Innovations in Floating Wind Turbine Technology

A direct-drive wind turbine design that reduces the air gap between the stator and rotor without increasing weight or cost. The turbine has a radial elastic fixing mechanism that maintains precise air gap control. The hub and frame have concentric guiding rails/wheels/bearings that rotate together. Elastic fixing elements compress the rails/wheels radially against each other. This allows radial movement while preventing axial and tangential misalignment. This provides stable air gap control without needing heavy bearings or complex systems. The elastic fixings can be separate carriages or sliding surfaces. The turbine also has options like rails/wheels or slide bearings, and internal space housing.

Floating-type offshore support structure that can prevent damage to the floating portion and prevent rotation of installed structures like wind turbines. The structure has a ball supported by a hollow floating unit. The support rod attaches to the ball. A base unit on the lower end of the rod supports it. A center pendulum rolls on the floating unit's spherical lower surface to press the rod down. This prevents rotation of the rod and attached structure while allowing it to stand vertically.

Mastless vertical axis wind turbine that generates power by rotating conical sails under wind force. The turbine has a platform at the bottom connected to the sails and a top attachment point that rotates with the sails. This eliminates the need for a central mast. The sails are tensioned between the bottom platform and top attachment point. An external frame holds the top attachment point stationary while the sails rotate.

Control method for wind turbines configured as virtual synchronous machines (VSMs) to improve grid stability and reduce mechanical loads after faults. The method involves controlling the wind turbine's power output based on the synchronous machine angle, using high-pass filtered rotational speed to determine damping power. It also uses comparisons of DC link voltage and grid power to determine chopper power. This allows the wind turbine to provide grid-forming properties similar to a synchronous generator while avoiding power oscillations and excessive mechanical loads after faults.

A wind turbine blade design with improved efficiency and bird safety. The turbine has a central hub with spokes connecting to a peripheral rim. Blades are mounted inside the rim near the edge. This reduces stress on the blades compared to cantilevered designs. The interior edge gap between blades and hub prevents birds flying into the blades. The blades rotate at a constant angle of attack. This optimizes power extraction by matching blade tip speed to the wind. The blades are adjustable for blade length variation.

Fatigue resistant foundation design for wind turbines that reduces concrete, rebar, and construction time compared to conventional gravity foundations. The design uses a central vertical pedestal, radial ribs, and a continuous horizontal bottom slab cast in place. The ribs and slab have prestressed and post-tensioned concrete to distribute loads and reduce stresses. This allows thinner concrete sections and fewer pours compared to massive gravity foundations. The foundation also uses prefabricated ribs and slab edges for faster construction. The design aims to improve fatigue resistance, stiffness, and heat dissipation while reducing concrete usage and construction time for wind turbine foundations.

A wind turbine rotor bearing housing design that allows reliable support of the rotor and transmission of forces into the tower while minimizing the load on the tower base. The housing has a long bearing body extending along the rotor shaft axis. The rotor bearings are placed in receptacles at opposite ends of the body, one facing the rotor and the other facing away. The receptacle facing the rotor is positioned outside the tower base to allow a wide load transmission span. The receptacle facing away has a different angle to distribute forces differently. This configuration allows the bearings to be placed further apart than the tower diameter. The housing surrounds the shaft between the bearings.

Mastless vertical axis wind turbine without a central mast that generates energy by rotating conical sails under tension from a bottom platform and a top attachment. The conical shape increases stability in high winds. The sails rotate about a vertical axis under wind force. The bottom is tethered to a platform that rotates with the sails. The top is attached to a stationary frame that stays fixed. This allows the sails to rotate while the frame stays stationary. Stationary sails outside the rotation range redirect airflow to increase swept area. The mastless design eliminates the need for a central mast.

A wind turbine that can be easily erected from a horizontal position for maintenance, safety, and transport to a vertical position in operation. The wind turbine has a hinged tower that can pivot between a horizontal and vertical position. When lowered, the turbine can be transported or serviced on land or water. When raised, it generates power like a normal wind turbine. The hinged tower allows the turbine to be transitioned between horizontal and vertical positions using a cable and winch system. This allows easy transportation, maintenance, and anchoring on soft ground or water without needing concrete foundations. The turbine also has vanes on the blades that rotate the blades into the wind instead of using thrusters or powered yaw systems.

Compact and efficient friction-limiting turbine gyroscope for converting fluid flow energy into electrical power. The gyroscope has aerodynamically shaped spokes that rotate the gyroscope when fluid flows over them. The spokes expand/contract using shape memory alloys to adjust cross-section. The blades also rotate about their center of pressure. A computer monitors fluid changes to optimize energy capture. This reduces losses and wear compared to traditional turbines.

