Advanced Offshore Wind Turbine/Foundation Concept for the Great Lakes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Afjeh, Abdollah A. [Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States); Windpower, Nautica [Nautica Windpower, Olmsted Falls, OH (United States); Marrone, Joseph [OCC COWI, Vancouver (Canada); Wagner, Thomas [Nautica Windpower, Olmsted Falls, OH (United States)

2013-08-29

This project investigated a conceptual 2-bladed rotor wind turbine design and assessed its feasibility for installation in the Great Lakes. The levelized cost of energy was used for this purpose. A location in Lake Erie near the coast of Cleveland, Ohio was selected as the application site. The loading environment was defined using wind and wave data collected at a weather station in Lake Erie near Cleveland. In addition, the probability distributions of the annual significant wave height and wind speed were determined. A model of the dependence of the above two quantities was also developed and used in the study of wind turbine system loads. Loads from ice floes and ridges were also included.The NREL 5 MW 3-bladed rotor wind turbine concept was used as the baseline design. The proposed turbine design employs variable pitch blade control with tip-brakes and a teeter mechanism. The rotor diameter, rated power and the tower dimensions were selected to closely match those of the NREL 5 MW wind turbine.A semi-floating gravity base foundation was designed for this project primarily to adapt to regional logistical constraints to transport and install the gravity base foundation. This foundation consists of, from bottom to top, a base plate, a buoyancy chamber, a taper zone, a column (with ice cone), and a service platform. A compound upward-downward ice cone was selected to secure the foundation from moving because of ice impact.The turbine loads analysis was based on International ElectroTechnical Committee (IEC) Standard 61400-1, Class III winds. The NREL software FAST was the primary computational tool used in this study to determine all design load cases. An initial set of studies of the dynamics of wind turbines using Automatic Dynamic Analysis of Mechanical Systems (ADAMS) demonstrated that FAST and ADAMS load predictions were comparable. Because of its relative simplicity and short run times, FAST was selected for this study. For ice load calculations, a method

Great expectations: large wind turbines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Vries, E.

2001-01-01

This article focuses on wind turbine product development, and traces the background to wind turbines from the first generation 1.5 MW machines in 1995-6, plans for the second generation 3-5 MW class turbines to meet the expected boom in offshore wind projects, to the anticipated installation of a 4.5 MW turbine, and offshore wind projects planned for 2000-2002. The switch by the market leader Vestas to variable speed operation in 2000, the new product development and marketing strategy taken by the German Pro + Pro consultancy in their design of a 1.5 MW variable speed pitch control concept, the possible limiting of the size of turbines due to logistical difficulties, opportunities offered by air ships for large turbines, and the commissioning of offshore wind farms are discussed. Details of some 2-5 MW offshore wind turbine design specifications are tabulated

Advanced Wind Turbine Drivetrain Concepts. Workshop Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2010-12-01

This report presents key findings from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Drivetrain Workshop, held on June 29-30, 2010, to assess different advanced drivetrain technologies, their relative potential to improve the state-of-the-art in wind turbine drivetrains, and the scope of research and development needed for their commercialization in wind turbine applications.

Wake losses optimization of offshore wind farms with moveable floating wind turbines

NARCIS (Netherlands)

S.F. Rodrigues; R. Teixeira Pinto (Rodrigo); M. Soleimanzadeh (Maryam); P.A.N. Bosman (Peter); P. Bauer (Pavol)

2015-01-01

htmlabstractIn the future, floating wind turbines could be used to harvest energy in deep offshore areas where higher wind mean speeds are observed. Currently, several floating turbine concepts are being designed and tested in small scale projects; in particular, one concept allows the turbine to

Full-load converter connected asynchronous generators for MW class wind turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akhmatov, Vladislav

2005-06-15

Wind turbines equipped with full-load converter-connected asynchronous generators are a known concept. These have rating up to hundreds of kW and are a feasible concept for MW class wind turbines and may have advantages when compared to conventional wind turbines with directly connected generators. The concept requires the use of full-scale frequency converters, but the mechanical gearbox is smaller than in conventional wind turbines of the same rating. Application of smaller gearbox may reduce the no-load losses in the wind turbines, which is why such wind turbines with converter connected generators may start operation at a smaller wind speed. Wind turbines equipped with such converted connected asynchronous generators are pitch-controlled and variable-speed. This allows better performance and control. The converter control may be applied to support the grid voltage at short-circuit faults and to improve the fault-ride-through capability of the wind turbines, which makes the concepts relevant for large wind farms. The Danish transmission system operator Energinet-DK has implemented the general model of wind turbines equipped with converter connected asynchronous generators with the simulation tool Powerfactory (DlgSilent). The article presents Energinet-DK's experience of modeling this feasible wind turbine concept. (Author)

Condition analysis and operating lifetime extension concepts for wind turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Korzeniewski, Thomas [GMA-Engineering GmbH, Hamburg (Germany). Business Unit Wind Energy

2014-11-01

In Germany the basis for the expansion of wind energy was already laid at the beginning of the 1990s. Hence, the first wind turbines already started to reach the end of their permitted lifetime. At that time as today the different wind turbine types were engineered for an operational lifetime of 20 years. As reliable wind turbines types were already available in the 1990s, it is technically and commercially reasonable to consider the extension of their operational lifetime. Of particular interest is the lifetime extension of wind turbine types installed in the beginning of the 2000s. During that period many wind turbine types were launched which absolutely correspond to state-of-the-art technology.

Innovative multi rotor wind turbine designs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kale, S.A.; Sapali, S.N. [College of Engineering. Mechanical Engineering Dept, Pune (India)

2012-07-01

Among the renewable energy sources, today wind energy is the most recognized and cost effective. Developers and researchers in this sector are optimistic and continuously working innovatively to improve the technology. The wind power obtained is proportional to the swept area of wind turbine. The swept area is increased by using a single rotor of large diameter or multi rotors in array. The rotor size is growing continuously with mature technology. Multi rotor technology has a long history and the multi rotor concept persists in a variety of modern innovative systems but the concept has fallen out of consideration in mainstream design from the perception that is complex and unnecessary as very large single rotor units are now technically feasible. This work addresses the evaluation of different multi rotor wind turbine systems. These innovative wind turbines are evaluated on the basis of feasibility, technological advantages, security of expected power performance, cost, reliability, impact of innovative system, comparison with existing wind turbine design. The findings of this work will provide guidelines for the practical and economical ways for further research on the multi rotor wind turbines. (Author)

The design of wind turbine for electrical power generation in Malaysian wind characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abas Ab Wahab; Chong Wen Thong

2000-01-01

The paper describes the study of a wind turbine for electrical power generation in Malaysia wind characteristics. In this research, the wind turbine is designs based on the local wind characteristics and tries to avoid the problems faced in the past (turbine design, access, manpower and technical). The new wind turbine rotor design for a medium speed wind speed turbine utilises the concept of open-close type of horizontal axis (up-wind) wind turbine is intended to widen the optimum performance range for electrical generation in Malaysia wind characteristics. The wind turbine has been designed to cut-in at a lower speed, and to provide the rotation speed that high enough to run a generator. The analysis and design of new low speed wind turbine blades and open-close turbine rotor and prediction of turbine performance are being detailed in this paper. (Author)

Active load control techniques for wind turbines.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

van Dam, C.P. (University of California, Davis, CA); Berg, Dale E.; Johnson, Scott J. (University of California, Davis, CA)

2008-07-01

This report provides an overview on the current state of wind turbine control and introduces a number of active techniques that could be potentially used for control of wind turbine blades. The focus is on research regarding active flow control (AFC) as it applies to wind turbine performance and loads. The techniques and concepts described here are often described as 'smart structures' or 'smart rotor control'. This field is rapidly growing and there are numerous concepts currently being investigated around the world; some concepts already are focused on the wind energy industry and others are intended for use in other fields, but have the potential for wind turbine control. An AFC system can be broken into three categories: controls and sensors, actuators and devices, and the flow phenomena. This report focuses on the research involved with the actuators and devices and the generated flow phenomena caused by each device.

