A wind turbine tower elevator and a method for assembling a wind turbine tower

Background of the invention

0001The invention relates to a tapered wind turbine tower comprising inside it a wind turbine tower elevator and a method for assembling a wind turbine tower by use of an elevator inside said tower.

Description of the Related Art

0002A wind turbine known in the art comprises a tapered wind turbine tower and a wind turbine nacelle positioned on top of the tower. A wind turbine rotor with three wind turbine blades is connected to the nacelle through a low speed shaft, which extends out of the nacelle front as illustrated on <figref idref="f0001">figure 1</figref>.

0003Wind turbine towers typically comprise a number of tapered round tower sections mounted on top of each other. The tower sections are usually bolted together through internally placed horizontal flanges, which are welded to the top and bottom of each tower section. Each tower sections comprise a number of tower rings welded to each other. These tower rings are usually made of steel plates, which are rolled into a circular shape and welded to make them constitute a closed 360° ring.

0004The general idea behind this design is that, the tower has to be relatively easy to assemble at the mounting site and that a round tower without any visible joints is more pleasing to the eye. But in resent years the development of mass-produced wind turbines has moved towards making them bigger and bigger, both in output and in size. This process calls for better and more cost-efficient components and manufacturing methods, and particularly in the field of wind turbine towers, this development has been profound. The manufacturing facilities for large modem wind turbine towers demands a building with a free height of 8 m, access to lifting equipment with a capacity of 70 t and highly specialised and expensive rolling equipment. Furthermore, welding reduces the towers fatigue limit and thereby its strength, which makes it necessary to make the tower or at least parts of the tower of plates thicker than what otherwise, would be necessary.

0005European patent application <patcit id="pcit0001" dnum="EP1561883A"><text>EP 1 561 883</text></patcit> disclose a wind turbine tower made of staggered prefabricated metal parts. The metal parts are formed as long substantially rectangular plates, which are open at the side facing the inside of the tower. The parts are bolted together inside the tower through their adjacent sides. Large annular stiffening ring can be provided to the inside of the tower to improve the towers rigidity. This design provides for a polygonal tower where welding in and between the tower sections are severely reduced or eliminated. But the metal parts have a complex design and are thereby difficult and expensive to manufacture.

0006Document <patcit id="pcit0002" dnum="WO007856A1"><text>WO007/856</text></patcit> A1 discloses a tapered wind turbine tower having the features of the preamble of claim 1 and a method for assembling a wind turbine tower having the features of the preamble of claim 11.

0007An object of the invention is to provide for a wind turbine tower without the mentioned disadvantages.

0008Especially it is an object of the invention to provide for a cost efficient tower design which provides for a simple tower manufacturing process.

0009Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide efficient means for aiding the assembly of the tower and the succeeding maintenance.

The invention

0010The invention relates to a tapered wind turbine tower comprising inside it a wind turbine tower elevator. The tower is characterized in that said elevator comprises means for enabling both vertically and horizontally movement of said elevator and means for making an elevator basket of said elevator maintaining a constant distance to the inside surface of said tapered wind turbine tower, said means comprising vertical or substantially vertical guides connected to said tower. Said guides extending at a constant distance from the inside surface of said a tower.

0011Providing a wind turbine tower with a wind turbine tower elevator, which comprises means for making said elevator move both vertically and horizontally, is advantageous in that, it enables easy access to substantially the entire inside surface of the tower. Hereby it is made easy to access the section joints and other both during erection of the tower and succeeding maintenance.

0012The tower of the invention tapers making it wider at the bottom than at the top, it is advantageous that the elevator maintains a substantially constant distance to the inside surface of the tower rings, in that a person operating the elevator is able to reach all or almost all the bolts during control or tightening up.

0013In an embodiment of the invention, the wind turbine tower comprises at least two annular tower rings placed vertically on top of each other, a first tower ring of said at least two tower rings overlapping least a further tower ring of said at least two tower rings.

0014It is advantageous to make the tower rings of a wind turbine overlap, in that it provides for a simple tower design which can be manufactured be means of low-tech manufacturing means.

