DEVICE AND ARRANGEMENT FOR THE HORIZONTAL PREASSEMBLY OF A WIND TURBINE ROTOR

Abstract

An adapter device for the horizontal preassembly of a wind turbine rotor includes a connection piece on the underside of the adapter device for fastening the adapter device to a tower system of a tower crane, and a rotor flange on the top side of the adapter device for fastening the rotor hub of the wind turbine rotor to be assembled.

Claims

1. An adapter device for the horizontal preassembly of a wind turbine rotor, the adapter device comprising a connection piece on an underside of the adapter device for fastening the adapter device to a tower system of a tower crane, and a rotor flange on a top side of the adapter device for fastening a rotor hub of the wind turbine rotor to be assembled.

2. The adapter device of claim 1, wherein the connection piece and the rotor flange are arranged substantially coaxially.

3. The adapter device of claim 1, comprising a work platform that surrounds the rotor flange, wherein the work platform is located between the connection piece and the rotor flange.

4. The adapter device of claim 3, wherein the rotor flange is elevated with respect to the work platform, such that a passage from the work platform to an access opening arranged in the region of the connection piece, in the work platform is provided between the rotor flange and the work platform.

5. The adapter device of claim 3, comprising a staircase from the work platform to the rotor flange.

6. The adapter device of claim 1, wherein the adapter device has an extension arm to which a ballast weight for applying a bending moment to the adapter device parallel to the plane of the rotor flange is able to be fastened.

7. The adapter device of claim 6, wherein the extension arm is pivotable parallel to the plane of the rotor flange and is able to be mounted in any one of several defined positions.

8. The adapter device of claim 6, wherein the extension arm has a displacement device for displacing the ballast weight along the longitudinal axis of the extension arm.

9. The adapter device of claim 1, comprising a rotating device is fastened to the rotor flange, wherein the rotating device is configured such that the rotor hub of the wind turbine rotor to be assembled is fastenable to the rotating device, and wherein the rotating device allows the rotor hub to rotate in the plane of the rotor flange.

10. The adapter device of claim 1, wherein the adapter device is foldable and telescopic such that, in a collapsed state, the adapter device has external dimensions of at most 2.5 m×2.75 m×10 m.

11. An arrangement comprising an adapter device that comprises a connection piece on an underside of the adapter device for fastening the adapter device to a tower system of a tower crane, and a rotor flange on a top side of the adapter device for fastening a rotor hub of the wind turbine rotor to be assembled, and a tower system of a tower crane, wherein the adapter device is fastened to the tower system by way of the connection piece.

12. The arrangement of claim 11, wherein stability of the tower system is achieved via ballasting at a foot of the tower system.

13. The arrangement of claim 11, wherein the tower system is fastened to a foundation of the wind turbine to be erected or is fastened to a separately constructed foundation.

14. The arrangement of claim 11, wherein the adapter device or the tower system is configured to be supported on an at least partially already erected tower of the wind turbine.

15. The arrangement of claim 11, wherein the tower system is selected configured such that a minimum clearance height under a wind turbine rotor assembled on the adapter device is at least 4.5 m, or the maximum height of a wind turbine rotor assembled on the adapter device above the ground is 40 m.

16. The adapter device of claim 3, wherein the work platform is HSE compliant.

17. The adapter device of claim 6, wherein the extension arm is pivotable parallel to the plane of the rotor flange or is able to be mounted in any one of several defined positions.

18. The adapter device of claim 1, wherein the adapter device is foldable or telescopic such that, in a collapsed state, the adapter device has external dimensions of at most 2.5 m×2.75 m×10 m.

19. The adapter device of claim 1, wherein the adapter device is foldable or telescopic such that, in a collapsed state, the adapter device has external dimensions that are selected such that the adapter device is loadable in a 40 foot container.

20. The adapter device of claim 1, wherein the adapter device is foldable or telescopic such that, in a collapsed state, the adapter device has external dimensions that are selected such that the adapter device is loadable in a 20 foot container.

21. The arrangement of claim 11, wherein the tower system is configured such that a minimum clearance height under a wind turbine rotor assembled on the adapter device is at least 8 m, or the maximum height of a wind turbine rotor assembled on the adapter device above the ground is 35 m.