Dynamic wind turbine models in power system simulation tool DIgSILENT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hansen, A.D.; Iov, F.; Soerensen, Poul.; Cutululis, N.; Jauch, C.; Blaabjerg, F.

2007-08-15

This report presents a collection of models and control strategies developed and implemented in the power system simulation tool PowerFactory DIgSILENT for different wind turbine concepts. It is the second edition of Risoe-R-1400(EN) and it gathers and describes a whole wind turbine model database built-op and developed during several national research projects, carried out at Risoe DTU National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy and Aalborg University, in the period 2001-2007. The overall objective of these projects was to create a wind turbine model database able to support the analysis of the interaction between the mechanical structure of the wind turbine and the electrical grid during different operational modes. The report provides thus a description of the wind turbines modelling, both at a component level and at a system level. The report contains both the description of DIgSILENT built-in models for the electrical components of a grid connected wind turbine (e.g. induction generators, power converters, transformers) and the models developed by the user, in the dynamic simulation language DSL of DIgSILENT, for the non-electrical components of the wind turbine (wind model, aerodynamic model, mechanical model). The initialisation issues on the wind turbine models into the power system simulation are also presented. The main attention in the report is drawn to the modelling at the system level of the following wind turbine concepts: (1) Fixed speed active stall wind turbine concept (2) Variable speed doubly-fed induction generator wind turbine concept (3) Variable speed multi-pole permanent magnet synchronous generator wind turbine concept These wind turbine concept models can be used and even extended for the study of different aspects, e.g. the assessment of power quality, control strategies, connection of the wind turbine at different types of grid and storage systems. Different control strategies have been developed and implemented for these wind turbine

Wind turbines fundamentals, technologies, application, economics

CERN Document Server

Hau, Erich

2013-01-01

"Wind Turbines" addresses all those professionally involved in research, development, manufacture and operation of wind turbines. It provides a cross-disciplinary overview of modern wind turbine technology and an orientation in the associated technical, economic and environmental fields.  In its revised third edition, special emphasis has been given to the latest trends in wind turbine technology and design, such as gearless drive train concepts, as well as on new fields of application, in particular the offshore utilisation of wind energy. The author has gained experience over decades designing wind energy converters with a major industrial manufacturer and, more recently, in technical consulting and in the planning of large wind park installations, with special attention to economics.

Concepts for Reusing Composite Materials from Decommissioned Wind Turbine Blades in Affordable Housing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lawrence C. Bank

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The very rapid growth in wind energy technology in the last 15 years has led to a rapid growth in the amount of non-biodegradable, thermosetting fiber reinforced polymer (FRP composite materials used in wind turbine blades. This paper discusses conceptual architectural and structural options for recycling these blades by reusing parts of wind turbine blades in new or retrofitted housing projects. It focuses on large-sized FRP pieces that can be salvaged from the turbine blades and can potentially be useful in infrastructure projects where harsh environmental conditions (water and high humidity exist. Since reuse design should be for specific regional locations and architectural characteristics the designs presented in this paper are for the coastal regions of the Yucatan province in Mexico on the Gulf of Mexico where low-quality masonry block informal housing is vulnerable to severe hurricanes and flooding. To demonstrate the concept a prototype 100 m long wind blade model developed by Sandia National Laboratories is used to show how a wind blade can be broken down into parts, thus making it possible to envision architectural applications for the different wind blade segments for housing applications.

A Novel Wind Turbine Concept Based on an Electromagnetic Coupler and the Study of Its Fault Ride-through Capability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

You, Rui; Barahona Garzón, Braulio; Chai, Jianyun

2013-01-01

This paper presents a novel type of variable speed wind turbine with a new drive train different from the variable speed wind turbine commonly used nowadays. In this concept, a synchronous generator is directly coupled with the grid, therefore, the wind turbine transient overload capability...... and the synchronous generator, so the synchronous generator torque oscillations during a grid fault are not transmitted to the gearbox. The EMCD is composed of an electromagnetic coupler and a one quadrant operation converter with reduced capability and low cost. A control strategy for the new wind turbine...

European wind turbine catalogue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

The THERMIE European Community programme is designed to promote the greater use of European technology and this catalogue contributes to the fulfillment of this aim by dissemination of information on 50 wind turbines from 30 manufacturers. These turbines are produced in Europe and are commercially available. The manufacturers presented produce and sell grid-connected turbines which have been officially approved in countries where this approval is acquired, however some of the wind turbines included in the catalogue have not been regarded as fully commercially available at the time of going to print. The entries, which are illustrated by colour photographs, give company profiles, concept descriptions, measured power curves, prices, and information on design and dimension, safety systems, stage of development, special characteristics, annual energy production, and noise pollution. Lists are given of wind turbine manufacturers and agents and of consultants and developers in the wind energy sector. Exchange rates used in the conversion of the prices of wind turbines are also given. Information can be found on the OPET network (organizations recognised by the European Commission as an Organization for the Promotion of Energy Technologies (OPET)). An article describes the development of the wind power industry during the last 10-15 years and another article on certification aims to give an overview of the most well-known and acknowledged type approvals currently issued in Europe. (AB)

Design Load Basis for Offshore Wind turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Natarajan, Anand; Hansen, Morten Hartvig; Wang, Shaofeng

2016-01-01

DTU Wind Energy is not designing and manufacturing wind turbines and does therefore not need a Design Load Basis (DLB) that is accepted by a certification body. However, to assess the load consequences of innovative features and devices added to existing offshore turbine concepts or new offshore...... turbine concept developed in our research, it is useful to have a full DLB that follows the current design standard and is representative of a general DLB used by the industry. It will set a standard for the offshore wind turbine design load evaluations performed at DTU Wind Energy, which is aligned...... with the challenges faced by the industry and therefore ensures that our research continues to have a strong foundation in this interaction. Furthermore, the use of a full DLB that follows the current standard can improve and increase the feedback from the research at DTU Wind Energy to the international...

Dynamic wind turbine models in power system simulation tool

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Anca D.; Iov, Florin; Sørensen, Poul

, connection of the wind turbine at different types of grid and storage systems. Different control strategies have been developed and implemented for these wind turbine concepts, their performance in normal or fault operation being assessed and discussed by means of simulations. The described control......This report presents a collection of models and control strategies developed and implemented in the power system simulation tool PowerFactory DIgSILENT for different wind turbine concepts. It is the second edition of Risø-R-1400(EN) and it gathers and describes a whole wind turbine model database...... of the interaction between the mechanical structure of the wind turbine and the electrical grid during different operational modes. The report provides thus a description of the wind turbines modelling, both at a component level and at a system level. The report contains both the description of DIgSILENT built...

Design of low noise wind turbine blades using Betz and Joukowski concepts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shen, Wen Zhong; Hrgovan, Iva; Okulov, Valery

2014-01-01

This paper presents the aerodynamic design of low noise wind turbine blades using Betz and Joukowski concepts. The aerodynamic model is based on Blade Element Momentum theory whereas the aeroacoustic prediction model is based on the BPM model. The investigation is started with a 3MW baseline...

