Power Optimization of Model-Scale Floating Wind Turbines Using Real-Time Hybrid Testing With Autonomous Actuation and Control

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Kanner ◽  
Elena Koukina ◽  
Ronald W. Yeung
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Control Algorithm ◽  
Aerodynamic Force ◽  
Tangential Force ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Power Production ◽  
Hybrid Testing ◽  
Model Scale

In this research, real-time hybrid testing of floating wind turbines is carried out at model-scale. The semi-submersible, triangular platform is built to support two vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs). On account of incongruous scaling issues between the aerodynamics and the hydrodynamics, the wind turbines are not constructed at the same scale. Instead, remote-controlled (RC) plane motors and propellers are used as actuators to mimic only the tangential forces on the wind turbine blades, which are attached to the physical model. On a VAWT, the tangential force is proportional to the torque on the turbine, which contributes to the power production. A control algorithm is implemented using the wind turbine generators to optimize the platform heading and hence, the theoretical power absorbed by the wind turbines. The computer fluid dynamics simulations of two-dimensional counter-rotating turbines is briefly discussed. The results from the simulations are discussed in the context of existing onshore experimental data. This experimental approach only seeks to recreate the aerodynamic force which contributes to the power production. In doing so, the generator control algorithm can be validated. The advantages and drawbacks of this technique are discussed, including the need for low inertia actuators, which can quickly respond to control signals.

Power Optimization of Model-Scale Floating Wind Turbines Using Real-Time Hybrid Testing With Autonomous Actuation and Control1

2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Kanner ◽  
Elena Koukina ◽  
Ronald W. Yeung
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Control Algorithm ◽  
Aerodynamic Force ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Power Production ◽  
Hybrid Testing ◽  
Model Scale ◽  
Tangential Forces

Real-time hybrid testing of floating wind turbines is conducted at model scale. The semisubmersible, triangular platform, similar to the WindFloat platform, is built instead to support two, counter-rotating vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs). On account of incongruous scaling issues between the aerodynamic and the hydrodynamic loading, the wind turbines are not constructed at the same scale as the floater support. Instead, remote-controlled plane motors and propellers are used as actuators to mimic only the tangential forces on the wind-turbine blades, which are attached to the physical (floater-support) model. The application of tangential forces on the VAWTs is used to mimic the power production stage of the turbine. A control algorithm is implemented using the wind-turbine generators to optimize the platform heading and hence, the theoretical power absorbed by the wind turbines. This experimental approach only seeks to recreate the aerodynamic force, which contributes to the power production. In doing so, the generator control algorithm can thus be validated. The advantages and drawbacks of this hybrid simulation technique are discussed, including the need for low inertia actuators, which can quickly respond to control signals.

Impact of Blade Flexibility on Wind Turbine Loads and Pitch Settings

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinge Chen ◽  
Xin Shen ◽  
Xiaocheng Zhu ◽  
Zhaohui Du
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Aerodynamic Force ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Beam Theory ◽  
Power Production ◽  
Aerodynamic Loads ◽  
Operational Conditions ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
Geometrically Exact Beam ◽  
The Impact

Along with the upscaling tendency, lighter and so more flexible wind turbine blades are introduced for reducing cost of manufacture and materials. The flexible blade deforms under aerodynamic loads and in turn affects the flow field, arising the aero-elastic problems. In this paper, the impact of blade flexibility on the wind turbine loads, power production, and pitch actions is discussed. An aeroelastic model is developed for the study. A free wake vortex lattice model is used to calculate the aerodynamic loads, and a geometrically exact beam theory is adopted to compute the structural dynamics of the blade. The flap, lead-lag bending and torsion DOFs are all included and nonlinear effects due to large deflections are considered. The NREL 5MW reference wind turbine is analyzed. Influences of pure-bending and bending-torsion deformations of the blade on aerodynamic loads are compared. The aerodynamic force distributions under various wind speeds for rigid and flexible blades are also compared. The steady state deformations across the operational conditions are calculated, along with the rotor power production. Significant reduction of power is seen especially under large wind speeds, due to the blade twist deformations under torsion moments. Lower pitch angle settings should be applied to maintain the constant power.

scholarly journals Health Monitoring and Diagnosis System for a Small H-Type Darrieus Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (21) ◽  
pp. 7246
Author(s):  
Sungmok Hwang ◽  
Cheol Yoo
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Health Monitoring ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Power Production ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine ◽  
Diagnosis System ◽  
Monitoring And Diagnosis

