Abstract:
The invention relates to a method for performing an oil change on a wind power plant, comprising the steps of rotating the rotor ( 3 ) to a maintenance position, subsequently draining the oil out of a first variable-speed gearbox ( 6 ), filling the first variable-speed gearbox ( 6 ) with fresh oil, draining the oil out of a second variable-speed gearbox ( 6 ′) that is oriented differently than the first gearbox, and filling the second drive device ( 6 ′) with fresh oil. The variable-speed gearboxes each comprise a sump ( 63 ) having a first outlet opening ( 65 ) and a mirrored sump ( 64 ) on the opposite end of the housing thereof having a second outlet opening ( 66 ). Thus, the rotor ( 3 ) does not need to be rotated further during the oil change. The oil change can be performed simultaneously on several or all variable-speed gearboxes, reducing time and personnel expenses. The invention further relates to a correspondingly designed drive device and to an oil changing device.

Description:
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a national stage application under 35 USC 371 of International Application No. PCT/EP2012/054158, filed Mar. 9, 2012, which claims the priority of German Application No. 10 2011 015858.8, filed Apr. 1, 2011, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to oil changes on drive devices of wind power plants, especially motors and gearboxes for pitch adjustment devices. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Modern wind power plants customarily have a wind-powered rotor, the rotor blades of which are variable with regard to their angle of incidence (so-called pitch adjustment). To this end, drive devices are provided on the wind-powered rotor. As a rule, the drive devices are arranged in the rotor hub, wherein for reasons of power output and redundancy a separate drive device is associated with each rotor blade. 
     In general, drive devices, such as gearboxes and motors, require lubrication in order to forestall premature wear phenomena. The lubrication is usually carried out with oil. As a result of abrasion, the oil becomes contaminated and has to be changed regularly in the course of a maintenance. Thus, oil changes have to be carried out regularly even in the case of wind power plants. This requires the presence of a fitter in the engine nacelle of the wind power plant, which necessitates considerable expenditure especially in the case of a large number of wind power plants in a wind farm and/or in the case of wind power plants which are installed a distance away, for example in the case of offshore wind power plants. 
     A manual method for carrying out an oil change in the case of drive devices of wind power plants is described in the unexamined German application DE 10 2008 027 365 A1. According to this, in a first step the wind-powered rotor is rotated into a specified position (maintenance position) so that an oil sump of the drive device is located with its outlet opening at the bottom (relative to the drive device). The oil in the drive device is then over the outlet opening. By opening the outlet opening, the oil is drained and collected in a waste oil container. For filling with fresh oil, the wind-powered rotor is rotated by 180 degrees so that the outlet opening of the now emptied drive device is located at the top. The fresh oil is poured in and the outlet opening closed again. This process is repeated for each one of the other drive devices. Since the drive devices of such wind power plants are customarily arranged in the rotor hub with different orientation (specifically so that they have the same relative position in each case in relation to the rotor blade which is operated by it), the wind-powered rotor has to be further rotated each time in order to achieve the respective positions for emptying and filling. In the case of a wind power plant with a three-bladed wind-powered rotor, at least five rotations of the wind-powered rotor, starting from the maintenance position, have to consequently be carried out for an oil change of the drive devices. The high cost as a result of the repeated rotation of the wind-powered rotor, which requires a lot of time for one thing and a large number of personnel for another thing, is the disadvantage of this method. 
     From another field of technology, specifically the automobile industry, it is known to rapidly remove the oil and fill up with oil again through a single opening with the aid of a pump device. This device, however, is quite large and heavy and because of this is not suitable for portable use. It is therefore unsuitable for use during maintenance of wind power plants. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An advantage of the invention is reducing time consumption and cost of personnel for an oil change in wind power plants and ultimately to reduce the costs of an oil change or of the maintenance of wind power plants. 
     A solution according to the invention lies in the features as broadly described herein. Advantageous developments are subjects of the detailed embodiments described below. 
     Proposed is a method and an arrangement, with which the method can be carried out, that can accelerate the oil change on wind power plants and also reduce the personnel cost. The disclosure also extends to correspondingly designed drive devices and to an oil change device. 