Floating Foundations for Offshore Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Morten Thøtt

The concept of harnessing the power of the wind dates all the way back to the first ships traversing the seas. Later, windmills enabled the use of wind power for industrial purposes. Since then, technology has allowed the production of clean renewable energy through the use of wind turbines....... These turbines have traditionally been placed on land, but several factors have urged a move to offshore locations. Now the boundaries are being pushed into deeper and deeper waters, where the idea of floating offshore wind turbines has emerged. In less than a decade, these have gone from scattered small...

Site-optimization of wind turbine generators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wolff, T.J. de; Thillerup, J. [Nordtank Energy Group, Richmond, VA (United States)

1997-12-31

The Danish Company Nordtank is one of the pioneers within the wind turbine industry. Since 1981 Nordtank has installed worldwide more than 2500 wind turbine generators with a total name plate capacity that is exceeding 450 MW. The opening up of new and widely divergent markets has demanded an extremely flexible approach towards wind turbine construction. The Nordtank product range has expanded considerable in recent years, with the main objective to develop wind energy conversion machines that can run profitable in any given case. This paper will describe site optimization of Nordtank wind turbines. Nordtank has developed a flexible design concept for its WTGs in the 500/750 kW range, in order to offer the optimal WTG solution for any given site and wind regime. Through this flexible design, the 500/750 turbine line can adjust the rotor diameter, tower height and many other components to optimally fit the turbine to each specific project. This design philosophy will be illustrated with some case histories of recently completed projects.

Grid integration impacts on wind turbine design and development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Anca Daniela; Cutululis, Nicolaos Antonio; Sørensen, Poul Ejnar

2009-01-01

This paper presents an overall perspective on contemporary issues like wind power plants and grid integration. The purpose is to present and discuss the impacts of emerging new grid connection requirements on modern wind turbines. The grid integration issue has caused several new challenges......, the grid integration aspect has also an effect on wind turbines' role in the power system, on wind turbine technologies' survival on the market, as well as on the wind turbines' loads. Over the last years, it became obviously, that there it is an increasing need for design and research of wind turbines...... to the wind turbine design and development. The survival of different wind turbine concepts and controls is strongly conditioned by their ability to comply with stringent grid connection requirements, imposed by utility companies. Beside its impact on the mechanical design and control of wind turbines...

Modelling and control of variable speed wind turbines for power system studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Michalke, Gabriele; Hansen, Anca Daniela

2010-01-01

and implemented in the power system simulation tool DIgSILENT. Important issues like the fault ride-through and grid support capabilities of these wind turbine concepts are addressed. The paper reveals that advanced control of variable speed wind turbines can improve power system stability. Finally......, it will be shown in the paper that wind parks consisting of variable speed wind turbines can help nearby connected fixed speed wind turbines to ride-through grid faults. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.......Modern wind turbines are predominantly variable speed wind turbines with power electronic interface. Emphasis in this paper is therefore on the modelling and control issues of these wind turbine concepts and especially on their impact on the power system. The models and control are developed...

Crossflex: Concept and early development of a true building integrated wind turbine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sharpe, Tim [Mackintosh Environmental Architecture Research Unit (MEARU), Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, G3 6RQ, Scotland (United Kingdom); Proven, Gordon [Proven Energy Ltd. Wardhead Park, Stewarton, Ayrshire, KA3 5LH, Scotland (United Kingdom)

2010-12-15

This paper describes the concept development and work to date, of an innovative 'true' building integrated wind turbine. The context for this is the role of small-scale renewable energy in addressing climate change. In the UK a number of small wind turbines have reached the market, however, in almost all cases, these are existing HAWT or VAWT tower mounted systems. Due to their inherent design qualities, and issues such as planning requirements, these have much reduced output due to their form and siting and are unable to take advantage of augmented airflow around buildings. The Crossflex proposal is a radical new development of a Darrieus turbine form. As well as having a technically innovative flexible blade system, it also utilises a lightweight cowling system that can provide both augmented airflow and improved visual integration into new and existing building forms. It is a modular form that can be sited on ridges and corners of buildings to provide useful levels of generation. (author)

Crossflex: Concept and early development of a true building integrated wind turbine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharpe, Tim; Proven, Gordon

2010-01-01

This paper describes the concept development and work to date, of an innovative 'true' building integrated wind turbine. The context for this is the role of small-scale renewable energy in addressing climate change. In the UK a number of small wind turbines have reached the market, however, in almost all cases, these are existing HAWT or VAWT tower mounted systems. Due to their inherent design qualities, and issues such as planning requirements, these have much reduced output due to their form and siting and are unable to take advantage of augmented airflow around buildings. The Crossflex proposal is a radical new development of a Darrieus turbine form. As well as having a technically innovative flexible blade system, it also utilises a lightweight cowling system that can provide both augmented airflow and improved visual integration into new and existing building forms. It is a modular form that can be sited on ridges and corners of buildings to provide useful levels of generation. (author)

Operation and control of large wind turbines and wind farms. Final report

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Poul Ejnar; Hansen, Anca Daniela; Thomsen, Kenneth

2005-01-01

good power quality and limit mechanical loads and life time consumption. The projectdeveloped models for 3 different concepts for wind farms. Two of the concepts use active stall controlled wind turbines, one with AC connection and one with modern HVDC/VSC connection of the wind farm. The third concept...... is based on pitch controlled windturbines using doubly fed induction generators. The models were applied to simulate the behaviour of the wind farm control when they were connected to a strong grid, and some initial simulations were performed to study the behaviour of the wind farms whenit was isolated...... concepts. The potentials of optimising the lifetime/energy production ratio by means of using revised operational strategies for the individual wind turbines are investigated. Different strategies have beensimulated, where the power production is decreased to an optimum when taking loads and actual price...

Dynamic wind turbine models in power system simulation tool DIgSILENT

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, A.D.; Jauch, C.; Sørensen, Poul Ejnar

2004-01-01

. This model database should be able to support the analysis of the interaction between the mechanical structure of the wind turbine and the electrical grid during different operational modes. The reportprovides a description of the wind turbines modelling, both at a component level and at a system level......-electrical components of the wind turbine (wind model, aerodynamic model, mechanical model). Theinitialisation issues on the wind turbine models into the power system simulation are also presented. However, the main attention in this report is drawn to the modelling at the system level of two wind turbine concepts: 1...... of the wind turbine at different types of grid and storage systems. For both these two concepts, control strategies are developed and implemented, their performance assessed and discussed by means of simulations....

A Benchmark Evaluation of Fault Tolerant Wind Turbine Control Concepts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Odgaard, Peter Fogh; Stoustrup, Jakob

2015-01-01

As the world’s power supply to a larger and larger degree depends on wind turbines, it is consequently and increasingly important that these are as reliable and available as possible. Modern fault tolerant control (FTC) could play a substantial part in increasing reliability of modern wind turbin...... accommodation is handled in software sensor and actuator blocks. This means that the wind turbine controller can continue operation as in the fault free case. The other two evaluated solutions show some potential but probably need improvements before industrial applications....

Dynamic wind turbine models in power system simulation tool DIgSILENT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hansen, A.C.; Jauch, C.; Soerensen, P.; Iov, F.; Blaabjerg, F.