0015Making the tower rings overlap enables the possibility of connecting the rings by means of mechanical connection means such as screws, bolts or rivets. Hereby welding in the tower is avoided, and especially in areas of the world where the time rate of wages is relatively low, it is economical advantageous to e.g. bolt the rings together, in that even though it might sometime be more time consuming than making welded joints, the bolted tower can be made of thinner plate, hereby reducing the material cost of the tower.

0016It should be emphasised that in a wind turbine tower known in the art the tower rings are usually welded together in tower sections, which then are bolted together. In a wind turbine tower according to the invention all the connections between the tower rings and sections are in principle the same. This means that when there is referred to tower ring or rings, it could just as well be tower sections, in that a tower section in a tower according to the invention would be a number of tower rings connected in the same way, that the sections would be connected.

0017In an embodiment of the invention, said at least two tower rings are connected through said substantially horizontal overlap region.

0018In an embodiment of the invention, said at least two tower rings are connected by bolts.

0019To connect a load carrying joint in a wind turbine tower by means of welding is a rather complex procedure, which properly has to be preformed by certified welders and possibly controlled afterwards by means of x-ray, ultrasonic or another nondestructive control method, to ensure the quality of the joint. A person providing bolts to a bolted load carrying joint of a wind turbine tower only needs very little instruction to perform the job satisfactory, and the control procedure is much simpler and demands much simpler equipment.

0020Furthermore the connection could also be made by screws or rivets, but screws are usually more expensive than bolts and traditional rivets are most often too time-consuming to mount.

0021In an embodiment of the invention, wherein said at least two tower rings are made of steel.

0022Making the tower rings of steel is advantageous in that, it is a well-proven, relatively inexpensive and strong material, which is very suitable for making wind turbine towers.

0023In an embodiment of the invention, said at least two tower rings comprise at least two tower plates.

0024By making the tower rings of a number of tower plates it is possible to manufacture the plates in a manufacturing facility with less free height, than the full tower ring diameter and the plates are smaller and lighter than a full tower ring and thereby easier to manage during manufacturing. Furthermore, the design of traditional welded towers is limited by the fact that the tower sections or rings have to be able to pass under bridges, high-voltage cables etc. during transport. By making the tower rings of a number of tower plates it is possible to transport the tower as individual plates which are assembled at or in close proximity of the erection site. Hereby it is possible to design towers with better load transferring qualities, such as a tower which is e.g. more than 10 meters in diameter at the base of the tower.

0025In an embodiment of the invention, said at least two tower plates comprise a first vertical or substantially vertical side section and a second vertical or substantially

0026In an embodiment of the invention, said at least two tower plates are connected through said overlap by means of bolts.

0027This provides for an advantageous embodiment of the invention.

0028Said at least two tower plates have a bottom width which are wider than the width of the top width.

0029Making the tower plates wider at the bottom than at the top is advantageous in that, it provides for a simple way of making the tower wider at the bottom than at the top, which provides for an advantageous tower design load-transferring wise.

0030In an embodiment f the invention, said means comprise a number of rails attached to the inside of said tower by means of magnets.

0031It is advantageous to provide the inside surface of the tower with a number of rails, in that they provides for a simple way of maintaining a substantially constant distance between the elevator and the inside surface of the tower rings. Furthermore, it is advantageous to attach these rails by means of magnets, in that it provides for a simple way of attaching the rails and at the same time avoiding welding.

0032In an embodiment of the invention, said means enabling horizontally movement of said elevator comprise a substantially horizontal annular rail.

0033Using an annular rail for enabling the elevator to move in the horizontal plane is advantageous, in that it provides for a simple and well-proven way of moving loads in a horizontal plane.

0034Providing the tower with an elevator according to the invention is advantageous, in that it hereby is easy to access the joints connecting the tower rings and/or the tower plates. Both during the assembly of the tower, immediately after and at certain intervals during the towers life the bolts of the joints has to be controlled and possibly tightened up. An elevator, which easily can be positioned in front of or in close proximity of these bolts no matter their "radial" or "axial" position in the tower, is therefore advantageous.

0035The invention further provides for a method for assembling a wind turbine tower by use of an elevator inside said tower. The method is characterised in that said method comprises the steps of, establishing at least two annular tapered tower rings, mounting a first tower ring of said at least two tower rings on at least a further tower ring of said at least two tower rings, making said first tower ring overlap said further tower ring, and connecting said first tower ring and said further tower ring through their overlap by use of connection means wherein said connection means are tightened up by use of said elevator, which comprises means for enabling both vertically and horizontally movement of said elevator and said means making an elevator basket of said elevator maintaining a constant distance to the inside surface of said wind turbine tower, said means comprising vertical or substantially vertical guides connected to said tower, said guides extending at a constant distance from the inside surface of said tower.

