Coupled Dynamic Analysis for Multi-Unit Floating Offshore Wind Turbine in Maximum Operational and Survival Conditions

Author(s):  
H. K. Jang ◽  
H. C. Kim ◽  
M. H. Kim ◽  
K. H. Kim

Numerical tools for a single floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) have been developed by a number of researchers, while the investigation of multi-unit floating offshore wind turbines (MUFOWT) has rarely been performed. Recently, a numerical simulator was developed by TAMU to analyze the coupled dynamics of MUFOWT including multi-rotor-floater-mooring coupled effects. In the present study, the behavior of MUFOWT in time domain is described through the comparison of two load cases in maximum operational and survival conditions. A semi-submersible floater with four 2MW wind turbines, moored by eight mooring lines is selected as an example. The combination of irregular random waves, steady currents and dynamic turbulent winds are applied as environmental loads. As a result, the global motion and kinetic responses of the system are assessed in time domain. Kane’s dynamic theory is employed to formulate the global coupled dynamic equation of the whole system. The coupling terms are carefully considered to address the interactions among multiple turbines. This newly developed tool will be helpful in the future to evaluate the performance of MUFOWT under diverse environmental scenarios. In the present study, the aerodynamic interactions among multiple turbines including wake/array effect are not considered due to the complexity and uncertainty.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 11665
Author(s):  
Shi Liu ◽  
Yi Yang ◽  
Chao Wang ◽  
Yuangang Tu

Spar-type floating offshore wind turbines commonly vibrate excessively when under the coupling impact of wind and wave. The wind turbine vibration can be controlled by developing its mooring system. Thus, this study proposes a novel mooring system for the spar-type floating offshore wind turbine. The proposed mooring system has six mooring lines, which are divided into three groups, with two mooring lines in the same group being connected to the same fairlead. Subsequently, the effects of the included angle between the two mooring lines on the mooring-system’s performance are investigated. Then, these six mooring lines are connected to six independent fairleads for comparison. FAST is utilized to calculate wind turbine dynamic response. Wind turbine surge, pitch, and yaw movements are presented and analyzed in time and frequency domains to quantitatively evaluate the performances of the proposed mooring systems. Compared with the mooring system with six fairleads, the mooring system with three fairleads performed better. When the included angle was 40°, surge, pitch, and yaw movement amplitudes of the wind turbine reduced by 39.51%, 6.8%, and 12.34%, respectively, when under regular waves; they reduced by 56.08%, 25.00%, and 47.5%, respectively, when under irregular waves. Thus, the mooring system with three fairleads and 40° included angle is recommended.


Author(s):  
Yajun Ren ◽  
Vengatesan Venugopal

Abstract The complex dynamic characteristics of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines (FOWTs) have raised wider consideration, as they are likely to experience harsher environments and higher instabilities than the bottom fixed offshore wind turbines. Safer design of a mooring system is critical for floating offshore wind turbine structures for station keeping. Failure of mooring lines may lead to further destruction, such as significant changes to the platform’s location and possible collisions with a neighbouring platform and eventually complete loss of the turbine structure may occur. The present study focuses on the dynamic responses of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)’s OC3-Hywind spar type floating platform with a NREL offshore 5-MW baseline wind turbine under failed mooring conditions using the fully coupled numerical simulation tool FAST. The platform motions in surge, heave and pitch under multiple scenarios are calculated in time-domain. The results describing the FOWT motions in the form of response amplitude operators (RAOs) and spectral densities are presented and discussed in detail. The results indicate that the loss of the mooring system firstly leads to longdistance drift and changes in platform motions. The natural frequencies and the energy contents of the platform motion, the RAOs of the floating structures are affected by the mooring failure to different degrees.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Piscopo ◽  
Antonio Scamardella ◽  
Giovanni Battista Rossi ◽  
Francesco Crenna ◽  
Marta Berardengo

The fatigue assessment of mooring lines for floating offshore wind turbines represents a challenging issue not only for the reliable design of the stationkeeping system but also for the economic impact on the installation and maintenance costs over the entire lifetime of the offshore wind farm. After a brief review about the state-of-art, the nonlinear time-domain hydrodynamic model of floating offshore wind turbines moored by chain cables is discussed. Subsequently, the assessment of the fatigue damage in the mooring lines is outlined, focusing on the combined-spectrum approach. The relevant fatigue parameters, due to the low- and wave-frequency components of the stress process, are estimated by two different methods. The former is based on the time-domain analysis of the filtered stress process time history. The latter, instead, is based on the spectral analysis of the stress process by two advanced methods, namely the Welch and Thomson ones. Subsequently, a benchmark study is performed, assuming as reference floating offshore wind turbine the OC4-DeepCWind semisubmersible platform, equipped with the 5 MW NREL wind turbine. The cumulative fatigue damage is determined for eight load conditions, including both power production and parked wind turbine situations. A comparative analysis between time-domain and spectral analysis methods is also performed. Current results clearly show that the endorsement of advanced spectral analysis methods can be helpful to improve the reliability of the fatigue life assessment of mooring lines.