     In the case of a method for carrying out an oil change on a wind power plant, which has a tower with an engine nacelle located thereupon on which a rotor with a plurality of rotor blades is rotatably attached and the rotor has a plurality of drive devices arranged with different orientation, comprising rotating of the wind-powered rotor into a maintenance position, subsequent draining of the oil from a first drive device, filling of the first drive device with fresh oil, draining of the oil from a second drive device, which is oriented differently to the first drive device, and filling of the second drive device with fresh oil, it is provided according to the invention that a first closable outlet opening on a sump of the first drive device is rotated into a geodetic low point in the maintenance position of the rotor and the drive devices, on an end of their housing opposite the sump, have in each case a mirrored sump with a second closable outlet opening, wherein the draining of the oil from the second drive device is carried out by means of the second closable outlet opening so that the rotor, during and between the draining of oil from the first drive device and second drive device, can maintain its rotated position. 
     Some of terms used may be explained below. 
     That rotated position of the wind-powered rotor in which an oil change is to be carried out is understood by a maintenance position. Thus, the so-called Y-position, in which one of the rotor blades is oriented vertically downward, can be defined as the maintenance position for a three-bladed rotor, for example. In the case of correspondingly positioned outlet openings, each of the other rotor positions can also be used as the maintenance position. 
     The installed position of the drive device on the rotor is understood by its orientation. It is different for the individual drive devices, that is to say they are not oriented parallel to each other. As a rule, it will be so that the drive devices are oriented in a manner offset relative to each other by an angle which is produced by 360 degrees being divided by the number of rotor blades. In this way, the drive devices can be located in each case in an identical relative position in relation to the respectively associated rotor blade. 
     A trough-like design, which is arranged geodetically beneath a cavity containing a fluid so that the fluid from the cavity is collected therein, is understood by a sump. This can be the sump in a gearbox housing, for example. The fluid can be drained via an outlet opening which is arranged at the geodetic low point. A functionally similar structure at the opposite end of the cavity of the housing is understood by a mirrored sump. If the housing is oriented so that the mirrored sump is at the bottom, the second outlet opening is located at the geodetic low point accordingly. 
     According to the invention, the rotor only needs to be rotated once into the maintenance position at the start for the oil change. The rotor does not need to be further rotated in the course of the oil change on the individual drive devices thanks to the invention, in contrast to the known prior art. As a result, the time consumption of the oil change is considerably reduced. In particular, not only time-consuming rotation of the rotor is saved as a result, which on account of the removal and reinstallation of safety devices which are required for it, particularly against inadvertent rotation of the wind-powered rotor, is time and personnel intensive. With the invention, it is thus made possible to carry out the oil change with the aid of only one oil-change device on a plurality of drive devices at the same time or consecutively without the position of the rotor being altered. A further advantage of the invention is that the process can be carried out by a single person so that as a result of the invention the personnel cost is also considerably reduced. 
     The draining of the oil can preferably be assisted by pumping out. The emptying of the drive device is carried out more rapidly so that less time is required. Moreover, a more reliable and more complete emptying can be achieved as a result. Additionally or alternatively, the filling of the drive device with fresh oil can be assisted accordingly by pumping and/or by using compressed air which is introduced into the drive device. The filling can therefore be carried out not only more rapidly but also more reliably. 
     It can be especially preferred if the drained and/or replenished oil volumes are automatically controlled. This means that after the draining of, or filling with, a preadjustable amount of oil the process of draining or filling is automatically terminated. As a result of this automization, the cost which is required for the oil change is reduced. Furthermore, the reliability with which the oil change is carried out in increased. The automated procedure could be carried out in such a way that only the draining and filling process proceeds in an automated manner in each case and after the draining process the filling process has to be started separately, or that the filling process is started automatically after termination of the draining process. 
     In order to further reduce the cost required for the oil change, a bi-directional line is advantageously used both for the emptying as well as for the filling with fresh oil. The cost which is required for the laying and connecting of lines to the drive devices is reduced as a result. The more drive devices are provided in the wind power plants, the greater is this effect. 