0036Hereby is achieved an advantageous wind turbine tower assembly method according to the invention.

0037Bolted joints in a wind turbine tower has to be tightened up several times during the life of the tower due to vibrations, varying temperatures and loads etc., and doing this by use of an elevator, which can move both vertically and horizontally, is advantageous in that, it provides easy access to the bolts.

0038In an embodiment of the invention, said assembling is done at or in close proximity of the mounting site where said wind turbine tower is to be erected.

0039Assembling the tower at or in close proximity of the site where the tower is to be erected is advantageous, in that transport over long distances, of large tower parts which are difficult to manage, is avoided. Furthermore, assembling the tower at or in close proximity of the erection site is possible due to the fact, that a bolted load carrying joint can be made correctly even under relatively primitive conditions, whereas a welded load carrying joint demands a more controlled environment to be made reliably.

Figures

0040The invention will be described in the following with reference to the figures in which <dl id="dl0001"><dt>fig. 1.</dt><dd>illustrates a large modem wind turbine known in the art, as seen from the front,</dd><dt>fig. 2</dt><dd>illustrates a section of a wind turbine tower immediately before the assembly of two round tower rings, as seen in perspective,</dd><dt>fig. 3</dt><dd>illustrates an embodiment of a round tower ring, as seen from above,</dd><dt>fig. 4</dt><dd>illustrates an embodiment of a polygonal tower ring, as seen from above,</dd><dt>fig. 5</dt><dd>illustrates a section of a wind turbine tower immediately before the assembly of two polygonal tower rings, as seen in perspective,</dd><dt>fig. 6</dt><dd>illustrates a section of a wind turbine tower during the assembly of two polygonal tower rings, as seen in perspective,</dd><dt>fig. 7</dt><dd>illustrates a part of a cross-section of a tower section joint known in the art,</dd><dt>fig. 8</dt><dd>illustrates a part of a cross-section of an embodiment of a tower ring joint,</dd><dt>fig. 9</dt><dd>illustrates a part of a cross-section of another embodiment of a tower ring joint,</dd><dt>fig. 10</dt><dd>illustrates an embodiment of a tower plate before it has been bended,</dd><dt>fig. 11</dt><dd>illustrates the same embodiment of a tower plate as illustrated in <figref idref="f0008">fig. 10</figref> after it has been bended,</dd><dt>fig. 12</dt><dd>illustrates a cross-section of a wind turbine tower according to the invention, comprising an embodiment of an elevator, as seen from the side, and</dd><dt>fig. 13</dt><dd>illustrates a cross-section of a wind turbine tower according to the invention, comprising an embodiment of an elevator, as seen from the bottom.</dd></dl>

Detailed description

0041<figref idref="f0001">Fig. 1</figref> illustrates a wind turbine 1 known in the art, comprising a tapered tower 2, which is subdivided into a number of tower sections 6. A wind turbine nacelle 3 is positioned on top of the tower 2.

0042The wind turbine rotor 4, comprising a number of wind turbine blades 5, is connected to the nacelle 3 through the low speed shaft which extends out of the nacelle 3 front.

0043<figref idref="f0002">Fig. 2</figref> illustrates a section of a wind turbine tower 2, immediately before the assembly of two round tower rings 14, as seen in perspective. <figref idref="f0002">Fig. 2</figref> shows an upper tower ring 8 on its way to be placed on a lower tower ring 9 making the bottom section 11 of the upper ring 8 overlap the top section 12 of the lower ring 9 in a horizontal overlap region 35. When the tower rings 8, 9 are in place the two rings are joined by bolting or riveting the rings 8, 9 together through the rows of bolt holes 10.

0044In this embodiment the tower rings 8, 9 are made as full 360° annular round rings. To make a ring overlap another ring the diameter of the bottom section 11 of the upper tower ring 8 has to be approximately or at least two plate thicknesses greater or smaller than the diameter of the top section 12 of the lower tower ring 9. This could be done by making the rings 8, 9 taper in their entire vertical extent in parts of their vertical extent or the bottom and/or top section 11, 12 could be provided with a number of bending cut-outs, enabling that the sections 11, 12 where bended and therefore could overlap - even though their diameters where the same before they where bended.

