INDEPENDENT, DISTRIBUTED PROTECTION AND SAFETY SYSTEM WITH FIBER OPTIC COMMUNICATION FOR WIND TURBINES

摘要

A safety system and method for monitoring the safety of a windmill turbine is disclosed. A protection safety master (PSM) controller is coupled to one or more input/output modules via an optic conductor. Safety components are individually coupled to and monitored by the modules. The modules are distributed throughout a wind turbine tower and provide status information about the safety components to the PSM controller. Based on data received, the PSM controller independently determines whether a fail-safe reaction should be initiated and initiates the fail-safe reaction accordingly.