2022 ◽  
Vol 355 ◽  
pp. 03068
Author(s):  
A.P. Crowle ◽  
PR Thies

The construction and installation engineering of floating offshore wind turbines is important to minimize schedules and costs. Floating offshore wind turbine substructures are an expanding sector within renewable power generation, offering an opportunity to deliver green energy, in new areas offshore. The floating nature of the substructures permits wind turbine placement in deep water locations. This paper investigates the construction and installation challenges for the various floating offshore wind types. It is concluded that priority areas for project management and design engineers minimising steel used in semi submersible construction, reducing the floating draft of Spars and for Tension Leg Platforms developing equipment for a safe installation. Specifically tailored design for construction and installation includes expanding the weather window in which these floating substructures can be fabricated, transported to and from offshore site and making mooring and electrical connection operations simpler. The simplification of construction methodology will reduce time spent offshore and minimise risks to installation equipment and personnel. The paper will include the best practice for ease of towing for offshore installation and the possible return to port for maintenance. The construction and installation process for a floating offshore wind turbine varies with substructure type and this will be developed in more detail in the paper. Floating offshore wind structures require an international collaboration of shipyards, ports and construction vessels, though to good project management. It is concluded that return to port for maintenance is possible for semi submersibles and barges whereas for Spars and TLP updated equipment is required to carry out maintenance offshore. In order to facilitate the construction and to minimize costs, the main aspects have to be considered i.e., the required construction vessel types, the distance from fit-out port to site and the weather restrictions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasper Jessen ◽  
Kasper Laugesen ◽  
Signe M. Mortensen ◽  
Jesper K. Jensen ◽  
Mohsen N. Soltani

Floating offshore wind turbines are complex dynamical systems. The use of numerical models is an essential tool for the prediction of the fatigue life, ultimate loads and controller design. The simultaneous wind and wave loading on a non-stationary foundation with a flexible tower makes the development of numerical models difficult, the validation of these numerical models is a challenging task as the floating offshore wind turbine system is expensive and the testing of these may cause loss of the system. The validation of these numerical models is often made on scaled models of the floating offshore wind turbines, which are tested in scaled environmental conditions. In this study, an experimental validation of two numerical models for a floating offshore wind turbines will be conducted. The scaled model is a 1:35 Froude scaled 5 MW offshore wind turbine mounted on a tension-leg platform. The two numerical models are aero-hydro-servo-elastic models. The numerical models are a theoretical model developed in a MATLAB/Simulink environment by the authors, while the other model is developed in the turbine simulation tool FAST. A comparison between the numerical models and the experimental dynamics shows good agreement. Though some effects such as the periodic loading from rotor show a complexity, which is difficult to capture.


Author(s):  
Hyeonjeong Ahn ◽  
Hyunkyoung Shin

Abstract The area of renewable energy is expanding rapidly worldwide, with wind turbines being an example. In Korea, many researchers are conducting studies on floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) on areas with suitable wind resources. In particular, Ulsan, which is the site selected in this study, started research on the development of a 200-MW floating offshore wind farm. In this study, the references for upscaling are the 5-MW reference wind turbine of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and the OC4-DeepCwind semisubmersible type floating wind turbine. We upscaled the 5-MW wind turbine to a 10-MW FOWT by applying the appropriate scale ratio for each component of the turbine. We upscaled the specifications related to items such as the blades, hub, and nacelle using the power ratio. The mass of the blades was reduced by using carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP). We upscaled the specifications related to the tower using its deflection ratio, and the tower clearance criterion and the tower campbell diagram were used to confirm that the design is appropriate. We upscaled the specifications related to the platform using the upper structure mass ratio. The GZ curve of the platform was used to confirm the stability, and we used the air gap for safety. Three catenary type mooring lines were also designed. To understand the static response of the initial model of the 10-MW FOWT, a steady-state analysis was performed according to each wind speed. We followed the IEC and DNV standards, and we used NREL FAST in all simulations.


