BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. provisional application serial no. 61/204,288 filed January 5, 2009, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

Field of the Disclosure

[0002] The present disclosure pertains to a hydraulic drive train and associated components for driving a turbine driven by wind, water or similar sources. The hydraulic drive train absorbs excess energy imparted to it, and dissipates it as heat. This further allows the use of multiple, smaller generators rather than as single large generator.

Description of the Prior Art

[0003] In the prior art of generating electricity from the wind or similar sources, one of the significant challenges is matching the variable and typically slow speed of the input shaft which is driven by the wind or water, to the high speed required by the electrical power generators. The typically approach in the past has been to use a gearbox to mechanically perform this function. Prior art which has used a gear box or similar mechanical devices may be found in U.S. Patent No. 7,069,802 entitled "Distributed Power Train (DGD) with Multiple Power Paths" issued on July 4, 2006 to Mikhail et al; U.S. Patent No. 7,007,589 issued on March 7, 2006 to Sanderson; U.S. Patent No. 6,731,017 entitled "Distributed Power Train that Increases Electric Power Generator Density" issued on May 4, 2004 to Mikhail et al; U.S. Patent No. 5,996,342 entitled "Hydrostatic Drive Train Controller" issued on December 7, 1999 to Khan et al.; U.S. Patent No. 4,585,950 entitled "Wind Turbine with Multiple Generators" issued on April 29, 1986 to Lund; and U.S. Patent Application No. 2003/0138331 entitled "Metering Pump with Proportional Output" published on July 24, 2003 by Fox et al.

[0004] Other prior art includes commonly-invented and commonly-assigned U.S.

Patent Application No. 2007/0182273 entitled "Turbine with Constant Voltage and Frequency Output", published on August 9, 2007. [0005] Additionally, the handling of excess power must be addressed, such as when the speed of the wind or other source is greater than what the electrical generators can handle. The generators may be overdriven thereby shortening the life of the generators. The power from the overdriven generators, in turn, causes spikes in output power to the grid. Additionally, the extra power can cause the gearboxes to fail early. Moreover, as the machines have increased in size, the size and weight of the gearbox and the generator has also greatly increased.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0006] It is therefore an object of the present disclosure to provide a drive train for powering a turbine, wherein excess energy in the hydraulic system can be dissipated as heat.

[0007] It is therefore a further object of the present disclosure to provide a drive train for powering a turbine wherein the back end generators are typically mechanically decoupled from each other and the input shaft.

[0008] These and other objects are attained by providing an electrical generating system wherein the wind driven, or similar, components transmit energy to the turbine through a hydraulic drive train. The hydraulic fluid or oil is contained in a reservoir in sufficient quantity to provide a source for the components and to dissipate the heat generated. In an open loop arrangement, the hydraulic fluid or oil is returned to the reservoir after its completion through the circuit.

[0009] The current hydraulic system configuration has the main system at the ground level and the hydraulic pump located in the wind tower directly connected to the wind turbine shaft. This means the hydraulic fluid or oil needs to be pumped from ground level up to the hydraulic pump on the tower. This practice is commonly called supercharging the pump inlet.

[00010] Assuming the wind has sufficient speed and generates enough torque to turn the turbine shaft, the motor will turn and pump oil to a directional manifold block. The directional valves inside the block start and stop the fluid to the hydraulic motors which are directly coupled on a one-to-one basis with generators, providing the electric power. A proportional flow control valve is used to regulate the hydraulic motor speed and keeps the generator running at the proper revolutions per minute to generate the electrical power within the desired parameters. At this point the oil is then returned through a return filter and directed back to the reservoir.

[00011] The proportional flow control valves enable both the precise control of the generator and the release of excess energy as heat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[00012] Further objects and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent from the following description and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[00013] Figure 1 is a schematic of the apparatus of the present disclosure.

[00014] Figure 2 is a schematic of the control structure of the apparatus of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[00015] Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like numerals indicate like elements throughout the several views, one sees from Figure 1 that the system 10 includes a reservoir or tank 12 of oil or hydraulic fluid which includes various outlet ports 14 and inlet ports 15 throughout Figure 1. The reservoir 12 is illustrated in Figure 1 as associated with the various ports 14, 15 but is not illustrated as a unitary element. The system 10 is typically configured as an open loop system. The oil is contained in the reservoir 12 in sufficient quantity to provide a source for the various components and to dissipate the heat generated. In the open loop arrangement, the oil is returned to the reservoir after completion through the circuit. The reservoir 12 is typically sized for 2.5-3.0 times the maximum gallons per minute that the system 10 requires. A typical reservoir size is 500 gallons, but those skilled in the art will recognize, after review of the present disclosure, that different embodiments may require different reservoir capacities.

[00016] A wind turbine 20 and hydraulic pump 30 are located in a nacelle 22 at the top of a wind tower 24, while most of the remaining components are placed on the ground or otherwise away from the wind tower 24. By placing components on the ground rather than placing all components on the tower 24, less expensive and taller towers can be built. The wind turbine 20 includes propeller 26 and turbine shaft 28. Turbine shaft 28 drives hydraulic pump 30. This configuration requires that the hydraulic fluid or oil be pumped from ground level up to the level of hydraulic pump 30. This pumping of oil up to the level of the hydraulic pump 30 is typically called "supercharging".