     The invention can be extended further to a drive device for implementation of the method according to the invention. To this end, in the case of the drive device with a housing which encloses an oil chamber and which on a lower end of the housing in a first position has a sump which at the geodetic low point has an outlet opening for accommodating a drain valve, it is provided according to the invention that at one end of the housing, opposite the sump, a mirrored sump is provided and has a second outlet opening for accommodating a second drain valve and the mirrored sump is designed in such a way that in a second position different from the first position the second outlet opening is located at the geodetic low point. A plurality of outlet openings can be provided in the housing wall both in the region of the sump and in the region of the mirrored sump. 
     With the mirrored sump, it is made possible to reliably drain the oil from the drive device even when it is not located in its first position (with the normal sump towards the bottom) but located in a rotated or in an almost or completely inverted second position (tilted position). As a result, the constructional requirements for easier implementation of the method according to the invention are created in an outstandingly simple and expedient manner. 
     An oil level indicator is preferably provided for the mirrored sump. In this case, it can be a sight glass, for example, the attachment or construction of which (with marking lines or the like) relates to the mirrored sump. As a result, monitoring of the amount of oil in the drive devices can be carried out both during manual as well as during the preferred automated operation, in fact even when the drive devices are not in the first position. It especially proves to be successful if the oil level indicator for the mirrored sump is constructionally combined with an oil level indicator for the sump. With a reduced number of parts and less complexity, the oil level can thus be monitored both for the sump as well as for the mirrored sump. In this way, it indicates the oil level regardless of position. A further preference of this combined construction lies in a protection against an erroneous reading since there is just one (combined) oil level indicator and so there is no risk of reading the incorrect oil level indicator which is associated with the other sump. The drive devices for the individual rotor blades can therefore be of similar construction regardless of their installed position. As a result, the number of parts is reduced and repair and also exchange are simplified. 
     A quick-release coupling is advantageously arranged as a drain valve in at least one of the outlet openings. As a result, pipe connections, especially for carrying away the waste oil or for supplying the fresh oil, can be attached quickly and reliably to the drive devices. The oil change is consequently made easier and the risk of operating errors reduces. 
     Furthermore, a vent valve can be arranged on the sump and/or a dummy plug can be arranged at the outlet opening. The vent valve enables the emptying of the mirrored sump via the second outlet opening to be carried out more rapidly. 
     This is not compulsory, however. If the speed of the oil change plays no role, a dummy plug can also be provided. It may be noted that with these options the drive devices are different from each other and are no longer exchangeable for a conventional drive device with an oil change only in the first position. 
     Furthermore, a separate residual-volume screw can be provided on the sump and/or on the mirrored sump. With this, a more complete emptying of the drive devices can be achieved. As a rule, the operation of the residual-volume screw will not be necessary for the regular oil change but remains subject to particular situations, for example inspections. 
     The invention can be extended further to an oil change device and an arrangement for the automated oil change on wind power plants with the described drive devices by means of such an oil change device. The oil change device has a control unit, a fresh oil supply and waste oil disposal, and a connecting hose with a headpiece which is designed for connecting to a drive device, especially to a pitch drive or to an azimuth drive, of a wind power plant, wherein according to the invention it is provided that the control unit for the implementation of the method is designed according to one of the preceding embodiments. According to a further embodiment, the oil change device, alternatively or additionally to the controlling, can be designed for the simultaneous connection to a plurality of drive devices. 
     Provision is expediently made for a separate flushing line which can be connected to the second outlet opening of the drive device and is operated from a pressure source during the draining. By means of such a flushing line, the emptying of the drive device can be accelerated without recourse having to be made to a suction function. Furthermore, the flushing line provides the opportunity to flush the drive device with oil and therefore also to remove larger quantities of abraded material from the drive device. A breather valve is advantageously provided for the flushing line. As a result, it can also be used for the filling of the drive device, depending upon its position. 
     The connecting hose, in a preferred embodiment, can comprise a hose set with a plurality of headpieces. The multiplicity of headpieces is preferably matched to the number of drive devices (i.e. just as many) so that the oil change can be carried out on all the drive devices at one time. To this end, the connecting hose can comprise a distribution piece which branches the connecting hose to the plurality of headpieces. In a further embodiment, the oil change device can also be provided with a plurality of hose connections, however, as a result of which a plurality of drive devices can be connected to the oil change device at the same time by a connecting hose in each case. 