2003-12-01

The present report describes the dynamic wind turbine models implemented in the power system simulation tool DIgSILENT (Version 12.0). The developed models are a part of the results of a national research project, whose overall objective is to create a model database in different simulation tools. This model database should be able to support the analysis of the interaction between the mechanical structure of the wind turbine and the electrical grid during different operational modes. The report provides a description of the wind turbines modelling, both at a component level and at a system level. The report contains both the description of DIgSILENT built-in models for the electrical components of a grid connected wind turbine (e.g. induction generators, power converters, transformers) and the models developed by the user, in the dynamic simulation language DSL of DIgSILENT, for the non-electrical components of the wind turbine (wind model, aerodynamic model, mechanical model). The initialisation issues on the wind turbine models into the power system simulation are also presented. However, the main attention in this report is drawn to the modelling at the system level of two wind turbine concepts: 1. Active stall wind turbine with induction generator 2. Variable speed, variable pitch wind turbine with doubly fed induction generator. These wind turbine concept models can be used and even extended for the study of different aspects, e.g. the assessment of power quality, control strategies, connection of the wind turbine at different types of grid and storage systems. For both these two concepts, control strategies are developed and implemented, their performance assessed and discussed by means of simulations. (au)

Orthogonal Bases used for Feed Forward Control of Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Odgaard, Peter Fogh; Stoustrup, Jakob

2011-01-01

In optimizing wind turbines it can be of a large help to use information of wind speeds at upwind turbine for the control of downwind turbines, it is, however, problematic to use these measurements directly since they are highly influenced by turbulence behind the wind turbine rotor plane. In this....... In this paper an orthogonal basis is use to extract the general trends in the wind signal, which are forward to the down wind turbines. This concept controller is designed and simulated on a generic 4.8 MW wind turbine model, which shows the potential of this proposed scheme....

Wind turbines, is it just wind?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boiteux, M.

2012-01-01

The author first outlines that wind energy is not only random, but almost absent in extreme situations when it would be needed (for example and notably, very cold weather without wind). He suggests the association of a gas turbine to each wind turbine, so that the gas turbine will replace non operating wind turbines. He notices that wind turbines are not proximity energy as they were said to be, and that profitability in fact requires tens of grouped giant wind turbines. He also outlines the high cost of construction of grids for the connection of these wind turbines. Thus, he states that wind energy is far from being profitable in the present conditions of electricity tariffs in France

A Method for Modeling of Floating Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Kai; Hansen, Martin Otto Laver; Moan, Torgeir

2013-01-01

It is of interest to investigate the potential advantages of floating vertical axis wind turbine (FVAWT) due to its economical installation and maintenance. A novel 5MW vertical axis wind turbine concept with a Darrieus rotor mounted on a semi-submersible support structure is proposed in this paper....... In order to assess the technical and economic feasibility of this novel concept, a comprehensive simulation tool for modeling of the floating vertical axis wind turbine is needed. This work presents the development of a coupled method for modeling of the dynamics of a floating vertical axis wind turbine....... This integrated dynamic model takes into account the wind inflow, aerodynamics, hydrodynamics, structural dynamics (wind turbine, floating platform and the mooring lines) and a generator control. This approach calculates dynamic equilibrium at each time step and takes account of the interaction between the rotor...

Simulation model of an active stall wind turbine controller

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jauch, C.; Hansen, A.D.; Soerensen, P. [Risoe National Lab., Wind Energy Dept., Rosilde (Denmark); Blaabjerg, F. [Aalborg Univ., Inst. of Energy Technology (Denmark)

2004-07-01

This paper describes an active stall wind turbine controller. The objective is to develop a general model of an active stall controller in order to simulate the operation of grid connected active stall wind turbines. The active stall turbine concept and its control strategies are presented and evaluated on the basis of simulations. The presented controller is described for continuous operation under all wind speeds from start-up wind speed to shut doven wind speed. Due to its parametric implementation it is general i.e. it can represent different active stall wind turbine controllers and can be implemented in different simulation tools. (au)

Floating axis wind turbines for offshore power generation—a conceptual study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akimoto, Hiromichi; Tanaka, Kenji; Uzawa, Kiyoshi

2011-01-01

The cost of energy produced by offshore wind turbines is considered to be higher than land based ones because of the difficulties in construction, operation and maintenance on offshore sites. To solve the problem, we propose a concept of a wind turbine that is specially designed for an offshore environment. In the proposed concept, a floater of revolutionary shape supports the load of the wind turbine axis. The floater rotates with the turbine and the turbine axis tilts to balance the turbine thrust, buoyancy and gravity. The tilt angle is passively adjustable to wind force. The angle is 30° at rated power. The simplicity of the system leads to further cost reduction of offshore power generation.

Comparative study of Danish and foreign wind turbine economics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Godtfredsen, F.

1993-02-01

This comparative study indicates that Denmark still is the leading nation in wind turbine technology in regard to economics as well as energy output and nacelle weight per swept rotor area. For roughness class 1, the levellized socioeconomic costs of wind power from Danish wind turbines is DKK 0.396 - 0.536 per kWh compared with production costs of DKK 0.525 for the most economic of the foreign wind turbines investigated. Furthermore it is pointed out, that there seems to be no correlation between generator capacity or swept rotor area and costs of windpower for the wind turbines investigated. Nevertheless there are arguments for the statement that large scale wind turbines will be relatively more economic in the future. Danish wind turbine manufacturers only produce tree-bladed, stall- or pitch regulated wind turbines with constant rotational speed. In Holland, Germany and UK two-bladed wind turbines and turbines with variable speed has been introduced. Still the new concepts are less economic, but not without future interest. (au)

The 1.5 MW wind turbine of tomorrow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De Wolff, T.J.; Sondergaard, H. [Nordtank Energy Group, Richmond, VA (United States)

1996-12-31

The Danish company Nordtank is one of the pioneers within the wind turbine industry. Since 1981 Nordtank has installed worldwide more than 2300 wind turbine generators with a total name plate capacity that is exceeding 350 MW. This paper will describe two major wind turbine technology developments that Nordtank has accomplished during the last year: Site Optimization of Nordtank wind turbines: Nordtank has developed a flexible design concept for its WTGs in the 500/600 kW range, in order to offer the optimal WTG solution for any given site and wind regime. Nordtank`s 1.5 MW wind turbine: In September 1995, Nordtank was the first company to install a commercial 1.5 NM WTG. This paper will document the development process, the design as well as operations of the Nordtank 1.5 MW WTG.

Dynamic wind turbine models in power system simulation tool DIgSILENT

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Anca Daniela; Iov, F.; Sørensen, Poul Ejnar

, connection of the wind turbine at different types of grid and storage systems. Different control strategies have been developed and implemented for these wind turbine concepts, their performance in normal or fault operation being assessed and discussed by means of simulations. The described control......This report presents a collection of models and control strategies developed and implemented in the power system simulation tool PowerFactory DIgSILENT for different wind turbine concepts. It is the second edition of Risø-R-1400(EN) and it gathers and describes a whole wind turbine model database...... of the interaction between the mechanical structure of the wind turbine and the electrical grid during different operational modes. The report provides thus a description of the wind turbines modelling, both at a component level and at a system level. The report contains both the description of DIgSILENT built...

Some aspects on wind turbines monitoring. General considerations and loads on horizontal wind turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cuerva, A.