0045<figref idref="f0003">Fig. 3</figref> illustrates a round annular tower ring 14 as seen from above. In this embodiment the tower ring 14 is made of eight tower plates 13, but in another embodiment, the tower ring 13 could comprise fewer or more tower plates 13, such as six, seven, nine or ten.

0046In this embodiment, the tower ring 14 has a constant uniform cross-section in its longitudinal direction, making the tower ring 14 substantially cylindrical, but in a preferred embodiment of the invention the tower plates could be wider at the bottom than at the top, making the tower ring 14 tapered or substantially conical.

0047In this embodiment a first side section 17 of a tower plate 13 overlaps a second side section 18 of a horizontally adjacent tower plate 13. The first side section 17 of said adjacent tower plate 13 then overlaps a second side section 18 of a further tower plate 13 and so on. This pattern continues all the way around with constant width (Wj) of the vertical joints, making the tower design uniform, but in another embodiment of the invention every other plate 13 could overlap its horizontally neighboring plates 13 to both sides.

0048<figref idref="f0004">Fig. 4</figref> illustrates a polygonal annular tower ring 14 as seen from above.

0049In this embodiment all the tower plates 13 are substantially identical, and each plate 13 comprise two vertical or substantially vertical bends 16 making the tower ring 14 polygonal, with in this case twenty four sides, but in another embodiment the plates 13 could comprise another number of bends 16 such as three or four, making the ring 14 thirty two or forty sided, if the tower ring 14 comprise eight tower plates 13.

0050In an even further embodiment the tower plates 13 of the tower ring 14 could be welded together or the tower ring could be made of one tower plate 13 comprising a plurality of bends 16 which where bolted or welded to join its two ends.

0051<figref idref="f0005">Fig. 5</figref> illustrates a section of a polygonal wind turbine tower 2 immediately before the assembly of two tower rings 14, as seen in perspective. <figref idref="f0003">Fig. 3</figref> shows an upper tower ring 8 on its way to be placed on a lower tower ring 9 making the bottom section 11 of the upper ring 8 overlap the top section 12 of the lower ring 9 in a horizontal overlap region 35. At this time of the assembly process the tower plates 13 in the two tower rings 14 would be bolted together at their vertical joints 15, but in <figref idref="f0003">fig. 3</figref> the vertical joints 15 are illustrated without connection means such as screws, bolts or rivets.

0052<figref idref="f0005">Fig. 5</figref> further illustrates that in order to make the upper and the lower tower ring 8, 9 overlap, at least one corner of the plates 13 has to be removed. In this embodiment three corners or each plate 13 are chamfered. A first top corner 19 of a plate 13 in the lower tower ring 9 and a first bottom corner 20 of a plate 13 in the upper tower ring 8 are chamfered to make it possible for the plates 13 to overlap both vertically and horizontally. The second top corner 21 is also chamfered in this embodiment to ensure free access to otherwise covered bolt holes. In another embodiment a second bottom corner could also be chamfered to ensure free access to bolt holes.

0053In another embodiment only one corner of each plate 13 is chamfered or the corner or corners could comprise a cut-out of another shape such as rectangular, polygonal or some other regular or irregular shape.

0054<figref idref="f0006">Fig. 6</figref> illustrates a section of a wind turbine tower 2 during the assembly of two polygonal tower rings 14 as seen in perspective. In this embodiment only some of the bolt holes are provided with connection means, which in this case are bolt 34 provided with nuts on the inside of the tower 2, but when the assembly process is finished, all the bolt holes will be provided with connection means.

0055In this embodiment the chamfering of the first bottom corner 20 of a plate 13 is visible, but in a preferred embodiment of the invention the cut-out, accommodating room for the corners of the overlapping plates 13, could be completely covered by an overlapping plate 13.

0056<figref idref="f0007">Fig. 7</figref> illustrates a part of a cross-section of a tower section 6 joint known in the art As illustrated in <figref idref="f0001">fig. 1</figref>, a traditional wind turbine tower 2 comprises a number of tapered round tower sections 6 mounted on top of each other. The tower sections 6 are bolted together through the internally placed horizontal flanges 7, which are welded to the top and bottom of each section 6.