22. The arrangement of claim 11, wherein the tower system is configured such that a minimum clearance height under a wind turbine rotor assembled on the adapter device is at least 9.5 m, or the maximum height of a wind turbine rotor assembled on the adapter device above the ground is 25 m.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] The Invention Will Now be Described by Way of Example by Way of Advantageous Embodiments with Reference to the Appended Drawings, in which:

[0037] FIG. 1 shows a first exemplary embodiment of an arrangement according to the invention having an adapter device according to the invention and a rotor assembled thereon;

[0038] FIG. 2 shows a detailed illustration of the adapter device from FIG. 1;

[0039] FIG. 3 shows a detailed illustration of the tower system from FIG. 1; and

[0040] FIG. 4 shows a second exemplary embodiment of an arrangement according to the invention having an adapter device according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0041] FIG. 1 shows a first exemplary embodiment of an arrangement 1 according to the invention for the horizontal preassembly of a wind turbine rotor. The arrangement 1 comprises an adapter device 10 according to the invention and a tower system 20. The rotor 30 of a wind turbine has already been preassembled on the arrangement 1, wherein the assembly of the rotor 30 takes place in a horizontal position.

[0042] FIG. 2 illustrates the adapter device 10 from FIG. 1 in more detail.

[0043] On its underside, the adapter device 10 has a connection piece 11 with which the adapter device 10 can be fastened to a tower system 20 (cf. FIG. 1). Provided on the top side of the adapter device 10 is a rotor flange 12, to which the rotor hub 31 of the rotor 30 to be assembled can be fastened. For fastening, the rotor hub 31 can be screwed to the rotor flange 12, which, for this purpose, has corresponding through-holes or studs. The connection piece 11 and the rotor flange 12 are arranged coaxially in the exemplary embodiment illustrated, although this is not absolutely necessary.

[0044] Provided between the connection piece 11 and the rotor flange 12 is an encircling, HSE-compliant work platform 13. The work platform 13 is in this case arranged far enough beneath the rotor flange 12 for a passage 14 to be able to be provided from the work platform 13 to an access opening (not visible in FIG. 2) in the work platform 13. The access opening is in this case arranged in such a way with respect to the rotor flange 12 and thus also with the connection piece 11 that it corresponds to the ladder system of the tower system 20 and makes it possible, in the arrangement according to the invention (cf. FIG. 1), to reach the work platform 13 through the access opening and the passage 14 via an access ladder 24 (cf. FIG. 3) generally provided on the tower system 20. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated, the access opening is arranged coaxially with the rotor flange 12 and thus also with the connection piece 11.

[0045] In order to be able to readily reach the rotor flange 12, or a rotor hub 31 fastened thereto, from the work platform 13, a staircase 19 is provided, which is arranged fixedly on the adapter device 10. Via this staircase 19, the manhole (not illustrated) generally provided on the rotor hub 31 can be reached.

[0046] FIG. 3 illustrates the tower system 20, which is used in the arrangement 1 in FIG. 1, in more detail.

[0047] The tower system 20 comprises a base segment 21 comprising a cross frame 22 with height-adjustable legs 23 arranged thereon, with which ground irregularities can be compensated. The legs 23 also ensure that the cross frame 22 is at least 1.5 m from the ground, such that the access ladder 24 passing through the inside of the base segment 21 is reachable. Furthermore, the tower system 20 can easily be relocated as a result with a suitable vehicle—for example a truck with a lifting device on its loading bed. This is advantageous in particular in the construction of a wind farm.

[0048] The base segment 21 is ballasted with ballast rocks 25 such that sufficient stability of the tower system 20 and of the arrangement according to the invention (cf. FIG. 1) is achieved. The ballasting of the base segment 21 should in this case be selected primarily in dependence on the configuration and the weight of the rotor 30 to be assembled and of the components thereof, in particular the rotor blades 32, in particular also with regard to wind resistance.

[0049] Arranged on the base segment 21 is a single tower segment 26. If a relatively great height of the tower system 20 is required, further tower segments 26 can also be provided. The access ladder 24 in this case extends through all of the tower segments 26.

