CN-122029353-A - Method of filling ballast tanks within a wind turbine blade and associated wind turbine blade

Abstract

A method of filling a ballast tank (30) located within an interior of a wind turbine blade (20) includes the steps of providing a wind turbine blade (20) having a ballast tank (30) within an interior (42) of the blade, determining a position of the ballast tank (30) within the blade (20), applying a visual position identifier (60) to an outer surface (55) of the blade at a position corresponding to the position of the ballast tank (20), forming a hole (50) through the outer surface (55) of the blade and into the ballast tank (30) at the position of the position identifier (60), and introducing ballast material (48) into the ballast tank (30) through the hole (50).

Inventors

• G. Pan Di'an
• S. A. Sangalaji
• B. green

Assignees

• 维斯塔斯风力系统有限公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20240821

Priority Date

20230824

Claims (9)

1. 1. A method of filling a ballast tank (30) located within an interior of a wind turbine blade (20), the method comprising the steps of: providing a wind turbine blade (20) having a ballast tank (30) within an interior (42) of the blade; -determining the position of the ballast tank (30) in the blade (20); -applying a visual position identifier (60) to an outer surface (55) of the blade at a position corresponding to the position of the ballast tank (20); -forming a hole (50) through the outer surface (55) of the blade and into the ballast tank (30) at the location of the location identifier (60); ballast material (48) is introduced into the ballast tank (30) through the aperture (50).
2. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the location identifier comprises an attachable member attached to the outer surface of the blade, and preferably the attachable member is a decal.
3. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the location identifier is a marking made of ink, paint, or other marking medium.
4. 4. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the location identifier is a permanent mark on the exterior of the blade.
5. 5. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the location identifier surrounds a perimeter of the ballast tank.
6. 6. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the step of determining the position of the ballast tank (30) in the blade (20) comprises applying a marker in or on the outer skin of the blade during the moulding process for manufacturing the blade.
7. 7. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the position identifier is applied to the outer surface of the blade in a factory and the step of introducing ballast material occurs when the wind turbine blade is mounted on a hub atop a tower.
8. 8. A wind turbine blade, the wind turbine blade comprising: A root end and a tip end, the blade extending in a spanwise direction from the root end to the tip end; a leading edge and a trailing edge, the blade extending in a chordwise direction from the leading edge to a chord of the trailing edge; A ballast tank located within the interior of the blade; a visual location identifier located on an outer surface of the blade at a location corresponding to the ballast tank.
9. 9. A wind turbine, the wind turbine comprising: A tower; a nacelle and a hub mounted atop the tower; the wind turbine blade of claim 8 mounted to the hub.

Description

Method of filling ballast tanks within a wind turbine blade and associated wind turbine blade Technical Field The invention relates to balancing of wind turbine blades. In particular, the present invention relates to a method of filling ballast tanks within the interior of a blade and an associated blade. Background Horizontal axis wind turbines include a plurality of blades, typically three blades, that rotate about a horizontal axis. The balancing of these blades is important and if they are unbalanced vibrations or other instabilities may be introduced into the drive train of the wind turbine. Wind turbine blades are manufactured from composite materials such as glass fiber reinforced plastics and carbon fiber reinforced plastics. The manufacturing process includes applying the reinforcing fabric material in a mold and introducing the resin into the mold, such as in a Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding (VARTM) system. Because of variability in the manufacturing process, not all blades have the same mass, the blades need to be balanced together in groups. The balancing process includes weighing the blades and adding ballast material to the ballast tanks in the blades, thereby enabling a blade set to be provided with each blade having the same mass moment. During the service life of wind turbines, maintenance of the blades is sometimes required. During blade maintenance, material may be added to the blade, and even removed from the blade. This may be done on the tower when the blade is mounted on the hub of the wind turbine. After blade maintenance, the blades on the turbine may be unbalanced and ballast material may need to be added to the ballast tank. The ballast tank is located in the interior of the blade and it is difficult to determine the position of the ballast tank from the exterior of the blade, especially when the blade is mounted to the hub of a wind turbine. The object of the invention is to allow a technician to locate the ballast tank from outside the blade. Disclosure of Invention According to the present invention there is provided a method of filling a ballast tank located within the interior of a blade of a wind turbine, the method comprising the steps of: providing a wind turbine blade having a ballast tank within an interior of the blade; determining a position of the ballast tank in the blade; applying a visual position identifier to an outer surface of the blade at a location corresponding to the location of the ballast tank; Forming a hole through the outer surface of the blade and into the ballast tank at the location of the location identifier; Ballast material is introduced into the ballast tank through the aperture. Providing a visual location identifier on the outer surface of the blade allows a technician to quickly and easily identify the location of the ballast tank within the interior of the blade. Since the location identifier is a visual feature, the technician does not need tools to identify the location of the ballast tanks. The location identifier may comprise an attachable member attached to the outer surface of the blade, and preferably the attachable member is a decal. The use of stickers is a simple way of providing visual indicia on the blade. If holes are formed at the locations of the decals (e.g., by drilling) to introduce ballast into the ballast tank, new decals can be easily reapplied to the outer surface after the holes are filled. The location identifier may be a marking made of ink, paint, or other marking medium. The location identifier is formed by ink or paint to provide a surface flush with the exterior of the blade, which avoids negative effects on the aerodynamic properties of the blade. Preferably, the location identifier is a permanent mark on the exterior of the blade. The desired location identifier persists throughout the life of the wind turbine blade (e.g., 20 years or more). In this way, the location identifier will still be visible if ballast material needs to be added at any time during the lifetime of the blade. The location identifier may be around the perimeter of the ballast tank. The location identifier may mark a single point on the blade. Or it may surround the contour of the ballast tank. For example, if the ballast tank is rectangular, the location identifier will mark the rectangular shape on the outer surface of the blade. The step of determining the position of the ballast tank in the blade may comprise applying a marker in or on the outer skin of the blade during the moulding process in which the blade is manufactured. The marks may be precisely located during the moulding process of the blade, for example by laser projection. In this way, the markers will accurately identify the location of the ballast tanks. The wind turbine blade may have a plurality of ballast tanks within the interior of the blade, and the exterior surface of the blade includes a separate location identifier associated with each ballast tank. The loc