     The connecting hose is advantageously of a bi-directional design. This makes it possible to first of all drain the waste oil and subsequently to replenish with fresh oil by means of the same hose. The oil change device expediently has a waste-oil connection to a waste-oil container and/or a fresh-oil connection to a fresh-oil container. The oil change device itself does not then need to have a container for the waste oil or for the fresh oil but can utilize existing containers. As a result, it becomes more compact and more manageable. 
     A further advantage features the use of safety oil valves. These valves only open if a compatible hose coupling is fixedly connected to them. Consequently, it is ensured that the oil does not prematurely escape from the outlet opening or that oil which is possibly still in the drive device does not escape after removing the hose. This reduces the risk of damage to the environment, which is particularly relevant in the case of offshore wind power plants since the increased risk here is that the oil cannot be collected in sufficient time. 
     The oil change device is preferably created in its dimensions or its weight so that it can be carried and especially operated by one person alone. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Further characteristics and advantages of the invention are subsequently made clear based on an exemplary embodiment of the invention which is explained with reference to the attached drawing. In the drawing: 
         FIG. 1  shows a schematic representation of a wind power plant; 
         FIG. 2  shows a schematic representation of a rotor hub with three drive devices; 
         FIG. 3  shows a schematic representation of a drive device; 
         FIG. 4  shows a section through two drive devices in different positions; 
         FIG. 5  shows a schematic representation of the oil change device; and 
         FIG. 6  shows a representation of a connecting valve. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is explained based on an example of a wind power plant with three rotor blades. 
       FIG. 1  shows the schematic construction of a wind power plant. It has a tower  1  with an engine nacelle  2 . The end face of the engine nacelle  2  has a rotatably mounted rotor  3 . The rotor  3  has a rotor hub  30  on which two rotor blades, or a plurality of rotor blades  31 ,  32 ,  33 , are adjustably arranged. For this exemplary embodiment, a position of the rotor  3 , in which one of the rotor blades  31  is oriented vertically downward, is defined as the maintenance position, as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     Arranged in the rotor hub  30  are a plurality of drive devices  6 ,  6 ′, of which there are three in the exemplary embodiment, with which the incidence angle of the rotor blades  31 ,  32 ,  33  can be adjusted. Each of these drive devices  6 ,  6 ′ is associated with one of the rotor blades  31 - 33 . 
     The drive devices  6 ,  6 ′ have a housing  60  with a flanged-on driving head  61 . The housing  60  encloses an oil chamber  62  for lubricating oil. At one end, the chamber has a sump  63  with a first outlet opening  65  for the lubricating oil. Arranged in the center region is a sight glass  67  which forms a marking for a desired oil level  5 . A second sump is designed as a mirrored sump  64  at the opposite end of the oil chamber  62 . A second outlet opening  66  is associated with the second sump. Diametrically to the second outlet opening, an additional second outlet opening  66 ′ can optionally be provided on the mirrored sump  64 . As a result, even in the case of an unfavorable shape of the mirrored sump  64  (see dashed line in  FIG. 4 ), a reliable draining of the lubricating oil is ensured. A second sight glass  68 , which indicates the respective oil level of the drive devices  6 ′ in a tilted orientation for the rotor blades  32 ,  33 , is associated with the mirrored sump  64 . 
