Visual inspection of turbine blades

Abstract

A blade monitoring system is provided for inspecting the condition of at least one turbine blade of a wind turbine generator. The wind turbine blade condition monitoring system includes a wind turbine which has at least one blade mounted on a hub, the hub mounted to a nacelle body along an axis of rotation, the nacelle being supported on a tower. A storage location is connected to at least one of the nacelle body and the tower and includes an opening. A storage door is mounted to and selectively covers the opening, acting to enclose the storage location. The blade monitoring system also includes imaging equipment for imaging the at least one blade and a conveyance system. The conveyance system is mounted to at least one of the nacelle body and the tower and is connected to the imaging equipment. The conveyance system conveys the imaging equipment from within the storage location through the opening in a direction generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of the at least one blade.

1 . A wind turbine blade condition monitoring system comprising:
 a wind turbine including:
 at least one blade mounted on a hub, the hub mounted to a nacelle along an axis of rotation, the nacelle being supported on a tower; 
 a storage location connected to or defined in at least one of the nacelle and the tower and including an opening; 
 a storage door mounted to and selectively covering the opening, acting to enclose the storage location; 
   imaging equipment for imaging the at least one blade; and,   a conveyance system mounted to at least one of the nacelle and the tower and connected to the imaging equipment, the conveyance system conveying the imaging equipment from within the storage location through the opening and in a direction generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of the at least one blade.   
     
     
         2 . The wind turbine blade condition monitoring system according to  claim 1 , wherein the conveyance system comprises an electromechanical pulley system, comprising:
 a first pulley mounted to the at least one of the nacelle and the tower;   a first support cable mounted on the first pulley;   the first support cable including a load end and a winding end, the winding end driven by a motor unit that rotates the pulley; and,   wherein the load end is attached to the imaging equipment.   
     
     
         3 . The wind turbine blade condition monitoring system according to  claim 2 , wherein the conveyance system further comprises:
 a second pulley mounted to the at least one of the nacelle and the tower;   a second support cable mounted on the second pulley;   the second support cable including a load end and a winding end;   the load end attached to the enclosure at a location spaced from the first support cable point of attachment.   
     
     
         4 . The wind turbine blade condition monitoring system according to  claim 1 , wherein the conveyance system comprises an electromechanical pulley and track system, comprising:
 a track mounted to the tower;   a carriage which travels along the track;   a system of pulleys mounted to the nacelle;   a support cable supported by the system of pulleys;   the support cable including a load end and a winding end, the winding end driven by a motor unit that rotates at least one of the system of pulleys;   the load end attached to the carriage; and,   wherein the enclosure is attached to the carriage.   
     
     
         5 . The wind turbine blade condition monitoring system according to  claim 1 , wherein the conveyance system further comprises a personnel lifting basket, including;
 at least one pulley mounted inside the nacelle;   a support cable supported by the at least one pulley;   the support cable including a load end and a winding end, the winding end driven by a motor unit that rotates the at least one pulley;   the load end attached to a basket; and wherein the imaging equipment is attached to the basket.   
     
     
         6 . The wind turbine blade condition monitoring system according to  claim 1 , further including sealing surfaces defined on at least one of the storage door and the storage location for sealingly engaging the storage door with the storage location. 
     
     
         7 . The wind turbine blade condition monitoring system according to  claim 1 , further comprising a data receiving system containing processing and analyzing algorithms to analyze data transmitted by the imaging equipment. 
     
     
         8 . The wind turbine blade condition monitoring system according to  claim 1 , wherein the imaging equipment includes a camera and a lens. 
     
     
         9 . The wind turbine blade condition monitoring system according to  claim 8 , further comprising a housing unit defining a hollow chamber holding the imaging equipment and a transparent viewing window, wherein the lens of the imaging equipment faces the transparent viewing window. 
     
     
         10 . A wind turbine blade condition monitoring system, comprising:
 imaging equipment for imaging at least one portion of a blade of an associated wind turbine;   a conveyance system mounted to at least one of a nacelle and a tower of the associated wind turbine, the conveyance system comprising:
 a first pulley mounted to the at least one of the nacelle and the tower of the associated wind turbine; 
 a first motor for selectively rotating the first pulley; 
 a first support cable mounted to the first pulley, the first support cable including a load end connected to the imaging equipment and a winding end mounted on the first pulley; 
 wherein the conveyance system moves the imaging equipment in a direction generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of the blade of the associated wind turbine from adjacent a root end of the blade to a tip end thereof. 
   
     
     
         11 . The wind turbine blade condition monitoring system according to  claim 10 , wherein the conveyance system further comprises:
 a second pulley mounted to the at least one of the nacelle and the tower of the associated wind turbine;   a second support cable mounted to the second pulley, the second support cable including a winding end mounted on the second pulley and a load end connected to the imaging equipment at a point spaced apart from the first support cable point of connection.   
     
     
         12 . The wind turbine blade condition monitoring system according to  claim 11 , wherein the conveyance system further comprises a second motor for selectively rotating the second pulley. 
     
     
         13 . The wind turbine blade condition monitoring system according to  claim 10 , wherein the conveyance system further comprises a data cable carrying data transmitted by the imaging system to a receiving system mounted to the nacelle of the associated wind turbine. 
     
     
         14 . The wind turbine blade condition monitoring system according to  claim 10 , further comprising a radio frequency transmitter for the remote transmission of data to one of the nacelle of the associated wind turbine and a remote location. 
     
     
         15 . The wind turbine blade condition monitoring system according to  claim 10 , wherein the imaging equipment includes a camera and lens. 
     
     
         16 . The wind turbine blade condition monitoring system according to  claim 10 , wherein the conveyance system further comprises a track mounted to a tower of the associated wind turbine. 
     
     
         17 . The wind turbine blade condition monitoring system according to  claim 10 , wherein the conveyance system further comprises a carriage running on the track, the enclosure being mounted to the carriage. 
     
     
         18 . The wind turbine blade condition monitoring system according to  claim 10 , further comprising a housing unit defining a hollow chamber accommodating the imaging equipment and a transparent viewing window, wherein the lens of the imaging equipment faces the transparent viewing window. 
     
     
         19 . The wind turbine blade condition monitoring system according to  claim 10  wherein the enclosure is mounted to a personnel basket which is moved by the conveyance system.