1996-12-01

The concept Monitoring applied to the Wind Energy technology is similar to the definition used in other branches of Science or Engineering, this is knowing values of variables which have to do with a mechanic system, in our case a wind turbine. These mentioned parameters may have different relationships to our wind turbine; some of them come from the environment the machine is operating in, others, are a measure of how properly the machine is working, and finally, the rest are an assessment of the ``system`s health`` during its ``life``. In this chapter we will answer questions such as: What do we need to measure? Why is Monitoring mandatory (from the different points of view of people involved in this world)? How can we measure a wind turbine depending on our objectives (Technic, tools, guidance, recommendations, etc)? And finally What can we expect in the near future?. The author wants the reader to keep the idea in mind that Monitoring means the richest and most accurate knowledge on wind turbine`s operation (Its environment, performances of health). This is the first step that allows us to optimize the operation mode of the machine and improve it (design, manufacturing, even the used modeling tools). When there is so much money involved, this fact becomes a must. (Author)

A Novel Wind Turbine Concept Based on an Electromagnetic Coupler and the Study of Its Fault Ride-through Capability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rui You

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a novel type of variable speed wind turbine with a new drive train different from the variable speed wind turbine commonly used nowadays. In this concept, a synchronous generator is directly coupled with the grid, therefore, the wind turbine transient overload capability and grid voltage support capability can be significantly improved. An electromagnetic coupling speed regulating device (EMCD is used to connect the gearbox high speed shaft and synchronous generator rotor shaft, transmitting torque to the synchronous generator, while decoupling the gearbox side and the synchronous generator, so the synchronous generator torque oscillations during a grid fault are not transmitted to the gearbox. The EMCD is composed of an electromagnetic coupler and a one quadrant operation converter with reduced capability and low cost. A control strategy for the new wind turbine is proposed and a 2 MW wind turbine model is built to study the wind turbine fault ride-through capability. An integrated simulation environment based on the aeroelastic code HAWC2 and software Matlab/Simulink is used to study its fault ride-through capability and the impact on the structural loads during grid three phase and two phase short circuit faults.

Some aspects on wind turbines monitoring. General considerations and loads on horizontal wind turbines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cuerva, A.

1996-01-01

The concept Monitoring applied to the Wind Energy technology is similar to the definition used in other branches of Science or Engineering, this is knowing values of variables which have to do with a mechanic system, in our case a wind turbine. These mentioned parameters may have different relationships to our wind turbine; some of them come from the environment the machine is operating in, others, are a measure of how properly the machine is working, and finally, the rest are an assessment of the systems health during its life. In this chapter we will answer questions such as: What do we need to measure? Why is Monitoring mandatory (from the different points of view of people involved in this world)? How can we measure a wind turbine depending on our objectives (Technic, tools, guidance, recommendations, etc.)? And finally What can we expect in the near future? The author wants the reader to keep the idea in mind that Monitoring means the richest and most accurate knowledge on wind turbine's operation (Its environment, performances or health). This is the first step that allows us to optimize the operation mode of the machine and improve it (design, manufacturing, even the used modeling tools). When there is so much money involved, this fact becomes a must. (Author)

When wind turbines go to the sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dupin, L.

2010-01-01

Land wind turbines are not designed to operate in the open seas. In order to enhance their reliability, facilitate their maintenance and increase their power, existing technologies are adapted to the offshore constraints (direct drive for the blades, maintenance optimization, etc.) while innovating designs (such as vertical axis wind turbines, floating platforms, etc.) are presently tested. Several of these new concepts are described

Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Design Load Cases Investigation and Comparison with Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Galinos, Christos; Larsen, Torben J.; Aagaard Madsen, Helge

2016-01-01

The paper studies the applicability of the IEC 61400-1 ed.3, 2005 International Standard of wind turbine minimum design requirements in the case of an onshore Darrieus VAWT and compares the results of basic Design Load Cases (DLCs) with those of a 3-bladed HAWT. The study is based on aeroelastic...... computations using the HAWC2 aero-servo-elastic code A 2-bladed 5 MW VAWT rotor is used based on a modified version of the DeepWind rotor For the HAWT simulations the NREL 3-bladed 5 MW reference wind turbine model is utilized Various DLCs are examined including normal power production, emergency shut down...... and parked situations, from cut-in to cut-out and extreme wind conditions. The ultimate and 1 Hz equivalent fatigue loads of the blade root and turbine base bottom are extracted and compared in order to give an insight of the load levels between the two concepts. According to the analysis the IEC 61400-1 ed...

Coupled Dynamic Modeling of Floating Wind Turbine Systems: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wayman, E. N.; Sclavounos, P. D.; Butterfield, S.; Jonkman, J.; Musial, W.

2006-03-01

This article presents a collaborative research program that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have undertaken to develop innovative and cost-effective floating and mooring systems for offshore wind turbines in water depths of 10-200 m. Methods for the coupled structural, hydrodynamic, and aerodynamic analysis of floating wind turbine systems are presented in the frequency domain. This analysis was conducted by coupling the aerodynamics and structural dynamics code FAST [4] developed at NREL with the wave load and response simulation code WAMIT (Wave Analysis at MIT) [15] developed at MIT. Analysis tools were developed to consider coupled interactions between the wind turbine and the floating system. These include the gyroscopic loads of the wind turbine rotor on the tower and floater, the aerodynamic damping introduced by the wind turbine rotor, the hydrodynamic damping introduced by wave-body interactions, and the hydrodynamic forces caused by wave excitation. Analyses were conducted for two floater concepts coupled with the NREL 5-MW Offshore Baseline wind turbine in water depths of 10-200 m: the MIT/NREL Shallow Drafted Barge (SDB) and the MIT/NREL Tension Leg Platform (TLP). These concepts were chosen to represent two different methods of achieving stability to identify differences in performance and cost of the different stability methods. The static and dynamic analyses of these structures evaluate the systems' responses to wave excitation at a range of frequencies, the systems' natural frequencies, and the standard deviations of the systems' motions in each degree of freedom in various wind and wave environments. This article in various wind and wave environments. This article explores the effects of coupling the wind turbine with the floating platform, the effects of water depth, and the effects of wind speed on the systems' performance. An economic feasibility analysis of

Consequences of variations in spatial turbulence characteristics for fatigue life time of wind turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Larsen, G.C.

1998-09-01

The fatigue loading of turbines situated in complex terrain is investigated in order to determine the crucial parameters in the spatial structure of the turbulence in such situations. The parameter study is performed by means of numerical calculations, and it embraces three different wind turbine types, representing a pitch controlled concept, a stall controlled concept, and a stall controlled concept with an extremely flexible tower. For each of the turbine concepts, the fatigue load sensibility to the selected turbulence characteristics are investigated for three different mean wind speeds at hub height. The selected mean wind speeds represent the linear-, the stall-, and the post stall aerodynamic region for the stall controlled turbines and analogously the unregulated-, the partly regulated-, and the fully regulated regime for the pitch controlled turbine. Denoting the turbulence component in the mean wind direction by u, the lateral turbulence component by v, and the vertical turbulence component by w, the selected turbulence characteristics comprise the u-turbulence length scale, the ratio between the v- and w-turbulence intensities and the u-turbulence intensity, the uu-coherence decay factor, and finally the u-v and u-w cross-correlations. The turbulence length scale in the mean wind direction gives rise to significant modification of the fatigue loading on all the investigated wind turbine concepts, but for the other selected parameter variations, large individual differences exists between the turbines. With respect to sensitivity to the performed parameter variations, the Vestas V39 wind turbine is the most robust of the investigated turbines. The Nordtank 500/37 turbine, equipped with the (artificial) soft tower, is by far the most sensitive of the investigated turbine concepts - also much more sensitive than the conventional Nordtank 500/37 turbine equipped with a traditional tower. (au) 2 tabs., 43 ills., 7 refs.