[00017] This supercharging to hydraulic pump 30 via manifold 31 and pipe 32 is done by three independent electric motor/pump groups 34, 36, 38, typically located at ground level or otherwise away from tower 24. The electric motor pump groups 34, 36, 38 include motor- driven pumps 40, 42, 44; filters 46, 48, 50 and coolers 52, 54, 56. The electric motor/pump groups 24, 26, 28 include inlets through outlet ports 14 of the reservoir 12 which are below the oil level height of the reservoir 12 thereby resulting in a flooded inlet configuration for motor-driven pumps 40, 42, 44. The inlets are at the suction side of motor-driven pumps 40, 42, 44. The filters 46, 48, 50 and coolers 52, 54, 56 clean and cool the oil prior to supercharging the oil to hydraulic pump 30 via manifold block 31 and pipe 32. Manifold block 31 includes a low pressure, high response relief valve 58 which regulates the pressure on the low pressure side of the system and returns oil to reservoir 12 via inlet port 15 in overpressure situations, which may occur as spikes. Concurrently, as shown in Figure 1, oil from reservoir 12 is periodically being pumped from outlet port 14 by pump 45, filtered by filter 51, and returned to reservoir 12 via inlet port 15.

[00018] Electric motor pump groups 34, 36, 38 are typically at ground level and must be capable of supplying the required amount of oil to hydraulic pump 30 in the nacelle 22. Some embodiments of hydraulic pump 30 may pump approximately 708 cubic inches of oil per revolution in a positive displacement configuration. Therefore, the electric motor/pump groups 24, 26, 28 include a variable frequency drive to control the speed of the motor-driven pumps 40, 42, 44. Some embodiments of motor-driven pumps 40, 42, 44 may pump approximately 5.31 cubic inches of oil per revolution in a positive displacement configuration. Typically, a pressure of 70 pounds per square inch is sufficient to provide oil to the hydraulic pump 30 in the nacelle 22. This configuration is particularly adaptable to cold starts of the system 10.

[00019] An encoder on the turbine shaft 28 provides the signal information to the programmable logic controller (PLC) 200 via input RPM and position block 202 and shaft coupling block (see Figure 2). PLC 200, in turn controls the variable frequency drive of motor-driven pumps 42, 44, 46. The positive displacement characteristics of hydraulic pump 30 and motor-driven pumps 42, 44, 46 allows for accurate control of the flow rates of the oil. [00020] The hydraulic pump 30 provides high pressure oil via return pipe 60 to high pressure directional manifold block 62 (likewise typically at ground level or otherwise away from tower 24) which further includes high pressure relief valve 64 to protect the system from being over-pressurized and to return excess oil to the reservoir 12 via inlet port 15 thereby dissipating the excess heat. Return pipe 60 further includes electric motors 66, 68 to control the flow rate of oil through return pipe 60, thereby limiting the positive-displacement hydraulic pump 30, and therefore wind turbine 20, to a desired rotational speed which is determined by PLC 200 typically based on such factors as wind speed and factors relating to the various loads on system 10.

[00021] High pressure directional manifold block 62 provides oil to high pressure feeder lines 70, 72, 74, 76, 78 which further include respective proportional control flow valves 80, 82, 84, 86, 88, responsive to PLC 200 to regulate or cut off the flow, if necessary, to some high pressure feeder lines 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, such as at lower wind speeds. High pressure feeder lines 70, 72, 74, 76, 78 include respective proportional flow control valves 90, 92, 94, 96, 98 which, in the event of over-pressure, with a typical limit of 3000 psi, such as may occur during a gust in wind speed, relieve the over-pressure and divert oil to inlet ports 15. Some embodiments may divert this excess pressure to the drive system for motor-driven pumps 40, 42, 44. Similarly, an accumulator 79 (see Figure 2) may be incorporated into feeder lines 70, 72, 74, 76, 78 or otherwise proximate to or upstream from high pressure directional manifold block 62 to absorb excess energy and store if for a later time when the input power wanes. The remaining high pressure oil is used to drive respective fixed displacement motors 100, 102, 104, 106, 108 with respective output shafts connected to electrical generators 110, 112, 114, 116, 118 which provide electrical power to electrical grid 1000 (see Figure 2) via output control block 900 and transformer contractor 902. The grid sine wave sample block 904 receives samples from grid 1000 and send control signals to output control block 900 in order to conform the output of system 10 to the electrical conditions on grid 1000. Due to varying wind speed, the fixed displacement motors 100, 102, 104, 106, 108 need to be regulated for speed. This is done by through the proportional flow control valves 80, 82, 84, 86, 88 upstream for the inlets to fixed displacement motors 102, 104, 106, 108. Encoders on pump 30 provide a signal to the PLC 200 (Figure 2) which, in turn, via auto valve control block 33, regulates the amount of oil through proportional control flow valves 80, 82, 84, 86, 88 (or similarly, through proportional flow control valves 90, 92, 94, 96, 98) to the motors 100, 102, 104, 106, 108 and regulates their speed (additionally, this regulation of the flow of oil through system regulates the speed of pump 30). The proportional flow control valves 90, 92, 94, 96, 98 typically pass at least 95 percent of the oil to the fixed displacement motors 100, 102, 104, 106, 108 for optimum efficiency.

[00022] After driving fixed displacement motors 100, 102, 104, 105, 108, the oil is thereafter filtered by respective filters 110, 112, 114, 116, 118 and returned to reservoir 12 via inlet ports 15.

[00023] Thus the several aforementioned objects and advantages are most effectively attained. Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed and described in detail herein, it should be understood that this invention is in no sense limited thereby and its scope is to be determined by that of the appended claims.