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EP-4735764-A1 - A METHOD OF ASSEMBLING A DRIVE TRAIN FOR A WIND TURBINE, A WIND TURBINE AND AN ASSEMBLY KIT THEREOF

EP4735764A1EP 4735764 A1EP4735764 A1EP 4735764A1EP-4735764-A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of assembling a drivetrain for a wind turbine, and a wind turbine and an assembly kit thereof. First fixture elements are secured to first planet carrier of the first gear stage and second fixture elements are secured to the gearbox housing. The respective gear stages of the gearbox unit are pre-assembled, where the first planet carrier is fixed relative to the gearbox housing via the first and second fixture elements. The first ring gear is further fixed relative to the gearbox housing by fastener elements. The pre-assembled gearbox unit is then aligned with the main shaft and moved into position relative to each other. The gearbox housing is mounted to the main bearing housing, and the first planet carrier is released and moved axially into position relative to the flange of the main shaft. The first planet carrier is then mounted to the flange and the first and second fixture elements are re-moved.

Inventors

  • RUESCHOFF, RALF
  • WALKOWIAK, Matthias
  • EISEN, STEPHANE
  • Trzewik, Pawel
  • CHRISTENSEN, Joergen Ditlev

Assignees

  • Envision Energy Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230907

Claims (15)

  1. A method of assembling a drivetrain (6) for a wind turbine (1) , the drivetrain (6) comprising at least a main shaft (31) unit and a gearbox (7) unit with at least one gear stage, where the method comprises the steps of: - providing a main shaft (31) having a rotor end (32) and a gearbox end (33) , - providing a gearbox (7) having a main shaft end (34) and a generator end (35) , - aligning the main shaft (31) unit and the gearbox (7) unit relative to each other, - moving the main shaft end (34) of the gearbox (7) and the gearbox end (33) of the main shaft (31) into position relative to each other, - connecting the main shaft (31) unit to the gearbox (7) unit, characterised in that when moved into position, a first planet carrier (23) of the gear-box (7) is further moved axially from a retracted position into an extended position, in which the first planet carrier (23) is connected to a flange (42) of the main shaft (31) at the gearbox end (33) .
  2. The method according to claim 1, characterised in that the first planet carrier (23) is fixed relative to another gearbox part, preferably a gearbox housing (26) , prior to moving the gearbox (7) unit and the main shaft (31) unit into position.
  3. The method according to claim 2, characterised in that the first planet carrier (23) is fixed to the other gearbox part by mounting a number of temporary fixtures (9) to the first planet carrier (23) and to the other gearbox part.
  4. The method according to claim 3, characterised in that at least one first fixture ele-ment (10) is mounted to the first planet carrier (23) and at least one second fixture element (11) is mounted to the other gearbox part, where the first planet carrier (23) is fixed relative to the other gearbox part by bringing the first and second fixture ele-ments (10, 11) into engagement to form at least one pair of temporary fixtures (9) .
  5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that when moved into position, a gearbox housing (26) of the gearbox (7) is secured to a main bearing housing (36) by first fastener elements (27) .
  6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that second fas-tener elements (41) are inserted into the flange (42) and at least partly secured to the first planet carrier (23) , where the first planet carrier (23) is moved axially by tighten-ing the second fastener elements (41) .
  7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the method further comprises the step of pre-assembling the respective gear stages of the gearbox (7) in a vertical direction.
  8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that a first ring gear (28) of the gearbox (7) is fixed relative to the gearbox housing (26) before mov-ing the main shaft end (34) and the gearbox end (33) into position.
  9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterised in that the main shaft (31) and the gearbox (7) are assembled and/or disassembled onsite and up-tower, wherein the gearbox (7) is optionally pre-assembled at another location.
  10. An assembly kit for use in assembling a drivetrain for a wind turbine according to any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising: - at least one first fixture element (10) configured to be mounted to a first planet carri-er (23) of the gearbox (7) , - at least one second fixture element (11) configured to be mounted to another gearbox part, preferably a gearbox housing (26) , wherein the first fixture element (10) is shaped to engage the second fixture element (11) to form at least one pair of temporary fixtures (9) for fixing the first planet carrier (23) relative to the other gearbox part.
  11. The assembly kit according to claim 10, characterised in that the first fixture ele-ment (10) is a rod with a first end (12) and an opposite second end (13) , the first end (12) being configured to be secured to a mounting point (24) on the first planet carrier (23) .
  12. The assembly kit according to claim 10 or 11, characterised in that the second fix-ture element (11) is a bushing with a hole (18) , a first end (16) and an opposite second end (17) , the second end (17) being configured to be secured to a mounting point (25) on the other gearbox part.
  13. The assembly kit according to claim 11 or 12, characterised in that at least one of the first and second fixture elements (10, 11) is accessible from an exterior of the gearbox (7) and configured to be removed and/or inserted from the exterior.
  14. A wind turbine comprising a wind turbine tower (2) , a nacelle (3) arranged on top of the wind turbine tower (2) , and a rotor with at least one wind turbine blade (5) ar-ranged relative to the nacelle (3) , the rotor being connected to a drivetrain (6) in the wind turbine (1) , the drivetrain (6) comprising at least a main shaft (31) connected to a gearbox (7) with at least one gear stage, characterised in that the main shaft (31) and gearbox (7) are assembled according to the method of any one of claims 1 to 9.
  15. The wind turbine according to claim 14, characterised in that a first planet carrier (23) of the gearbox (7) comprising at least one dedicated mounting element (24) for securing the first fixture element (10) and the other gearbox part of the gearbox (7) comprising at least one dedicated mounting element (25) for securing the second fix-ture element (11) .

