotating blades. The system involves capturing the noise from the turbine in a nearby location, monitoring it, and generating an opposite phase sound to cancel out the blade noise. This involves using microphones to capture the noise from a position close to the turbine, analyzing the phase of the blade noise, and then generating a sound with the opposite phase to cancel out the blade noise when it is played back. This can be achieved using a sound generation unit and an output unit. By canceling the blade noise close to the turbine, it reduces the propagation of blade noise to nearby areas.

12. Active Noise Cancellation Method for Reducing Resonant Frequencies in Enclosed Spaces

KEIO GIJUKU, 2015

Reducing noise in enclosed spaces like buildings by actively canceling resonant frequencies that amplify noise. The method involves detecting the resonant frequencies using microphones in corners, passing those frequencies through bandpass filters, and then radiating canceling sounds with opposite phase from the corners. This can reduce noise by synchronizing the phase of the whole room and canceling the resonant standing waves. The resonant frequencies are unique to the space and can be separately controlled by individual filters.

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13. Active Noise Control System for Wind Turbines to Mitigate Noise Generation

ELWHA LLC, 2014

Reducing noise from wind turbines using active noise control. It involves detecting parameters indicating future noise generation and selectively activating controllable features on the blades to mitigate noise without significantly impacting power generation. The features could be airflow-modifiable regions, blade pitch changes, or other blade shape modifications. Sensors monitor blade position, vortices, pressure, etc. to detect noise potential. This allows targeted blade adjustments to reduce noise without compromising power.

14. Active Noise Cancellation System for Wind Turbines to Minimize Emissions

CLIPPER WINDPOWER LLC, 2013

Active noise suppression system for wind turbines to reduce noise emissions from components like generators, gearboxes, and bearings. The system measures the original noise signature, calculates an inverted signature, amplifies it, and plays it through speakers to cancel out the original noise. This active noise cancellation reduces overall wind turbine noise levels below local limits.

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15. Active Noise Cancellation System for Wind Turbines to Mitigate Noise Emissions

CLIPPER WINDPOWER LLC, 2013

Active noise suppression system for wind turbines to reduce noise emissions. It involves measuring the noise signature of a component like a gearbox, inverting the waveform, amplifying it, and playing it back through speakers to cancel out the original noise. This active noise cancellation system uses a noise measuring device, controller, amplifier, and speakers to generate and emit an inverted noise waveform that cancels the original noise from the component.

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16. Active Noise Control System for Selective Wind Turbine Noise Reduction

VESTAS WIND SYSTEMS AS, 2013

Controlling noise emissions from wind parks to meet regulatory limits by selectively reducing the noise contribution of individual wind turbines. The method involves monitoring wind park noise at specific locations using techniques like microphones, acoustic cameras, or beamforming to identify and quantify the noise produced by each turbine. By estimating the relative influence of each turbine on the overall noise, the park controller can command specific turbines to operate in a lower noise mode if overall park noise exceeds a threshold. This iterative process focuses noise reduction efforts on turbines with the greatest impact.

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17. Active Noise Control Method for Reducing Wind Turbine Noise Levels

GE INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY LLC, 2012

Controlling the amplitude modulation of noise generated by wind turbines to reduce overall noise levels. The method involves measuring the sound characteristics of individual turbine sounds, generating additive sounds based on those characteristics, and combining them with the turbine sounds to create a resultant sound with lower peak-to-peak amplitude. By preventing constructive interference between turbine sounds or actively augmenting them, the overall noise level can be reduced. This allows higher power production compared to de-rating or continuous feathering methods.

18. Active Noise Control System for Wind Turbines to Mitigate Far-Field Noise Levels

GE INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY LLC, 2012

Controlling the amplitude modulation of noise generated by wind turbines to reduce noise levels in the far field where it may exceed regulatory limits. The method involves measuring the noise characteristics of individual turbines and generating additive sounds based on those characteristics. By coordinating the sounds across multiple turbines, it prevents constructive interference that can amplify noise. It also adds sounds that cancel or diminish the turbine noise. This reduces the peak-to-peak amplitude of the overall sound compared to the individual turbine noise.

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19. Active Noise Cancellation System for Wind Turbines to Mitigate Community Noise Impact

GAMESA EOLICA S A U, GAMESA EOLICA SAU, GAMESA INNOVATION & TECH SL, GAMESA INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY SL, 2011

Active noise cancellation system for wind turbines to mitigate noise impact on nearby communities. The system uses microphones mounted on the blades to detect the noise generated by the turbine components. This detected noise is then analyzed to extract frequency components, amplitudes, and phases. Matching speakers are mounted inside the blades facing outward. The speakers emit sounds with opposite phases and frequencies to cancel the detected noise at the blade surface. This active noise cancellation reduces the noise transmitted through the blade housing and radiated into the environment. It allows higher blade tip speeds and rotor diameters without excessive noise levels.

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20. Active Noise Control System for Wind Turbines to Minimize Noise Without Compromising Power Output

TAKENAKA KOMUTEN CO, TAKENAKA KOMUTEN CO LTD, 2010

Active noise reduction system for wind turbines that reduces noise from wind turbines without lowering power generation. The system uses speakers outside the blades and microphones corresponding to them. It generates reduction signals based on blade rotation direction to active cancel opposite side noise. Speakers emit control sounds to reduce noise detected on the opposite side. This reduces wind turbine noise through active control without impacting power generation.

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