Dependency in State Transitions of Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Herp, Jürgen; Ramezani, Mohammad Hossein; S. Nadimi, Esmaeil

2017-01-01

© 2017 IEEE. Turbine states and predicting the transition into failure states ahead of time is important in operation and maintenance of wind turbines. This study presents a method to monitor state transitions of a wind turbine based on the online inference on residuals. In a Bayesian framework...... be abstracted from generated data. Two models are presented: 1) assuming independence and 2) assuming dependence between states. In order to select the right models, machine learning is utilized to update hyperparameters on the conditional probabilities. Comparing fixed to learned hyperparameters points out...... the impact machine learning concepts have on the predictive performance of the presented models. In conclusion, a study on model residuals is performed to highlight the contribution to wind turbine monitoring. The presented algorithm can consistently detect the state transition under various configurations...

Simulation model of an active-stall fixed-speed wind turbine controller

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jauch, C.; Hansen, A.D.; Sorensen, P.; Blaabjerg, F.

2004-07-01

This paper describes an active-stall wind turbine controller. The objective is to develop a general model of an active stall controller in order to simulate the operation of grid connected active stall wind turbines. The active stall turbine concept and its control strategies are presented and evaluated by simulations. The presented controller is described for continuous operation under all wind speeds from start-up wind speed to shut down wind speed. Due to its parametric implementation it is general i. e. it can represent different active stall wind turbine controllers and can be implemented in different simulation tools. (author)

Conceptual survey of generators and power electronics for wind turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, L.H.; Helle, L.; Blaabjerg, F.

2002-01-01

This report presents a survey on generator concepts and power electronic concepts for wind turbines. The report is aimed as a tool for decision-makers and development people with respect to wind turbine manufactures, utilities, and independent systemoperators as well as manufactures of generators...... and power electronics. The survey is focused on the electric development of wind turbines and it yields an overview on: - State of the art on generators and power electronics. - future concepts andtechnologies within generators and power electronics. - market needs in the shape of requirements to the grid...... connection, and - consistent system solutions, plus an evaluation of these seen in the prospect of market needs. This survey on of generatorand power electronic concepts was carried out in co-operation between Aalborg University and Risø National Laboratory in the scope of the research programme Electric...

Wind Turbine Generator System Acoustic Noise Test Report for the Gaia Wind 11-kW Wind Turbine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huskey, A.

2011-11-01

This report details the acoustic noise test conducted on the Gaia-Wind 11-kW wind turbine at the National Wind Technology Center. The test turbine is a two- bladed, downwind wind turbine with a rated power of 11 kW. The test turbine was tested in accordance with the International Electrotechnical Commission standard, IEC 61400-11 Ed 2.1 2006-11 Wind Turbine Generator Systems -- Part 11 Acoustic Noise Measurement Techniques.

Site-specific design optimization of wind turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fuglsang, P.; Bak, C.; Schepers, J.G.

2002-01-01

This article reports results from a European project, where site characteristics were incorporated into the design process of wind turbines, to enable site-specific design. Two wind turbines of different concept were investigated at six different sites comprising normal flat terrain, offshore...... and complex terrain wind farms. Design tools based on numerical optimization and aeroelastic calculations were combined with a cost model to allow optimization for minimum cost of energy. Different scenarios were optimized ranging from modifications of selected individual components to the complete design...... of a new wind turbine. Both annual energy yield and design-determining loads depended on site characteristics, and this represented a potential for site-specific design. The maximum variation in annual energy yield was 37% and the maximum variation in blade root fatigue loads was 62%. Optimized site...

Hywind floating wind turbine project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Crome, Tim

2010-07-01

The Hywind floating wind turbine concept was developed by StatoilHydro. Technip was awarded the contract for engineering, fabrication and installation of a demonstration unit in May 2008 and the completed wind turbine was installed mid June 2009 at the west coast of Norway on 220 m water depth. The demonstration unit will generate 2,3 MW and is equipped with instrumentation for monitoring mooring forces, strains and motions. The fabrication of the SPAR type steel substructure was performed at Technip Offshore Finland facilities in Pori and was towed horizontally from Finland to Norway, where it was upended to a vertical position by water filling. The completed floating wind turbine was towed vertically to the final location west of Karmoey and connected to the pre-installed three legged anchor system using an Anchor Handling Tug type vessel. The wind turbine test period is scheduled to start in September 2009. Statoil will monitor the performance of the system for two years before decision will be taken for further development. The paper will present the main challenges and lessons learned through design, fabrication and installation of this first of its kind structure. Main emphasis will be on the special challenges experienced for this floating, catenary moored, slender unit which is highly exposed for wind induced forces in addition to current and waves in hostile North Sea environments. (Author)

Advanced Wind Turbine Drivetrain Concepts: Workshop Report, June 29-30, 2010

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DOE, EERE

2010-12-01

This report presents key findings from the Department of Energy's Advanced Drivetrain Workshop, held on June 29-30, 2010 in Broomfield, Colorado, to assess different advanced drivetrain technologies, their relative potential to improve the state-of-the-art in wind turbine drivetrains, and the scope of research and development needed for their commercialization in wind turbine applications.

The VGOT Darrieus wind turbine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ponta, F.L.; Otero, A.D.; Lago, L. [University of Buenos Aires (Argentina). College of Engineering

2004-07-01

We present the actual state of development of a non-conventional new vertical-axis wind turbine. The concepts introduced here involve the constructive aspects of variable-geometry oval-trajectory (VGOT) Darrieus wind turbines. The key feature of a VGOT machine is that each blade slides over rails mounted on a wagon instead of rotating around a central vertical axis. Each wagon contains its own electrical generation system coupled to the power-wheels and the electricity is collected by a classical third rail system. The VGOT concept allows increasing the area swept by the blades, and hence the power output of the installation, without the structural problems and the low rotational speed associated with a classical Darrieus rotor of large diameter. We also propose some engineering solutions for the VGOT design and present a brief economic analysis of the feasibility of the project. (author)

Damping of wind turbine tower vibrations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodersen, Mark Laier; Pedersen, Mikkel Melters

Damping of wind turbine vibrations by supplemental dampers is a key ingredient for the continuous use of monopiles as support for offshore wind turbines. The present thesis consists of an extended summary with four parts and appended papers [P1-P4] concerning novel strategies for damping of tower...... dominated vibrations.The first part of the thesis presents the theoretical framework for implementation of supplemental dampers in wind turbines. It is demonstrated that the feasibility of installing dampers at the bottom of the tower is significantly increased when placing passive or semiactive dampers...... in a stroke amplifying brace, which amplifies the displacement across the damper and thus reduces the desired level of damper force. For optimal damping of the two lowest tower modes, a novel toggle-brace concept for amplifying the bending deformation of the tower is presented. Numerical examples illustrate...

Aerodynamics of Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Martin Otto Laver

Aerodynamics of Wind Turbines is the established essential text for the fundamental solutions to efficient wind turbine design. Now in its second edition, it has been entirely updated and substantially extended to reflect advances in technology, research into rotor aerodynamics and the structural...... response of the wind turbine structure. Topics covered include increasing mass flow through the turbine, performance at low and high wind speeds, assessment of the extreme conditions under which the turbine will perform and the theory for calculating the lifetime of the turbine. The classical Blade Element...... Momentum method is also covered, as are eigenmodes and the dynamic behavior of a turbine. The new material includes a description of the effects of the dynamics and how this can be modeled in an aeroelastic code, which is widely used in the design and verification of modern wind turbines. Further...