Vertical axis wind turbine design that allows floating wind farms without the need for guy wires or heavy support structures. The turbine uses a unique blade configuration where the lower segments of the blades form an inverted pyramid shape around the hub. Guy wires connect the distal ends of the lower segments to anchor points, while bracing wires connect the anchor points to the hub. This configuration provides stability and support for the turbine without requiring guy wires attached high above the rotor. It allows floating wind farms to be built with less expensive and less space-consuming floating platforms.

Leak containment system for full-size slosh dampers in wind turbines that avoids the need for large secondary containment tanks. The system has a guide between the damper and a receptacle below to collect leaks. A pump returns the collected fluid back to the damper. A sensor detects if the receptacle fills. This allows leaking fluid to be contained and recycled without spilling into the tower or environment. It reduces cost and space requirements compared to separate secondary containment tanks.

A wind turbine with adjustable vanes and jibs to optimize power extraction in changing wind conditions. The turbine has a rotatable mast with a generator at one end. The mast is held by a frame that can rotate with the wind. The frame has vanes that can open or close to control airflow. Additional jibs extend from the vanes to further adjust wind resistance. Actuators toggle the vane and jib positions to keep the turbine aligned with the wind. This allows consistent power output even as wind direction changes. The turbine can also raise or lower the mast height using a buoy base in water to optimize wind speeds at different elevations.

A wind farm design with onsite hydrogen production and export to mitigate power fluctuations and avoid long-distance transmission costs. The wind turbines have electrolysis units to generate hydrogen using excess wind power. The hydrogen is exported via a shared above-sea-level manifold rather than subsea connections. This allows easier maintenance and prevents corrosion compared to underwater connections. The manifold connects the turbine hydrogen outputs to a common pipeline for transporting the hydrogen produced by the wind farm. This eliminates the need for individual subsea connections from each turbine. The manifold can be housed in a container or installed at the turbine platform or tower.

Vertical-axis renewable power generator that can operate effectively in slower fluid flows and is scalable without losing power output. The generator has a vertically oriented foil that self-aligns with fluid flow and has an integrated turbine. The foil creates high velocity/low pressure on one side and low velocity/high pressure on the other. This follows Bernoulli's principle to increase turbine rotation speed. The self-aligning foil minimizes damage in variable conditions. A pressure port speeds up the turbine. An air brake slows it in extreme conditions. The vertical orientation allows adaptation to wind or water flow.

Reducing oscillations and loads transmitted from the primary frame of a wind turbine nacelle to secondary structures like fairings and cowlings through the use of flexible couplings. The flexible couplings absorb some of the deformations and oscillations of the primary frame instead of directly transmitting them to the secondary structures. This helps mitigate fatigue and failure risks in the secondary structures, particularly larger and heavier ones, by isolating them from the primary frame's dynamic loads. The couplings can be retrofitted by cutting and replacing sections of the secondary structure with flexible versions.

Method and arrangement for determining pitch speeds of wind turbine blades to reduce bearing damage while allowing rapid and reliable blade pitching. The method involves calculating the pitch speed based on the blade bearing moment. If the moment is below a reference, the pitch speed exceeds it. This prevents high moments causing damage. If the moment increases, the pitch speed decreases. If the moment decreases, the pitch speed increases to catch up. This prevents overshooting. It balances speed to minimize damage while allowing quick pitching.

A section design and assembly method for wind turbine masts that improves strength and reduces buckling risk while keeping costs low. The mast section has a tubular shape with a conical base instead of a cylindrical shape. This conical base transitions smoothly to a cylindrical wall for the rest of the section. The conical base prevents buckling by providing a wider, flared base that resists compressive forces. The assembly method involves stacking these sections vertically to build the mast. Each section has a connector at each wall junction. This allows quick, simple assembly without needing to connect every wall segment.

A toroidal lift force engine that extracts more power from fluid flows like wind than conventional turbines. The engine uses lift forces instead of just drag forces to harvest energy. It has two turbines, an inner lift turbine and an outer axial flow turbine. The axial turbine feeds high-velocity gas to the lift turbine. The lift turbine generates thrust by converting lift forces into mechanical work. The engine also has a needle valve to control thrust output. By utilizing lift forces and asymmetric pressure distributions, the toroidal engine can extract more power density than conventional turbines.

Superconducting direct drive generator for wind turbines that can generate higher electrical power than conventional generators while reducing weight and size for easier installation on tall towers. The generator has a stationary coil wound around a composite torque tube and a rotating armature. The torque tube supports the stationary coil and prevents rotational motion. This allows a compact, lightweight generator that can be mounted directly on the wind turbine hub without gearboxes or heavy rotor masses. The superconducting coils provide high torque density. The composite torque tube reduces weight compared to solid steel.