0057<figref idref="f0007">Fig. 8</figref> illustrates a part of a cross-section of an embodiment of a tower ring 14 joint.

0058If a wind turbine tower 2 comprises tower rings 14, at least all or substantially all the horizontal overlap regions 35 between the tower rings 14 are connected by mechanical connection means such as screws, bolts, studs or rivets. Since the tower rings 14 are connected in this way throughout or substantially throughout the length of the tower 2, there is no difference between a tower section 6 joint and a tower ring 14 joint in a wind turbine tower 2 according to the invention.

0059In this embodiment a bottom section 11 of the upper tower ring 8 overlaps a top section 12 of the lower tower ring 9. The two rings are then joined by means of bolts, screws, studs or rivets through the four rows of bolt holes 10. In another embodiment, the overlap region 35 could comprise another number of bolts rows such as one, two, three, five or six and in another embodiment the lower tower ring 9 could overlap the upper tower ring 8.

0060<figref idref="f0007">Fig. 9</figref> illustrates a part of a cross-section of another embodiment of a tower ring joint. This is in principle the same type of tower ring joint design as illustrated in <figref idref="f0007">fig. 8</figref>. The tower rings 8, 9 are usually tapered making the tower 2 wider at the bottom than at the top. In this embodiment the bottom section 11 of the upper tower ring 8 is bended in an angle α and top section 12 of the lower tower ring 9 is bended in an angle β, making the bottom and top section 11, 12 taper in another angle than the middle section 31 of the tower ring 14. The two bending angles α, β could be the same, such as 5°, but in another embodiment the bending angle a could be slightly bigger (e.g. 2°) than the bending angle β, making the top section 12 of the lower tower ring 9 press outwards against the bottom section 11 of the upper tower ring 8, when the rows of bolt holes 10 are aligned.

0061In this embodiment of a horizontal overlap region 35, not all the load of the tower rings 14, nacelle 3 etc. placed above the joint, are carried by the connection means. The inside of the bottom section 11 of the upper tower ring 8 presses down on the outside of the top section 12 of the lower tower ring 9 hereby providing a more optimal load distribution through the joint.

0062<figref idref="f0008">Fig. 10</figref> illustrates an embodiment of a tower plate 13 before it has been bended. If the tower ring 14 is made of tower plates 13 which comprise angled bottom and top sections 11, 12, the bottom and top actions 11, 12 could comprise bending cut-outs 32, to enable, that the plate 13 can be bended both horizontally and vertically. <figref idref="f0008">Fig. 10</figref> illustrates that the tower plate 13 is provided with four vertical bending cut-outs 32 before the bottom and top sections 11,12 are bended along the horizontal bend 33.

0063<figref idref="f0008">Fig. 11</figref> illustrates the same embodiment of a tower plate 13 as illustrated in <figref idref="f0008">fig. 10</figref> after it has been bended. Because of the bending cut-outs 32 the plate 13 can be provided with vertical bends 16 after the bottom and top sections 11, 12 has been bended without deforming the bottom and top sections 11,12.

0064<figref idref="f0008">Fig. 11</figref> further illustrates that the plate 13 has a bottom width Wb, which are wider than the width of the top width Wt. A tower ring 14 made of tower plates 13, which are wider at the bottom than at the top, will also be wider at the bottom than at the top, provided that the vertical joints 15 are of constant width Wj, which they are in a tower according to the invention. Hereby the tower rings 14 taper.

0065The tower plates 13 can be made of a length Lp, which makes them easy to transport, e.g. in standard ISO 40 feet containers.

0066<figref idref="f0009">Fig. 12</figref> illustrates a cross-section of a wind turbine tower 2 according to the invention, comprising an embodiment of an elevator 22, as seen from the side. To service the bolted joints the tower is - in this embodiment of the invention - provided with an elevator 22. The elevator 22 comprises an elevator basket 23, which also could be a cage, a platform or other. The elevator basket 23 is connected to lifting equipment 24 via one or more cables 29 to make the elevator basket 23 go up and down.