     The individual drive devices  6 ,  6 ′ are arranged in an identical relative position in relation to the rotor blades  31 - 33  (see  FIG. 2 ). This means that they are arranged with a different orientation with regard to an earth-fixed reference. As a result, in the maintenance position the geodetic low points  4 ,  4 ′ of the drive devices  6 ,  6 ′ are located at different positions of the drive devices  6 ,  6 ′. Represented in  FIG. 3  is that drive device  6  which is associated with the rotor blade  31  which points to the ground. The drive device is located in its first position, i.e. with the standard sump  63  at the bottom as known from the prior art, wherein its geodetic low point  4  lies in the region of the sump  63 . Depending upon the construction of the gearbox housing  60  and the respective sump  63 , the first position can also differ from the position which is shown here. The drive device  6 ,  6 ′ can be rotated by 180°, for example. In the case of the other drive devices  6 ′, which are associated with the rotor blades  32 ,  33  which point upward in the maintenance position and are therefore oriented in a tilted manner, their geodetic low point  4 ′ is not located in the region of the sump  63 , however, but in the region of the respective mirrored sump  64  according to the invention. This is shown in more detail in  FIG. 4 . The upper drive unit  6 ′ is rotated by 120 degrees in relation to the lower drive unit  6  so that its geodetic low point  4 ′ is located on the mirrored sump  64 , to be more exact, in fact, in the region of the second outlet opening  66 . At the position of the oil level  5 ′, it is seen that the lubricating oil can also be drained from the drive device  6 ′ which is tilted in the maintenance position, specifically via the second outlet opening  66 . 
     Connecting valves  7 , which are constructed as safety valves, are arranged in the first and second outlet openings  65 ,  66 . The connecting valves comprise a sealing body  70  with a male thread  71  which is screwed into a corresponding mating thread of the outlet openings  65 ,  66 . The sealing body  70  has a through-opening  72  in which a sealing piston  73  is accommodated in a longitudinally movable manner. The sealing piston functions as a valve which shuts off the flow of lubricating oil through the through-opening  72 . At the rear end of the through-opening  72 , provision is made on the sealing body  70  for a threaded holder  74  for a connecting hose  80 , which can be covered by a protective cap  75 . The sealing piston  73  projects by its rear end from the threaded holder  74 . If the connecting hose  80  is seated by its headpiece  81  upon the threaded holder (after removal of the protective cap  75 ), then the headpiece  81  pushes the sealing piston  73  forward and so opens the valve. The lubricating oil can flow through the through-opening  72  into the connecting hose  80 . The safety valves  7  function as quick-release couplings. 
     On the drive device  6 , which is associated with the rotor blade  31  which points downward in the maintenance position, the safety valve  7  is provided in the first outlet opening  65 , and in the case of the drive devices  6 ′, which are arranged in manner tilted by 120 degrees and associated with the rotor blades  32 ,  33  which point upward in the maintenance position, the safety valves are provided in the second outlet openings  66 ,  66 ′ of the drive devices. In addition, the safety valves  7  can also be provided at the top on the oil chamber  62 , that is to say in the second outlet opening  66  of the drive device  6  or in the first outlet opening  65 ′ of the tilted drive device  6 ′. The safety valves enable the quick connection of a filling hose, wherein with the connecting hose  80  connected at the same time, as described previously, a rapid filling or flushing of the drive devices  6 ,  6 ′ can be undertaken. Instead of this, a vent valve or a dummy plug can also be provided. 
     For the oil change, an oil change device  9  can be used. The oil change device has at least one bi-directional pump connection  92  which via a connecting hose  80  can be connected to the first outlet opening  65  of the drive device  6  and to the second outlet opening  66  of the drive devices  6 ′. A waste-oil outlet  93  of the oil change device  9  can be connected via a waste-oil connection  95  to a waste-oil container  97 . A fresh-oil inlet  94  of the oil change device  9  can be connected via a fresh-oil connection  96  to a fresh-oil container  98 . Furthermore, the oil change device has a pump device  100 . Moreover, the pumped out and pumped in quantity of oil can be controlled by means of a control unit  91  on the oil change device  9 . The control unit  91  and the pump device  100  can be integrated either into the oil change device  9  or be connected to the oil change device  9  as an additional element. The oil change device  9  with regard to its size and weight is created so that it can be carried by one person. 
     If the oil change device  9  is provided with at least two bi-directional pump connections  92 , then these can be used in order to flush a drive device  6 ,  6 ′ in each case. If twice as many pump connections  92  as drive devices  6 ,  6 ′ are provided on the oil change device, all the drive devices can be flushed at the same time. For the flushing process, a first pump connection  92  is then connected to a first outlet opening  65  and a second pump connection  92  is connected to a second outlet opening  66 . During corresponding controlling of the oil change device  9 , oil can then be delivered from the fresh-oil container  98  to the drive device  6 ,  6 ′ and from there back to the waste-oil container  97 , and the drive device  6 ,  6 ′ can therefore be flushed. 
