scholarly journals Digital twins of the mooring line tension for floating offshore wind turbines to improve monitoring, lifespan, and safety

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jake Walker ◽  
Andrea Coraddu ◽  
Maurizio Collu ◽  
Luca Oneto
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Mechanical Response ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Axial Tension ◽  
Floating Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Extreme Load ◽  
Operational Data

AbstractThe number of installed floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) has doubled since 2017, quadrupling the total installed capacity, and is expected to increase significantly over the next decade. Consequently, there is a growing consideration towards the main challenges for FOWT projects: monitoring the system’s integrity, extending the lifespan of the components, and maintaining FOWTs safely at scale. Effectively and efficiently addressing these challenges would unlock the wide-scale deployment of FOWTs. In this work, we focus on one of the most critical components of the FOWTs, the Mooring Lines (MoLs), which are responsible for fixing the structure to the seabed. The primary mechanical failure mechanisms in MoLs are extreme load and fatigue, both of which are functions of the axial tension. An effective solution to detect long-term drifts in the mechanical response of the MoLs is to develop a Digital Twin (DT) able to accurately predict the behaviour of the healthy system to compare with the actual one. Moreover, we will develop another DT able to accurately predict the near future axial tension as an effective tool to improve the lifespan of the MoLs and the safety of FOWT maintenance operations. In fact, by changing the FOWT operational settings, according to the DT prediction, operators can increase the lifespan of the MoLs by reducing the stress and, additionally, in the case where FOWT operational maintenance is in progress, the prediction from the DT can serve as early safety warning to operators. Authors will leverage operational data collected from the world’s first commercial floating-wind farm [the Hywind Pilot Park (https://www.equinor.com/en/what-we-do/floating-wind/hywind-scotland.html.)] in 2018, to investigate the effectiveness of DTs for the prediction of the MoL axial tension for the two scenarios depicted above. The DTs will be developed using state-of-the-art data-driven methods, and results based on real operational data will support our proposal.

Harmonizing the Mooring System Reliability of Multiline Anchor Wind Farms

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Spencer T. Hallowell ◽  
Sanjay R. Arwade ◽  
Brian D. Diaz ◽  
Charles P. Aubeny ◽  
Casey M. Fontana ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbines ◽  
System Reliability ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Line System ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Anchor System ◽  
Floating Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Additional Safety

Abstract One of many barriers to the deployment of floating offshore wind turbines is the high cost of vessel time needed for soil investigations and anchor installation. A multiline anchor system is proposed in which multiple floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) are connected to a single caisson. The connection of multiple FOWTs to a single anchor introduces interconnectedness throughout the wind farm. Previous work by the authors has shown that this interconnectedness reduces the reliability of the FOWT below an acceptable level when exposed to survival loading conditions. To combat the reduction in system reliability an overstrength factor (OSF) is applied to the anchors functioning as an additional safety factor. For a 100 turbine wind farm, single-line system reliabilities can be achieved using the multiline system with an OSF of 1.10, a 10% increase in multiline anchor safety factors for all anchors in a farm.

Wind/Wave Misalignment Effects on Mooring Line Tensions for a Spar Buoy Wind Turbine

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigia Riefolo ◽  
Fernando del Jesus ◽  
Raúl Guanche García ◽  
Giuseppe Roberto Tomasicchio ◽  
Daniela Pantusa
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Wind Wave ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Ultimate Limit State ◽  
International Electrotechnical Commission ◽  
Wave Loads ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