As the wind power market grows rapidly, the importance of technology for real-time monitoring and diagnosis of wind turbines is increasing. However, most of the developed technologies and research mainly focus on large horizontal-axis wind turbines, and research conducted on small- and medium-sized wind turbines is rare. In this study, a novel low-cost and real-time health monitoring and diagnosis system for the small H-type Darrieus vertical axis wind turbine is proposed. Turbine operating conditions were classified into parked/idle and power production. In the case of the power production condition, abnormality diagnosis was performed using key monitoring parameters, including vibration, fundamental frequency, the bending stress of the tower and generator vibration. The turbine abnormalities were diagnosed in two stages by applying the alert and alarm limits, determined by referring to international standards and material properties and the long-term measurement data together.

scholarly journals Novel Application and Validation of a Method to Assess Visual Impacts of Rotating Wind Turbine Blades Within Woodland Areas

2021 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
U. Nopp-Mayr ◽  
F. Kunz ◽  
F. Suppan ◽  
E. Schöll ◽  
J. Coppes
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Wind Turbine Blades ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
Independent Field

AbstractIncreasing numbers of wind power plants (WPP) are constructed across the globe to reduce the anthropogenic contribution to global warming. There are, however, concerns on the effects of WPP on human health as well as related effects on wildlife. To address potential effects of WPP in environmental impact assessments, existing models accounting for shadow flickering and noise are widely applied. However, a standardized, yet simple and widely applicable proxy for the visibility of rotating wind turbines in woodland areas was largely lacking up to date. We combined land cover information of forest canopy extracted from orthophotos and airborne laser scanning (LiDAR) data to represent the visibility of rotating wind turbines in five woodland study sites with a high spatial resolution. Performing an in-situ validation in five study areas across Europe which resulted in a unique sample of 1738 independent field observations, we show that our approach adequately predicts from where rotating wind turbine blades are visible within woodlands or not. We thus provide strong evidence, that our approach yields a valuable proxy of the visibility of moving rotor blades with high resolution which in turn can be applied in environmental impact assessments of WPP within woodlands worldwide.

scholarly journals Sustainable End-of-Life Management of Wind Turbine Blades: Overview of Current and Coming Solutions

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1124
Author(s):  
Leon Mishnaevsky Mishnaevsky
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Natural Fiber ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Wind Turbine Blades ◽  
Maintenance And Repair ◽  
Life Management ◽  
Large Wind

Various scenarios of end-of-life management of wind turbine blades are reviewed. “Reactive” strategies, designed to deal with already available, ageing turbines, installed in the 2000s, are discussed, among them, maintenance and repair, reuse, refurbishment and recycling. The main results and challenges of “pro-active strategies”, designed to ensure recyclability of new generations of wind turbines, are discussed. Among the main directions, the wind turbine blades with thermoplastic and recyclable thermoset composite matrices, as well as wood, bamboo and natural fiber-based composites were reviewed. It is argued that repair and reuse of wind turbine blades, and extension of the blade life has currently a number of advantages over other approaches. While new recyclable materials have been tested in laboratories, or in some cases on small or medium blades, there are remaining technological challenges for their utilization in large wind turbine blades.

scholarly journals Design and Analysis of a Wind Turbine Blade with Dimples to Enhance the Efficiency through CFD with ANSYS R16.0

2018 ◽  
Vol 207 ◽  
pp. 02004
Author(s):  
M. Rajaram Narayanan ◽  
S. Nallusamy ◽  
M. Ragesh Sathiyan
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Computational Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Optimum Combination ◽  
Surface Topology ◽  
Wind Turbine Blades ◽  
Lift And Drag

In the global scenario, wind turbines and their aerodynamics are always subjected to constant research for increasing their efficiency which converts the abundant wind energy into usable electrical energy. In this research, an attempt is made to increase the efficiency through the changes in surface topology of wind turbines through computational fluid dynamics. Dimples on the other hand are very efficient in reducing air drag as is it evident from the reduction of drag and increase in lift in golf balls. The predominant factors influencing the efficiency of the wind turbines are lift and drag which are to be maximized and minimized respectively. In this research, surface of turbine blades are integrated with dimples of various sizes and arrangements and are analyzed using computational fluid dynamics to obtain an optimum combination. The analysis result shows that there is an increase in power with about 15% increase in efficiency. Hence, integration of dimples on the surface of wind turbine blades has helped in increasing the overall efficiency of the wind turbine.

