Simulation and Development of a Wind-Wave Facility for Scale Testing of Offshore Floating Wind Turbines

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah McElman ◽  
Arjen Koop ◽  
Erik-Jan de Ridder ◽  
Andrew Goupee
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Wind Wave ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Wind Generation ◽  
Simulation Design ◽  
Generation System ◽  
Floating Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Offshore Floating Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Generation System

The development of a new wind-wave facility for offshore floating wind turbine testing can be complex; outfitting existing basins with wind generation capacity can be even more of a challenge. We present the simulation, design, and construction of a wind generation system for use in a modified existing basin at MARIN for the purpose of new concept testing for floating offshore wind turbines. Computational fluid dynamics simulations using MARIN’s ReFRESCO software are carried out for wind generator design and flow characterization within the basin. Modifications to improve the wind flow quality from the designed configuration, with the aid of CFD simulations, are discussed for the constructed system. Measurements on the completed wind generation system show reasonable spatial uniformity of the flow and turbulence intensities similar to atmospheric wind flows. Finally, suggestions for the construction of similar testing facilities are provided based on lessons learned from this retrofit project.

Numerical Prototyping of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines: Virtual Operation in Real Environmental Conditions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Milano ◽  
Christophe Peyrard ◽  
Matteo Capaldo
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Wind Wave ◽  
Fatigue Analysis ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbine ◽  
Wave Direction ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Floating Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Wave Conditions

Abstract The numerical fatigue analysis of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) must account for the environmental loading over a typical design life of 25 years, and the stochastic nature of wind and waves is represented by design load cases (DLCs). In this statistical approach, combinations of wind speeds and directions are associated with different sea states, commonly defined via simplified wave spectra (Pierson-Moskowitz, JONSWAP), and their probability of occurrence is identified based on past observations. However, little is known about the difference between discretizing the wind/wave direction bins into (e.g.) 10deg bins rather than 30deg bins, and the impact it has on FOWT analyses. In addition, there is an interest in identifying the parameters that best represent real sea states (significant wave height, peak period) and wind fields (profile, turbulence) in lumped load cases. In this context, the aim of this work is to better understand the uncertainties associated to wind/wave direction bin size and to the use of metocean parameters as opposed to real wind and sea state conditions. A computational model was developed in order to couple offshore wind turbine models with realistic numerical metocean models, referred to as numerical prototype due to the highly realistic wind/wave conditions in which it operates. This method allows the virtual installation of FOWTs anywhere within a considered spatial domain (e.g. the Mediterranean Sea or the North Sea) and their behaviour to be evaluated in measured wind and modelled wave conditions. The work presented in this paper compares the long-term dynamic behaviour of a tension-leg platform (TLP) FOWT design subject to the numerical prototype and to lumped load cases with different direction bin sizes. Different approaches to representing the wind filed are also investigated, and the modelling choices that have the greatest impact on the fidelity of lumped load cases are identified. The fatigue analysis suggests that 30deg direction bins are sufficient to reliably represent long-term wind/wave conditions, while the use of a constant surface roughness length (as suggested by the IEC standards) seems to significantly overestimate the cumulated damage on the tower of the FOWT.

Guideline for Offshore Floating Wind Turbine Structures

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Knut O. Ronold ◽  
Vigleik L. Hansen ◽  
Marte Godvik ◽  
Einar Landet ◽  
Erik R. Jo̸rgensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbine ◽  
Technical Requirements ◽  
Floating Wind Turbine ◽  
Floating Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Offshore Floating Wind Turbine

Floating offshore wind turbines is a field undergoing major development. Several companies and research institutes worldwide are engaged in research programs, pilot projects and even planning of commercial floating wind farms. Developing standards for design of floating wind turbine structures and a framework for prevailing rules are crucial and necessary for the industry to continue to grow. Det Norske Veritas (DNV) is an international provider of offshore standards for both the oil and gas industry and the wind energy industry. The standard DNV-OS-J101 “Design of Offshore Wind Turbine Structures” provides principles, technical requirements and guidance for design, construction and in-service inspection of offshore wind turbine structures. As a first step towards updating this standard to fully cover floating wind turbine structures, a DNV Guideline for Offshore Floating Wind Turbines has been established. This development is based on identification of current floating wind turbine concepts and the guideline includes an evaluation of what is required to make DNV-OS-J101 suitable for floating wind turbine structures. This paper presents the highlights of the new DNV Guideline for Offshore Floating Wind Turbine Structures.