[0050] In the arrangement 1 illustrated in FIG. 1, the height of the tower system 20 has been selected such that the clear height beneath the rotor blades 32 of the fully assembled rotor 30 is 10 m, such that the typical construction traffic is not impeded by the erection of wind turbines. At the same time, the rotor 30 on the arrangement 1 is at such a low height that the assembly of the rotor hub 31 and the individual rotor blades 32 can take place with comparatively small cranes, such that a large crane is ultimately required only for lifting the rotor 30 to the gondola of the wind turbine.

[0051] FIG. 4 shows a second exemplary embodiment of an arrangement 1 according to the invention made up of an adapter device 10 according to the invention and a tower system 20. This arrangement is largely the same as those in FIGS. 1 to 3, for which reason reference is made to the statements made with regard thereto and only the differences will be dealt with in the following text.

[0052] Fastened to the rotor flange 12 of the adapter device 10 is a rotating device 15 which allows rotation of a rotor hub 31 (not illustrated in FIG. 4) arranged thereon about the ultimate rotor axis. A corresponding rotating device 15 makes it possible to fasten the individual rotor blades 32 successively to the rotor hub 31 without the crane required for lifting the rotor blades 32 into position having to be moved. Rather, the rotor hub 31 can be rotated such that all of the rotor blades 32 of the rotor 30 can be assembled at the same location in each case.

[0053] In the embodiment according to FIG. 4, the tower system 20 achieves the required stability not by ballasting (cf. FIGS. 1 and 3) but rather by a connection to the foundation 41 of the wind turbine 40 to be erected. To this end, suitable attachment points 42, to which the base segment 21 of the tower system 20 can be connected, are provided in the foundation 41. The attachment points 42 are in this case arranged on the foundation 41 such that the arrangement 1 according to the invention with the adapter device 10 does not impede the construction of the wind turbine 40 and in particular the tower 43 thereof.

[0054] The tower system 20 is furthermore connected to the already erected part of the tower 43 of the wind turbine 40, in particular the bottommost segment thereof, via a support 27. To this end, a cross member 28 is fastened to a tower segment 26 of the tower system 20, a collar 29, which is placed around the tower 43 of the wind turbine 40, being located at the free end of said cross member 28. By tightening the collar 29, a force-conducting connection is established between the tower 43 and the arrangement 1 according to the invention, via which, during assembly, any loads on the arrangement 1 can be at least partially transferred.

[0055] The adapter device 10 furthermore has a ring 16 mounted in a rotatable manner immediately beneath the rotor flange 12, said ring 16 being able to be rotated in a plane parallel to the fastening surface of the rotor flange 12. Fastened to the ring 16 is an extension arm 17 on which a displacement device 18 is arranged which is displaceable along the longitudinal axis of the extension arm 17. A ballast weight (not illustrated) can be attached to the displacement device 18. As a result of the attachment of a ballast weight to the displacement device 18 and suitable pivoting of the extension arm 17, moments which act on the adapter device 10 during the assembly of the rotor 30, for example when not all of the rotor blades 32 have yet been assembled, can be balanced.

[0056] Even though both a support 27 and an extension arm 17 for ballasting are provided in the exemplary embodiment in FIG. 4, only one of the two measures is generally sufficient to give the arrangement 1 according to the invention improved stability. In this case, the support 27 is suitable in particular in arrangements 1 which—as shown in FIG. 4—are arranged immediately on the foundation 41 of the wind turbine 40 to be erected, while moment balancing by ballasting on an extension arm 17 is advantageous in particular in arrangements as illustrated for example in FIG. 1. If, in a corresponding embodiment, moment balancing is provided by the ballasting on an extension arm 17, the ballasting of the base segment 21 of the tower system 20 can generally be reduced.

[0057] A common feature of the exemplary embodiments in FIGS. 1 and 4 is that the adapter devices 10 can be collapsed, for transport purposes, to a maximum volume of 2.5 m×2.75 m×10 m. To this end, the adapter devices 10 are configured in a foldable and/or telescopic manner.