Aeroelastic Analysis of NREL Wind Turbine

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaozhi Lu ◽  
Fanzhou Zhao ◽  
Loic Salles ◽  
Mehdi Vahdati
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Model ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
High Cycle Fatigue ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Measured Data ◽  
Forced Response ◽  
Cycle Fatigue ◽  
Aeroelastic Analysis

The current development of wind turbines is moving toward larger and more flexible units, which can make them prone to fatigue damage induced by aeroelastic vibrations. The estimation of the total life of the composite components in a wind turbine requires the knowledge of both low and high cycle fatigue (LCF and HCF) data. The first aim of this study is to produce a validated numerical model, which can be used for aeroelastic analysis of wind turbines and is capable of estimating the LCF and HCF loads on the blade. The second aim of this work is to use the validated numerical model to assess the effects of extreme environmental conditions (such as high wind speeds) and rotor over-speed on low and high cycle fatigue. Numerical modelling of this project is carried out using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) & aeroelasticity code AU3D, which is written at Imperial College and developed over many years with the support from Rolls-Royce. This code has been validated extensively for unsteady aerodynamic and aeroelastic analysis of high-speed flows in gas turbines, yet, has not been used for low-speed flows around wind turbine blades. Therefore, in the first place the capability of this code for predicting steady and unsteady flows over wind turbines is studied. The test case used for this purpose is the Phase VI wind turbine from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which has extensive steady, unsteady and mechanical measured data. From the aerodynamic viewpoint of this study, AU3D results correlated well with the measured data for both steady and unsteady flow variables, which indicated that the code is capable of calculating the correct flow at low speeds for wind turbines. The aeroelastic results showed that increase in crosswind and shaft speed would result in an increase of unsteady loading on the blade which could decrease the lifespan of a wind turbine due to HCF. Shaft overspeed leads to significant increase in steady loading which affects the LCF behaviour. Moreover, the introduction of crosswind could result in significant dynamic vibration due to forced response at resonance.

Development and Validation of a CFD Technique for the Aerodynamic Analysis of HAWT

2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Gómez-Iradi ◽  
R. Steijl ◽  
G. N. Barakos
Keyword(s):  
Wind Tunnel ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Wind Tunnel Test ◽  
Unsteady Aerodynamics ◽  
Tunnel Wall ◽  
Local Flow ◽  
Flow Angle ◽  
Thrust And Torque

This paper demonstrates the potential of a compressible Navier–Stokes CFD method for the analysis of horizontal axis wind turbines. The method was first validated against experimental data of the NREL/NASA-Ames Phase VI (Hand, et al., 2001, “Unsteady Aerodynamics Experiment Phase, VI: Wind Tunnel Test Configurations and Available Data Campaigns,” NREL, Technical Report No. TP-500-29955) wind-tunnel campaign at 7 m/s, 10 m/s, and 20 m/s freestreams for a nonyawed isolated rotor. Comparisons are shown for the surface pressure distributions at several stations along the blades as well as for the integrated thrust and torque values. In addition, a comparison between measurements and CFD results is shown for the local flow angle at several stations ahead of the wind turbine blades. For attached and moderately stalled flow conditions the thrust and torque predictions are fair, though improvements in the stalled flow regime are necessary to avoid overprediction of torque. Subsequently, the wind-tunnel wall effects on the blade aerodynamics, as well as the blade/tower interaction, were investigated. The selected case corresponded to 7 m/s up-wind wind turbine at 0 deg of yaw angle and a rotational speed of 72 rpm. The obtained results suggest that the present method can cope well with the flows encountered around wind turbines providing useful results for their aerodynamic performance and revealing flow details near and off the blades and tower.

scholarly journals A Review of Recent Advancements in Offshore Wind Turbine Technology

Energies ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 579
Author(s):  
Taimoor Asim ◽  
Sheikh Zahidul Islam ◽  
Arman Hemmati ◽  
Muhammad Saif Ullah Khalid
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
System Level ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbine ◽  
Component Level ◽  
Foundation Design ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines

Offshore wind turbines are becoming increasingly popular due to their higher wind energy harnessing capabilities and lower visual pollution. Researchers around the globe have been reporting significant scientific advancements in offshore wind turbines technology, addressing key issues, such as aerodynamic characteristics of turbine blades, dynamic response of the turbine, structural integrity of the turbine foundation, design of the mooring cables, ground scouring and cost modelling for commercial viability. These investigations range from component-level design and analysis to system-level response and optimization using a multitude of analytical, empirical and numerical techniques. With such wide-ranging studies available in the public domain, there is a need to carry out an extensive yet critical literature review on the recent advancements in offshore wind turbine technology. Offshore wind turbine blades’ aerodynamics and the structural integrity of offshore wind turbines are of particular importance, which can lead towards system’s optimal design and operation, leading to reduced maintenance costs. Thus, in this study, our focus is to highlight key knowledge gaps in the scientific investigations on offshore wind turbines’ aerodynamic and structural response. It is envisaged that this study will pave the way for future concentrated efforts in better understanding the complex behavior of these machines.

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