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.

scholarly journals A Fully Coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics Method for Analysis of Semi-Submersible Floating Offshore Wind Turbines Under Wind-Wave Excitation Conditions Based on OC5 Data

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 2314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yin Zhang ◽  
Bumsuk Kim
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Computational Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Wind Wave ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Wave Excitation ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Floating Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Fully Coupled

Accurate prediction of the time-dependent system dynamic responses of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) under aero-hydro-coupled conditions is a challenge. This paper presents a numerical modeling tool using commercial computational fluid dynamics software, STAR-CCM+(V12.02.010), to perform a fully coupled dynamic analysis of the DeepCwind semi-submersible floating platform with the National Renewable Engineering Lab (NREL) 5-MW baseline wind turbine model under combined wind–wave excitation environment conditions. Free-decay tests for rigid-body degrees of freedom (DOF) in still water and hydrodynamic tests for a regular wave are performed to validate the numerical model by inputting gross system parameters supported in the Offshore Code Comparison, Collaboration, Continued, with Correlations (OC5) project. A full-configuration FOWT simulation, with the simultaneous motion of the rotating blade due to 6-DOF platform dynamics, was performed. A relatively heavy load on the hub and blade was observed for the FOWT compared with the onshore wind turbine, leading to a 7.8% increase in the thrust curve; a 10% decrease in the power curve was also observed for the floating-type turbines, which could be attributed to the smaller project area and relative wind speed required for the rotor to receive wind power when the platform pitches. Finally, the tower-blade interference effects, blade-tip vortices, turbulent wakes, and shedding vortices in the fluid domain with relatively complex unsteady flow conditions were observed and investigated in detail.

scholarly journals Drivetrains on floating offshore wind turbines: lessons learned over the last 10 years

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir R. Nejad ◽  
Jone Torsvik
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Structure Design ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Wind Loading ◽  
Floating Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Induced Motion ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Wave Induced

AbstractThis paper presents lessons learned from own research studies and field experiments with drivetrains on floating wind turbines over the last ten years. Drivetrains on floating support structures are exposed to wave-induced motions in addition to wind loading and motions. This study investigates the drivetrain-floater interactions from two different viewpoints: how drivetrain impacts the sub-structure design; and how drivetrain responses and life are affected by the floater and support structure motion. The first one is linked to the drivetrain technology and layout, while the second question addresses the influence of the wave-induced motion. The results for both perspectives are presented and discussed. Notably, it is highlighted that the effect of wave induced motions may not be as significant as the wind loading on the drivetrain responses particularly in larger turbines. Given the limited experience with floating wind turbines, however, more research is needed. The main aim with this article is to synthesize and share own research findings on the subject in the period since 2009, the year that the first full-scale floating wind turbine, Hywind Demo, entered operation in Norway.

Effects of Platform Mounting Orientations on the Long-Term Performance of a Semisubmersible Wind Turbine

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shengtao Zhou ◽  
Chao Li ◽  
Yiqing Xiao ◽  
Frank Lemmer ◽  
Wei Yu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Frequency Domain ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Wind Wave ◽  
Domain Model ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Wave Load ◽  
Symmetrical Configuration ◽  
Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

Abstract Due to the non-fully-symmetrical configuration, the platform laying angle of semi-submersible floating offshore wind turbines relative to wind/wave load directions has a noticeable influence on the dynamics characteristics of the whole structure, which indicates that the platform mounting orientation should be carefully considered before installation at sea. The directionality effects of short-term wind/wave loads had been discussed in previous studies, which are, however, insufficient to make a full understanding of the directionality impacts. In our study, based on a 25-year met-ocean database, long-term analysis is carried out by means of an efficient frequency-domain model with eight degrees of freedom. The nonlinear quantities such as aerodynamic loads, aerodynamic damping and mooring stiffness are derived from the time-domain simulation tool FAST, serving as a preprocessing database for the frequency-domain model. A case study is carried out by comparing the long-term responses of a Y-shape semi-submersible floating wind turbine in four mounting orientations. Significant differences can be seen. The platform mounted in the most unfavorable orientation tends to suffer from larger peak nacelle acceleration, which would increase the loads and cause higher tower base fatigue damage. These findings highlight the importance of platform mounting orientations and can serve as a basis for the installation of semi-submersible floating wind turbines.

Characterization of a Wind Generation System for Use in Offshore Wind Turbine Development

2017 ◽  
Vol 140 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raul Urbina ◽  
James M. Newton ◽  
Matthew P. Cameron ◽  
Richard W. Kimball ◽  
Andrew J. Goupee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Wind Tunnels ◽  
Wind Generation ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbine ◽  
Generation System ◽  
Wave Basin ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Wind Generation System ◽  
The Waves

Environmental conditions created by winds blowing oblique to the direction of the waves are necessary to conduct some survivability tests of offshore wind turbines. However, some facilities lack the capability to generate quality waves at a wide range of angles. Thus, having a wind generation system that can be rotated makes generating winds that blow oblique to the waves possible during survivability tests. Rotating the wind generation system may disrupt the flow generated by the fans because of the effect of adjacent walls. Closed or semiclosed wind tunnels may eliminate the issue of wall effects, but these types of wind tunnels could be difficult to position within a wave basin. In this work, a prototype wind generation system that can be adapted for offshore wind turbine testing is investigated. The wind generation system presented in this work has a return that minimizes the effect that the walls could potentially have on the fans. This study characterizes the configuration of a wind generation system using measurements of the velocity field, detailing mean velocities, flow directionality, and turbulence intensities. Measurements were taken downstream to evaluate the expected area of turbine operation and the shear zone. The dataset has aided in the identification of conditions that could potentially prevent the production of the desired flows. Therefore, this work provides a useful dataset that could be used in the design of wind generation systems and in the evaluation of the benefits of recirculating wind generation systems for offshore wind turbine research.

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