A system for a wind turbine that includes a protection system interfaced to a circuit breaker system and a sensing system. The protection system is configured to determine an operational mode of the wind turbine by monitoring at least two parameters determine a parameter set comprising a plurality of operational parameters based on a determined operational mode, and an associated set of expected values corresponding to the parameter set, determine actual values corresponding to the determined parameter set, identify a fault condition in the event that the determined set of actual values of the operational parameters do not correspond to the determined set of expected values of the operational parameters, and implement a protection action based on the identified fault condition.

A system for a wind turbine that includes a protection system interfaced to a circuit breaker system and a sensing system. The protection system is configured to determine an operational mode of the wind turbine by monitoring at least two parameters determine a parameter set comprising a plurality of operational parameters based on a determined operational mode, and an associated set of expected values corresponding to the parameter set, determine actual values corresponding to the determined parameter set, identify a fault condition in the event that the determined set of actual values of the operational parameters do not correspond to the determined set of expected values of the operational parameters, and implement a protection action based on the identified fault condition.

Provided is a detecting device and a method for detecting a fault in a transformer of a wind turbine, wherein the transformer transforms a lower voltage, which is output from a generator of the wind turbine to a low voltage side of the transformer, to a higher voltage, which is output from the transformer at a high voltage side, the detecting device including: a voltage detection device configured to detect a voltage at a first node at the low voltage side of the transformer; a current detection device configured to detect a current at a second node at the high voltage side of the transformer. The detecting device is configured to detect the fault in the transformer based on the detected voltage and the detected current.

Provided is a detecting device and a method for detecting a fault in a transformer of a wind turbine, wherein the transformer transforms a lower voltage, which is output from a generator of the wind turbine to a low voltage side of the transformer, to a higher voltage, which is output from the transformer at a high voltage side, the detecting device including: a voltage detection device configured to detect a voltage at a first node at the low voltage side of the transformer; a current detection device configured to detect a current at a second node at the high voltage side of the transformer. The detecting device is configured to detect the fault in the transformer based on the detected voltage and the detected current.

In accordance with at least one aspect of this disclosure, a system includes a generator control relay configured to electrically connect a generator and an exciter switch drive to drive an exciter switch. A first processor is operatively connected to control a state of the generator control relay to control the electrical connection between a generator and the exciter switch drive. The system includes an exciter drive configured to generate excitation current for field windings of a generator system based on a state of the exciter switch. A second processor is operatively connected to control the exciter drive and to communicate with the first processor during a fault event to place the generator control relay in an open state, disconnecting the generator from the exciter switch drive to prevent generation of excitation current. In certain embodiments, the first processor can include a microcontroller and the second processor can include a voltage regulation processor.

An exciter drive circuit comprises a direct current (DC) link to provide a positive DC voltage to a positive voltage exciter rail and a negative DC voltage to a negative voltage exciter rail. An exciter winding includes a first exciter terminal connected to the positive voltage exciter rail and an opposing second exciter terminal connected to the negative voltage exciter rail. A flyback circuit establishes a first flyback current path that conducts the current from exciter winding in response to an inductive flyback event. A flyback fault protection circuit establishes a second flyback current path that conducts the current from exciter winding in response to the inductive flyback event and a fault present in the flyback circuit. The second flyback current path delivers the current output by the exciter winding from the negative voltage exciter rail to the positive voltage exciter rail.

A method of monitoring an electrical machine, wherein the method includes: a) obtaining temperature measurement values of the temperature at a plurality of locations of the electrical machine, b) obtaining estimated temperatures at the plurality of locations given by a thermal model of the electrical machine, the thermal model including initial weight parameter values, c) minimizing a difference between the temperature measurement values and the estimated temperatures by finding optimal weight parameter values, d) storing the initial weight parameter values to thereby obtain a storage of used weight parameter values, and updating the optimal weight parameter values as new initial weight parameter values, and repeating steps a)-d) over and over during operation of the electrical machine.

A method for detection of a sub-synchronous oscillation in a power system includes measuring a three-phase measurement signal of an electric system value, analyzing the measurement signal to detect an oscillation component of the measurement signal having an oscillation frequency lower than a system frequency of the power system, deciding whether the detected oscillation component at the oscillation frequency qualifies as a sub-synchronous oscillation, and disconnecting a generator from the power system that might be affected by the sub-synchronous oscillation. To detect sub-synchronous oscillations with low computational effort and good accuracy, an amplitude of each phase of the oscillation component is calculated and compared against a threshold, a sub-synchronous oscillation is detected upon exceeding the threshold during a given time delay, and a fault signal is generated upon detecting a sub-synchronous oscillation. A device having a processing unit is also provided.

An internal combustion engine-based system including an engine, a shutdown circuit coupled to the engine to shut down the engine, a controller in communication with the shutdown circuit, and a carbon monoxide (CO) sensor in communication with the controller. The controller communicates with the shutdown circuit to shut down the engine at a predetermined CO threshold concentration when the CO sensor provides the controller with signals that are representative of a CO level proximate the engine that indicate a trend of building CO levels over a set time interval.

An internal combustion engine-based system including an engine, a shutdown circuit coupled to the engine to shut down the engine, a controller in communication with the shutdown circuit, and a carbon monoxide (CO) sensor in communication with the controller. The controller communicates with the shutdown circuit to shut down the engine at a predetermined CO threshold concentration when the CO sensor provides the controller with signals that are representative of a CO level proximate the engine that indicate a trend of building CO levels over a set time interval.