     In a further exemplary embodiment of the invention, provision is additionally made for a compressed-air unit  99  which is connected via a compressed-air outlet  90  and a compressed-air connection  84  to the second outlet opening  66  of the drive device  6  and to the first outlet openings  65  of the drive device  6 ′, that is to say to the openings which are arranged above the desired oil level  5 . The compressed-air unit  99  can either be integrated into the oil change device  9  or be connected as an additional unit to the oil change device. 
     An oil change is described in the following text based on the exemplary embodiment. 
     For an oil change of the drive devices  6 ,  6 ′, the rotor  3  is rotated into the maintenance position. In this case, it is insignificant which rotor blade  31 - 33  is oriented vertical downward; it may be assumed that rotor blade  31  points downward, as shown in  FIG. 1 . In the exemplary embodiment, the drive device  6  which is associated with this rotor blade  31  is oriented vertically downward, as shown in  FIG. 3 . The drive devices  6 ′ which are associated with the two other rotor blades  32 ,  33  are tilted to the right or to the left by 120° in each case with regard to  FIG. 3 . 
     Each of the drive devices  6 ,  6 ′ has a first or second outlet opening  65 ,  66  at the respective geodetic low point  4 ,  4 ′, as shown in  FIG. 4 . For carrying out maintenance, this first or second outlet opening  65 ,  66  is connected via the hose connection  80  to the oil change device  9 . This is shown in  FIG. 5 . Since these outlet openings are all located at the respective geodetic low point  4 ,  4 ′, they can all be connected to the oil change device  9  at the same time for the emptying and can be opened via the connecting valve  7 , for example. For draining the oil, on the drive devices  6 ,  6 ′ which are connected to the oil change device  9  the other outlet opening  66 ,  65 ′ which is located above the desired oil level  5  is opened. The oil is now drained from the associated drive devices  6 ,  6 ′ at the same time and flows from the oil change device  9  via the waste-oil outlet  93  into the waste-oil container  97 . After draining the oil, fresh oil is delivered by means of the pump device  100  of the oil change device  9  from the fresh-oil container  98  via the fresh-oil inlet  94  into the associated drive devices  6 ,  6 ′ until the oil level has reached its desired level  5 . For determining the oil level inside the drive devices  6 ,  6 ′, the sight glasses  67 ,  68  can be used. At the end, all open first and second outlet openings  65 ,  66  of the drive devices  6 ,  6 ′ are closed and the oil change device  9  is disconnected. The wind power plant can then be put back into operation. 
     An acceleration of the draining is achieved by the pumping in of compressed air into the drive devices  6 ,  6 ′. The compressed air is admitted by means of the compressed-air unit  99  into the second or first outlet openings  66 ,  65  which are arranged above the desired oil level  5 . 
     By the same token, the oil change device  9 , by sucking out the oil, can accelerate the draining. The compressed-air connection  84  can also function as a flushing line and be connected to the oil change device  9 . 
     The drained oil volume and the pumped-in oil volume can be automatically controlled by means of the control unit  91 . The oil volumes are predetermined by the personnel for the control unit  91 . The control unit  91  automatically switches off the pump device  100  of the oil change device  9  after the predetermined oil volumes have been achieved. This enables an unsupervised oil change. An unsupervised oil change is advantageous since during this time the personnel can be used for other maintenance operations. 
     A further advantage results from the use of safety oil valves  7  at the outlet openings  65 ,  66 ,  66 ′, on the oil change device  9  and on the compressed-air unit  99  in combination with hose couplings which are compatible with the safety oil valves  7 . Consequently, the risk of damage to the environment by inadvertently escaping oil is reduced for one thing, and for another thing the valves are automatically opened after connecting to the hose, which simplifies the procedure and further reduces the time consumption of the oil change. 
     If all the advantageous aspects of the invention are utilized, the personnel requirement is considerably reduced so that significant cost savings for the regular maintenance are possible. Above all, this method makes a significant impact on offshore wind power plants because the transporting and accommodating of personnel are possible only with high financial expenditure so that a reduction of the personnel requirement is very advantageous.