Pitchcontrol of wind turbines using model free adaptivecontrol based on wind turbine code

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Yunqian; Chen, Zhe; Cheng, Ming

2011-01-01

value is only based on I/O data of the wind turbine is identified and then the wind turbine system is replaced by a dynamic linear time-varying model. In order to verify the correctness and robustness of the proposed model free adaptive pitch controller, the wind turbine code FAST which can predict......As the wind turbine is a nonlinear high-order system, to achieve good pitch control performance, model free adaptive control (MFAC) approach which doesn't need the mathematical model of the wind turbine is adopted in the pitch control system in this paper. A pseudo gradient vector whose estimation...... the wind turbine loads and response in high accuracy is used. The results show that the controller produces good dynamic performance, good robustness and adaptability....

Conceptual survey of Generators and Power Electronics for Wind Turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hansen, L.H.; Helle, L.; Blaabjerg, F.; Ritchie, E.; Munk-Nielsen, S.; Bindner, H.; Soerensen, P.; Bak-Jensen, B.

2001-12-01

This report presents a survey on generator concepts and power electronic concepts for wind turbines. The report is aimed as a tool for decision-makers and development people with respect to wind turbine manufactures, utilities, and independent system operators as well as manufactures of generators and power electronics. The survey is focused on the electric development of wind turbines and it yields an overview on: State of the art on generators and power electronics; future concepts and technologies within generators and power electronics; market needs in the shape of requirements to the grid connection, and; consistent system solutions, plus an evaluation of these seen in the prospect of market needs. This survey on of generator and power electronic concepts was carried out in co-operation between Aalborg University and Risoe National Laboratory in the scope of the research programme Electric Design and Control. (au)

Wind conditions for wind turbine design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maribo Pedersen, B.

1999-04-01

Delegates from Europe and USA attended the meeting and discussed general aspects of wind conditions for wind turbine design. The subjects and the presented papers covered a very broad range of aspects of wind conditions and related influence on the wind turbine. (EHS)

Wind Turbines Wake Aerodynamics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vermeer, L.; Sørensen, Jens Nørkær; Crespo, A.

2003-01-01

The aerodynamics of horizontal axis wind turbine wakes is studied. The contents is directed towards the physics of power extraction by wind turbines and reviews both the near and the far wake region. For the near wake, the survey is restricted to uniform, steady and parallel flow conditions......, thereby excluding wind shear, wind speed and rotor setting changes and yawed conditions. The emphasis is put on measurements in controlled conditions.For the far wake, the survey focusses on both single turbines and wind farm effects, and the experimental and numerical work are reviewed; the main interest...... is to study how the far wake decays downstream, in order to estimate the effect produced in downstream turbines.The article is further restricted to horizontal axis wind turbines and excludes all other types of turbines....

DeepWind - from Idea to 5 MW Concept

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt Paulsen, Uwe; Aagaard Madsen, Helge; Kragh, Knud Abildgaard

2014-01-01

The DeepWind concept has been described previously on challenges and potentials, this new offshore floating technology can offer to the wind industry [1]. The paper describes state of the art design improvements, new simulation results of the DeepWind floating vertical axis wind turbine concept...

Discord amongst the wind turbine buyers with regard to Dutch wind turbine manufacturers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janse, F.

1992-01-01

In the Netherlands two medium-large manufacturers of wind turbines exist: NedWind (Hollandia Kloos) and Windmaster Nederland (Begemann Groep). Also Lagerwey, which constructs wind turbines for the private market (farmers, cooperatives), is important for the Dutch market and successfull in Germany. There is a tendency amongst the Dutch energy utilities, which cooperate in the foundation WindPlan, to buy wind turbines from foreign manufacturers. Some energy utilities want to take advantage of the most attractive offers, while others want to cooperate in building up a Dutch wind turbine industry. 5 ills

Turbulence and wind turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brand, Arno J.; Peinke, Joachim; Mann, Jakob

2011-01-01

The nature of turbulent flow towards, near and behind a wind turbine, the effect of turbulence on the electricity production and the mechanical loading of individual and clustered wind turbines, and some future issues are discussed.......The nature of turbulent flow towards, near and behind a wind turbine, the effect of turbulence on the electricity production and the mechanical loading of individual and clustered wind turbines, and some future issues are discussed....

Hurricane Resilient Wind Plant Concept Study Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dibra, Besart [Keystone Engineering Inc., Vonore, TN (United States); Finucane, Zachary [Keystone Engineering Inc., Vonore, TN (United States); Foley, Benjamin [Keystone Engineering Inc., Vonore, TN (United States); Hall, Rudy [Keystone Engineering Inc., Vonore, TN (United States); Damiani, Rick [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Maples, Benjamin [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Parker, Zachary [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Robertson, Amy [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Scott, George [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Stehly, Tyler [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Wendt, Fabian [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Andersen, Mads Boel Overgaard [Siemens Wind Power A/S, Brande (Denmark); Standish, Kevin [Siemens Wind Power A/S, Brande (Denmark); Lee, Ken [Wetzel Engineering Inc., Round Rock, TX (United States); Raina, Amool [Wetzel Engineering Inc., Round Rock, TX (United States); Wetzel, Kyle [Wetzel Engineering Inc., Round Rock, TX (United States); Musial, Walter [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Schreck, Scott [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2016-10-01

Hurricanes occur over much of the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts, from Long Island to the U.S.-Mexico border, encompassing much of the nation's primary offshore wind resource. Category 5 hurricanes have made landfall as far north as North Carolina, with Category 3 hurricanes reaching New York with some frequency. Along the US West coast, typhoons strike with similar frequency and severity. At present, offshore wind turbine design practices do not fully consider the severe operating conditions imposed by hurricanes. Although universally applied to most turbine designs, International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards do not sufficiently address the duration, directionality, magnitude, or character of hurricanes. To assess advanced design features that could mitigate hurricane loading in various ways, this Hurricane-Resilient Wind Plant Concept Study considered a concept design study of a 500-megawatt (MW) wind power plant consisting of 10-MW wind turbines deployed in 25-meter (m) water depths in the Western Gulf of Mexico. This location was selected because hurricane frequency and severity provided a unique set of design challenges that would enable assessment of hurricane risk and projection of cost of energy (COE) changes, all in response to specific U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) objectives. Notably, the concept study pursued a holistic approach that incorporated multiple advanced system elements at the wind turbine and wind power plant levels to meet objectives for system performance and reduced COE. Principal turbine system elements included a 10-MW rotor with structurally efficient, low-solidity blades; a lightweight, permanent-magnet, direct-drive generator, and an innovative fixed substructure. At the wind power plant level, turbines were arrayed in a large-scale wind power plant in a manner aimed at balancing energy production against capital, installation, and operation and maintenance (O&M) costs to achieve significant overall reductions in

State of the art and prospectives of smart rotor control for wind turbines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barlas, T K; Kuik, G A M van

2007-01-01

The continued reduction in cost of energy of wind turbines, especially with the increasingly upscaling of the rotor, will require contribution from technology advances in many areas. Reducing loads on the rotor can offer great reduction to the total cost of wind turbines. With the increasing size of wind turbine blades, the need for more sophisticated load control techniques has induced the interest for locally distributed aerodynamic control systems with built-in intelligence on the blades. Such concepts are often named in popular terms 'smart structures' or 'smart rotor control'. This paper focuses on research regarding active rotor control and smart structures for load reduction. It presents an overview of available knowledge and future concepts on the application of active aerodynamic control and smart structures for wind turbine applications. The goal of the paper is to provide a perspective on the current status and future directions of the specific area of research. It comprises a novel attempt to summarize and analyze possible advanced control systems for future wind turbines. The overview builds on existing research on helicopter rotors and expands similar concepts for wind turbine applications, based on ongoing research in the field. Research work has been analyzed through UPWIND project's work package on Smart Rotor Blades and Rotor Control. First, the specifications of unsteady loads, the state of the art of modern control for load reduction and the need for more advanced and detailed active aerodynamic control are analyzed. Also, overview of available knowledge in application of active aerodynamic control on rotating blades, from helicopter research, is provided. Concepts, methods, and achieved results are presented. Furthermore, R and D so far and up-to-date ongoing progress of similar applications for wind turbines are presented. Feasibility studies for wind turbine applications, preliminary performance evaluation and novel computational and

Wind turbines and infrasound

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howe, B.