The design methodology for mooring systems for a spar buoy wind turbine considers the influence of extreme events and wind/wave misalignments occurring in its lifetime. Therefore, the variety of wind and wave directions affects over the seakeeping and as a result the evaluation of the maxima loads acting on the spar-buoy wind turbine. In the present paper, the importance of wind/wave misalignments on the dynamic response of spar-type floating wind turbine [1] is investigated. Based on standards, International Electrotechnical Commission IEC and Det Norske Veritas DNV the design of position moorings should be carried out under extreme wind/wave loads, taking into account their misalignments with respect to the structure. In particular, DNV standard, in ‘Position mooring’ recommendations, specifies in the load cases definition, if site specific data is not available, to consider non-collinear environment to have wave towards the unit’s bow (0°) and wind 30° relative to the waves. In IEC standards, the misalignment of the wind and wave directions shall be considered to design offshore wind turbines and calculate the loads acting on the support structure. Ultimate Limit State (ULS) analyses of the OC3-Hywind spar buoy wind turbine are conducted through FAST code, a certified nonlinear aero-hydro-servo-elastic simulation tool by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL’s). This software was developed for use in the International Energy Agency (IEA) Offshore Code Comparison Collaborative (OC3) project, and supports NREL’s offshore 5-MW baseline turbine. In order to assess the effects of misaligned wind and wave, different wind directions are chosen, maintaining the wave loads perpendicular to the structure. Stochastic, full-fields, turbulence simulator Turbsim is used to simulate the 1-h turbulent wind field. The scope of the work is to investigate the effects of wind/wave misalignments on the station-keeping system of spar buoy wind turbine. Results are presented in terms of global maxima determined through mean up-crossing with moving average, which, then, are modelled by a Weibull distribution. Finally, extreme values are estimated depending on global maxima and fitted on Gumbel distribution. The Most Probable Maximum value of mooring line tensions is found to be influenced by the wind/wave misalignments. The present paper is organized as follows. Section ‘Introduction’, based on a literature study, gives useful information on the previous studies conducted on the wind/wave misalignments effects of floating offshore wind turbines. Section ‘Methodology’ describes the applied methodology and presents the spar buoy wind turbine, the used numerical model and the selected environmental conditions. Results and the corresponding discussion are given in Section ‘Results and discussion’ for each load case corresponding to the codirectional and misaligned wind and wave loads. Results are presented and discussed in time and frequency domains. Finally, in Section ‘Conclusion’ some conclusions are drawn.

Efficient Multiline Anchor Systems for Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Casey M. Fontana ◽  
Sanjay R. Arwade ◽  
Don J. DeGroot ◽  
Andrew T. Myers ◽  
Melissa Landon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Simulation ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Wave Loading ◽  
Peak Demand ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Floating Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Anchor Systems ◽  
Floating Platforms

A mooring and anchoring concept for floating offshore wind turbines is introduced in which each anchor moors multiple floating platforms. Several possible geometries are identified and it is shown that the number of anchors for a wind farm can be reduced by factors of at least 3. Dynamic simulation of turbine dynamics for one of the candidate geometries and for two directions of wind and wave loading allows estimation of multiline anchor forces the preview the types of loads that a multiline anchor will need to resist. Preliminary findings indicate that the peak demand on the anchor may be reduced by as much as 30% but that anchors used in such a system will need to be able to resist multi-directional loading.

Fibre Spring Mooring Solution for Mooring Floating Offshore Wind Turbines in Shallow Water

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul McEvoy ◽  
Seojin Kim ◽  
Malak Haynes
Keyword(s):  
Shallow Water ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Mooring Lines ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Floating Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Electrical Cables

Abstract Mooring of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines (FOWT) in shallow water sites (30–80m) is challenging. These sites account for a significant proportion of the nearer to shore potential wind farm locations, and are desirable as they are closer to existing infrastructure and easier to access. Mooring large floating structures in very shallow waters however results in very long heavy mooring lines designed to minimize platform surge and protect the electrical cables. This paper presents an innovative Fibre Spring Mooring (FSM) solution which combines a high modulus, non-stretch, lightweight rope with a compliant nonlinear polymer spring offering a complete semi-taut mooring system which can be connected directly between the platform and the seabed. The paper will present Orcaflex simulation results of a 12MW barge type FOWT platform, moored using a semi-taut FSM mooring at three chosen North Sea locations close to existing wind farms, of 30m, 40m and 50m water depths. Different FSM configurations, with different line lengths, footprint, and ratio of fibre to spring are considered.