Author(s):  
Haruki Yoshimoto ◽  
Ken Kamizawa

Abstract In recent years, the social demands for the introduction of renewable energy are increasing, demonstration projects of floating offshore wind turbine are being implemented and planned around the world. In Japan, a demonstration test named Fukushima FORWARD (Fukushima Floating Offshore Wind Farm Demonstration Project) has been conducted since 2011. Fukushima FORWARD is a project carried out by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the world’s first floating offshore windfarm with a total capacity of 14 MW, including three floating offshore wind facilities and one floating offshore substation. In Fukushima FORWARD, Japan Marine United Corporation is in charge of floater part EPCI (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation) of one floating offshore wind facility and one floating offshore substation. The floating offshore wind turbine (Ship Name: Fukushima Hamakaze) designed and built by Japan Marine United Corporation is equipped with a downwind 5 MW wind turbine. The floating structure adopts the advanced spar shape in order to reduce wave frequency motions and is moored by six spread catenary mooring lines. In the design of floating offshore wind turbines, it is important to estimate motions with high accuracy. Especially floating offshore wind turbine equipped with horizontal axis wind turbine requires heavy RNA (Rotor Nacelle Assembly) to be installed on the tower, and the floater motion greatly influences the design of the tower base. The tower base is required to have sufficient reliability because it directly leads to collapse of the wind turbine if it is damaged. On the other hand, the tower base is generally constructed with a cylinder made of extremely thick steel plate which is difficult to bend and weld, and if it has excessive safety factor the cost has increased greatly. Also, estimating the motion is the basis for estimating the load on the floating structure. In this paper, statistical analysis of long-term data measured by Fukushima FORWARD floating offshore wind turbine focusing on the motion and its features are introduced. In addition, we compare the motion obtained by potential theory and coupled analysis with actually measured motion using the measured wave and wind data and evaluate the validity of the analysis method.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 543
Author(s):  
Jiawen Li ◽  
Jingyu Bian ◽  
Yuxiang Ma ◽  
Yichen Jiang

A typhoon is a restrictive factor in the development of floating wind power in China. However, the influences of multistage typhoon wind and waves on offshore wind turbines have not yet been studied. Based on Typhoon Mangkhut, in this study, the characteristics of the motion response and structural loads of an offshore wind turbine are investigated during the travel process. For this purpose, a framework is established and verified for investigating the typhoon-induced effects of offshore wind turbines, including a multistage typhoon wave field and a coupled dynamic model of offshore wind turbines. On this basis, the motion response and structural loads of different stages are calculated and analyzed systematically. The results show that the maximum response does not exactly correspond to the maximum wave or wind stage. Considering only the maximum wave height or wind speed may underestimate the motion response during the traveling process of the typhoon, which has problems in guiding the anti-typhoon design of offshore wind turbines. In addition, the coupling motion between the floating foundation and turbine should be considered in the safety evaluation of the floating offshore wind turbine under typhoon conditions.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Pustina ◽  
Claudio Pasquali ◽  
Jacopo Serafini ◽  
Claudio Lugni ◽  
Massimo Gennaretti

Abstract Among the renewable energy technologies, offshore wind energy is expected to provide a significant contribution for the achievement of the European Renewable Energy (RE) targets for the next future. In this framework, the increase of generated power combined with the alleviation of vibratory loads achieved by application of suitable advanced control systems can lead to a beneficial LCOE (Levelized Cost Of Energy) reduction. This paper defines a control strategy for increasing floating offshore wind turbine lifetime through the reduction of vibratory blade and hub loads. To this purpose a Proportional-Integral (PI) controller based on measured blade-root bending moment feedback provides the blade cyclic pitch to be actuated. The proportional and integral gain matrices are determined by an optimization procedure whose objective is the alleviation of the vibratory loads due to a wind distributed linearly on the rotor disc. This control synthesis process relies on a linear, state-space, reduced-order model of the floating offshore wind turbine derived from aero-hydroelastic simulations provided by the open-source tool OpenFAST. In addition to the validation of the proposed controller, the numerical investigation based on OpenFAST predictions examines also the corresponding control effort, influence on platform dynamics and expected blade lifetime extension. The outcomes show that, as a by-product of the alleviation of the vibratory out-of-plane bending moment at the blade root, significant reductions of both cumulative blade lifetime damage and sway and roll platform motion are achieved, as well. The maximum required control power is less than 1% of the generated power.


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