0067In this embodiment of the invention the lifting equipment 24 is mounted on a horizontal annular or substantially annular rail 25 at or in close proximity of the top of the tower 2. In this embodiment the annular rail 25 is mounted on a vibration damper 26 at the top of the tower 2 but in another embodiment the rail 25 could be otherwise attached directly or indirectly to the tower 2, to the nacelle 3, to the yaw mechanism (not shown) or other. The annular rail 25 enables, that the elevator baskets 23 starting point at the top of the tower 2, can be moved, hereby allowing the basket 23 to be lifted and lowered along the entire inside of the tower 2.

0068The tower 2 is tapered, giving a circle going through all the bends 16 at the top of the tower 2 a diameter of approximately 2.5 meters and 4.3 meters at the bottom of the tower 2. Since the elevator 22 is mainly for tightening up the bolted joints during the assembly of the tower and throughout the towers life, it is essential that these joins can be reached all the way down the inside of the tower 2. In this embodiment the tower 2 is therefore provided with a number of vertical or substantially vertical guides 27, which in this case are vertical rail 27 connected to the inside of the tower 2. If e.g. 60° of the 360° tower rings 14 can be reached from a given horizontal position, the tower 2 could e.g. be provided with six vertical rails 27 or six pairs or parallel vertical rails 27. To avoid welding them to the tower 2, the rails 27 could be connected to the tower by use of bolts, screws, rivets or as illustrated by use of magnets 28.

0069When the basket 23 is in its top position, it can be moved freely horizontally on the annular rail 25. The basket 23 is then connected to a vertical rail 27 or rail pair by guiding means 30, and when the basket 23 is lowered it will maintain a constant distance to the inside of the tower rings 14, even though the horizontal cross section of the tower rings 14 increases downwards.

0070In another embodiment of the invention the vertical or substantially vertical guides 27 could be very tight cables connected at the top and the bottom of the tower 2 or other means suitable for maintaining the elevator basket 23 in a constant or substantially constant horizontal distance from the inside surface of the tower 2.

0071<figref idref="f0010">Fig. 13</figref> illustrates a cross-section of a wind turbine tower according to the invention, comprising an embodiment of an elevator, as seen from the bottom. In this embodiment of the invention the tower is provided with six vertical rails 27 substantially extending from the bottom to the top of the tower 2. The horizontal annular rail 25 is closed, making it describe a full 360° circle, but in another embodiment of the invention the annular rail 25 could be less than a full circle such as between 250° and 330° of a full circle, e.g. making room for a ladder (not shown) to pass, which could extend substantially throughout the entire vertical length of the tower 2.

0072The invention has been exemplified above with reference to specific examples of overlapping tower rings 14, tower plates 13 and internal elevators 22 for use in a wind turbine 1. However, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular examples described above but may be designed and altered in a multitude of varieties within the scope of the invention as specified in the claims.

List

0073<ul id="ul0001" list-style="none" compact="compact"><li>1. Wind turbine</li><li>2. Tower</li><li>3. Nacelle</li><li>4. Rotor</li><li>5. Blade</li><li>6. Tower section</li><li>7. Horizontal flange</li><li>8. Upper tower ring</li><li>9. Lower tower ring</li><li>10. Row of bolt holes</li><li>11. Bottom section of a tower ring</li><li>12. Top section of a tower ring</li><li>13. Tower plate</li><li>14. Tower ring</li><li>15. Vertical joint</li><li>16. Bend</li><li>17. First side section of tower plate</li><li>18. Second side section of tower plate</li><li>19. First top corner of tower plate</li><li>20. First bottom corner of tower plate</li><li>21. Second top corner of tower plate</li><li>22. Elevator</li><li>23. Elevator basket</li><li>24. Lifting equipment</li><li>25. Horizontal annular rail</li><li>26. Vibration damper</li><li>27. Vertical guide</li><li>28. Magnet</li><li>29. Cable</li><li>30. Guiding means</li><li>31. Middle section of tower ring</li><li>32. Bending cut-out</li><li>33. Horizontal bend</li><li>34. Bolt</li><li>35. Horizontal overlap region</li><li>Lp. Length of tower plate</li><li>a. Bending angle of bottom section</li><li>β. Bending angle of top section</li><li>Wb. Bottom width of tower plate</li><li>Wt. Top width of tower plate</li><li>Wj. Width of vertical joints</li></ul>