Extreme Load Predictions for Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo̸rgen Juncher Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
First Order ◽  
Floating Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Extreme Load ◽  
Reliability Method ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Wave Induced ◽  
Stochastic Loads

An effective stochastic procedure for extreme value predictions related to wave and wind induced stochastic loads is applied to a tension-leg concept for floating offshore wind turbines. The method is based on the First Order Reliability Method (FORM) and as the procedure makes use of only short time-domain simulations all kinds of non-linearities can be included. The procedure has been used previously for wave induced loads and is in this note extended to combined wave and wind loads.

scholarly journals Assessment of Wind Turbine Aero-Hydro-Servo-Elastic Modelling on the Effects of Mooring Line Tension via Deep Learning

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 2264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zi Lin ◽  
Xiaolei Liu
Keyword(s):  
Deep Learning ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Line Tension ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

As offshore wind turbines are moving to deeper water depths, mooring systems are becoming more and more significant for floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs). Mooring line failures could affect power generations of FOWTs and ultimately incur risk to nearby structures. Among different failure mechanics, an excessive mooring line tension is one of the most essential factors contributing to mooring failure. Even advanced sensing offers an effective way of failure detections, but it is still difficult to comprehend why failures happened. Unlike traditional parametric studies that are computational and time-intensive, this paper applies deep learning to investigate the major driven force on the mooring line tension. A number of environmental conditions are considered, ranging from cut in to cut out wind speeds. Before formatting input data into the deep learning model, a FOWT model of dynamics was simulated under pre-defined environmental conditions. Both taut and slack mooring configurations were considered in the current study. Results showed that the most loaded mooring line tension was mainly determined by the surge motion, regardless of mooring line configurations, while the blade and the tower elasticity were less significant in predicting mooring line tension.

The Effect of Yaw Error on the Mooring Systems of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines in Extreme Weather Conditions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn R. Hunsberger ◽  
Spencer T. Hallowell ◽  
Casey M. Fontana ◽  
Sanjay R. Arwade
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Single Line ◽  
Direct Result ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

As floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) become the most viable option for wind farms in deeper waters, it is important to investigate their dynamic response in inclement conditions when failures, such as yaw misalignment, are more likely to occur. This research uses hour-long simulations in FAST, software developed by The National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), to analyze the effect of yaw error on anchor tensions and platform displacements in both a traditional single-line wind farm geometry, where each anchor is connected to one turbine, and an optimum multiline anchor geometry, where each anchor is connected to three turbines. NREL’s 5 MW reference turbine on a semi-submersible base is analyzed using six realizations of each combination of co-directional wind and waves, wind speed and yaw error; resulting in 2,484 simulations in total. The variability in platform displacements and mooring forces increases as wind speed increases, and as yaw errors approach critical values. The angle of incidence of the co-directional wind and waves dictates which anchor experiences the most tension for both the single-line and multiline concepts. In the multiline geometry, the greatest increases in anchor tension occurs when the downwind turbine has yaw error. Yaw error increases the maximum anchor tension by up to 43% in the single-line geometry and up to 37% in the multiline geometry. In the multiline geometry, yaw error causes the direction of the resultant anchor force to vary by up to 20°. These changes in anchor tension magnitudes and directions are governed by the platform displacements, and are a direct result of the differences in the tangential and normal coefficients of drag of the turbine blades. When designing floating offshore wind farms, the influence of yaw error on loading magnitudes and directions are to be considered when determining the necessary capacities and calculating the corresponding reliabilities for wind turbine components.

scholarly journals Global analysis of floating offshore wind turbines with shared mooring system

2021 ◽  
Vol 1201 (1) ◽  
pp. 012024
Author(s):  
H Munir ◽  
C F Lee ◽  
M C Ong
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Time Domain ◽  
Global Analysis ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Mooring Line ◽  
Mooring System ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Floating Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Restoring Stiffness

Abstract Floating wind turbines (FWTs) with shared mooring systems can be one of the most cost- effective solutions in reducing mooring costs. First, the static configuration of a shared line is estimated using the elastic catenary equation. The present study investigates the global responses of two FWT with a shared mooring system. Two shared mooring configurations with different horizontal distances between the FWTs are considered. In the first configuration, the FWTs are placed 750m apart; and in the second configuration, they are placed 1000m apart. Two different environmental conditions (ECs) are used to simulate the global responses of the system in time domain. The shared mooring line results in higher extreme motions in surge and sway (degree of freedoms) DOFs due to the reduction of mooring restoring stiffness. The lower mooring restoring stiffness can be attributed to the reduction of one seabed anchoring point for each FWT as compared to a single FWT with three anchors installed. In the rotational DOFs, the shared mooring line configurations result in slight mean offset in each direction and significant increase in the motion standard deviations. This is caused by the reduced mooring stiffness associated with the change in platform orientation.

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