Description

A method of assembling a drive train for a wind turbine, a wind turbine and an assembly kit thereof Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of assembling a drivetrain of a wind turbine, the drivetrain comprising a main shaft, a gearbox and a generator, the main shaft is configured to be connected to a rotor hub at one end and to a gearbox input at the op-posite end, and the generator further has a gearbox output configured to be connected to a generator rotor. The method comprises the steps of preparing the gearbox for in-stallation, aligning the gearbox with the main shaft, and moving the gearbox into posi-tion and securing it to the main shaft. The present invention also comprises a wind turbine with a drivetrain thereof. Background of the Invention It is known that wind turbines over the recent years have increased in tower height and rotor diameter to capture more energy from the wind, thereby increasing the electrical power capacity of the wind turbine. Thereby increasing the size and weight of the in-dividual components, as the main shaft and main frame must support the increased weight of the rotor. As a result, increased torque and loads are transferred from the main shaft to the gearbox and into the generator. The design of wind turbine drive trains has also evolved towards more integrated drive train arrangements. During assembly, the main shaft and the gearbox are aligned and moved into position relative to each other. A high tolerance during designing the components is needed. A known problem is that the main shaft and gearbox must be accurately aligned during assembly, such as disclosed in CN 103042378 B. This is difficult to achieved using an overhead crane and is time consuming. CN 204621527 U discloses an assembly stand for assembling the main shaft and the gearbox, where the main shaft is resting on a first support and the gearbox is resting on a second support. A linear actuator on the first support is used to move the main shaft into position relative to the gearbox. CN 103244363 B also discloses an assem- bly stand for assembling the main shaft and the gearbox, where the main shaft is rest-ing on a first support and the gearbox is resting on a second support. A tensioning device mounted to the opposite end of the gearbox is connected to the main shaft through a central hole in the gearbox. Both solutions disclose an expansion sleeve that extends around the outer surface of the main shaft and is connected to the input end of the gearbox. The main shaft and gearbox are then locked together by the expansion sleeve. The expansion sleeve re-quires very precise alignment between the main shaft and gearbox. EP 3018341 B1 discloses another assembly stand for assembly of the mains shaft and the gearbox, where the main shaft and the gearbox are resting on individual supports and then moved into position. The main shaft and the gearbox are secured by a press-fit or shrink disc coupling. Such couplings are known to fail due to misalignments. CN 110802380 B discloses an assembly method for planetary gears of a wind turbine gearbox, where the individual gear parts are assembled vertically. No details of how to install the gearbox is provided. CN 113909842 B discloses an alternative assembly method where the gear stages of the gearbox are assembled directly onto the main shaft. The main shaft is positioned vertically, and the gear components are then low-ered into position and secured to the main shaft. During synchronous adjustment of the gears, the first gear stage is fixed relative to the main shaft while the second gear stages are fixed relative to the first gear stage. When the adjustment is complete, the fixtures are removed. However, this solution requires the main shaft with gearbox to be removed from the nacelle during maintenance or replacement. Object of the Invention One object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the abovementioned prior art. One object of the present invention is to provide a method, wind turbine and assembly kit that reduces the risk of damaging the potential contact surfaces during assembly and allows for a simpler assembly process. One object of the present invention is to provide a method, wind turbine and assembly kit that is suited for assuming a compact drivetrain. Description of the Invention One object of the present invention is achieved by a method of assembling a drivetrain of a wind turbine according to claim 1, the drivetrain comprising at least a main shaft unit and a gearbox unit with at least one gear stage, where the method comprises the steps of: - providing a main shaft having a rotor end and a gearbox end, - providing a gearbox having a main shaft end and a generator end, - aligning the main shaft unit and the gearbox unit relative to each other, - moving the main shaft end of the gearbox and the gearbox end of the main shaft into position relative to each other, - connecting the main shaft unit to the