2006-01-01

This paper provided the results of a study conducted to assess the impacts of wind farm-induced infrasound on nearby residences and human populations. Infrasound occurs at frequencies below those considered as detectable by human hearing. Infrasonic levels caused by wind turbines are often similar to ambient levels of 85 dBG or lower that are caused by wind in the natural environment. This study examined the levels at which infrasound poses a threat to human health or can be considered as an annoyance. The study examined levels of infrasound caused by various types of wind turbines, and evaluated acoustic phenomena and characteristics associated with wind turbines. Results of the study suggested that infrasound near modern wind turbines is typically not perceptible to humans through either auditory or non-auditory mechanisms. However, wind turbines often create an audible broadband noise whose amplitude can be modulated at low frequencies. A review of both Canadian and international studies concluded that infrasound generated by wind turbines should not significantly impact nearby residences or human populations. 17 refs., 2 tabs., 4 figs

Wind turbines and idiopathic symptoms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blanes-Vidal, Victoria; Schwartz, Joel

2016-01-01

Whether or not wind turbines pose a risk to human health is a matter of heated debate. Personal reactions to other environmental exposures occurring in the same settings as wind turbines may be responsible of the reported symptoms. However, these have not been accounted for in previous studies. We...... investigated whether there is an association between residential proximity to wind turbines and idiopathic symptoms, after controlling for personal reactions to other environmental co-exposures. We assessed wind turbine exposures in 454 residences as the distance to the closest wind turbine (Dw) and number...... of wind turbines

Wind turbine reliability :understanding and minimizing wind turbine operation and maintenance costs.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walford, Christopher A. (Global Energy Concepts. Kirkland, WA)

2006-03-01

Wind turbine system reliability is a critical factor in the success of a wind energy project. Poor reliability directly affects both the project's revenue stream through increased operation and maintenance (O&M) costs and reduced availability to generate power due to turbine downtime. Indirectly, the acceptance of wind-generated power by the financial and developer communities as a viable enterprise is influenced by the risk associated with the capital equipment reliability; increased risk, or at least the perception of increased risk, is generally accompanied by increased financing fees or interest rates. This paper outlines the issues relevant to wind turbine reliability for wind turbine power generation projects. The first sections describe the current state of the industry, identify the cost elements associated with wind farm O&M and availability and discuss the causes of uncertainty in estimating wind turbine component reliability. The latter sections discuss the means for reducing O&M costs and propose O&M related research and development efforts that could be pursued by the wind energy research community to reduce cost of energy.

Wind Turbine Generator System Power Performance Test Report for the ARE442 Wind Turbine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

van Dam, J.; Jager, D.

2010-02-01

This report summarizes the results of a power performance test that NREL conducted on the ARE 442 wind turbine. This test was conducted in accordance with the International Electrotechnical Commission's (IEC) standard, Wind Turbine Generator Systems Part 12: Power Performance Measurements of Electricity Producing Wind Turbines, IEC 61400-12-1 Ed.1.0, 2005-12. However, because the ARE 442 is a small turbine as defined by IEC, NREL also followed Annex H that applies to small wind turbines. In these summary results, wind speed is normalized to sea-level air density.

Aerodynamics of wind turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Martin Otto Laver

Aerodynamics of Wind Turbines is the established essential text for the fundamental solutions to efficient wind turbine design. Now in its third edition, it has been substantially updated with respect to structural dynamics and control. The new control chapter now includes details on how to design...... Turbines (VAWT). Topics covered include increasing mass flow through the turbine, performance at low and high wind speeds, assessment of the extreme conditions under which the turbine will perform and the theory for calculating the lifetime of the turbine. The classical Blade Element Momentum method...... is also covered, as are eigenmodes and the dynamic behaviour of a turbine. The book describes the effects of the dynamics and how this can be modelled in an aeroelastic code, which is widely used in the design and verification of modern wind turbines. Furthermore, it examines how to calculate...

Potential health impact of wind turbines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-05-01

In response to public health concerns about wind turbines, a study was conducted to review the scientific evidence on the potential health effects of wind turbines. Several research questions were examined, including scientific evidence on the potential health impacts of wind turbines; the relationship between wind turbine noise and health; the relationship between low frequency sound, infrasound and health; assessment of exposure to wind turbines; wind turbine health and safety hazards and Ontario wind turbine setbacks; community consultation prior to wind farm construction and data gaps and research needs. The study showed that although some people living near wind turbines reported symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, and sleep disturbance, the scientific evidence available to date does not demonstrate a direct causal link between wind turbine noise and adverse health effects. The sound level from wind turbines at common residential setbacks is not sufficient to cause hearing impairment or other direct health effects, although some people may find it annoying. 41 refs., 1 appendix.

Development of a 5 MW reference gearbox for offshore wind turbines

OpenAIRE

Rasekhi Nejad, Amir; Guo, Yi; Gao, Zhen; Moan, Torgeir

2016-01-01

This paper presents detailed descriptions, modeling parameters and technical data of a 5MW high-speed gearbox developed for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory offshore 5MW baseline wind turbine. The main aim of this paper is to support the concept studies and research for large offshore wind turbines by providing a baseline gearbox model with detailed modeling parameters. This baseline gearbox follows the most conventional design types of those used in wind turbines. It is based on the ...

Operation Design of Wind Turbines in Strong Wind Conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shen, Wen Zhong; Montes, Melissa Barroso; Odgaard, Peter Fogh

2012-01-01

and variable speed pitch regulated wind turbines. The variable speed design is more suitable for wind turbines to run at very high wind speeds which can help the turbine braking system to stop the turbine at the new "cut-out" wind speed. Reference power, rotational speed and pitch angle have been designed...... optimally. In order to reduce the possible increased loading, fatigue due to the wind gusts, control strategies have been considered for both constant sped and variable speed pitch regulated wind turbines. The control study shows that the designed controllers can reduce the standard deviations efficiently......In order to reduce the impact on the electrical grid from the shutdown of MW wind turbines at wind speeds higher than the cut-out wind speed of 25 m/s, we propose in this paper to run the turbines at high wind speeds up to 40 m/s. Two different operation designs are made for both constant speed...

Grid fault and design-basis for wind turbines. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hansen, A.D.; Cutululis, N.A.; Markou, H.; Soerensen, Poul; Iov, F.

2010-01-15

This is the final report of a Danish research project 'Grid fault and design-basis for wind turbines'. The objective of this project has been to assess and analyze the consequences of the new grid connection requirements for the fatigue and ultimate structural loads of wind turbines. The fulfillment of the grid connection requirements poses challenges for the design of both the electrical system and the mechanical structure of wind turbines. The development of wind turbine models and novel control strategies to fulfill the TSO's requirements are of vital importance in this design. Dynamic models and different fault ride-through control strategies have been developed and assessed in this project for three different wind turbine concepts (active stall wind turbine, variable speed doublyfed induction generator wind turbine, variable speed multipole permanent magnet wind turbine). A computer approach for the quantification of the wind turbines structural loads caused by the fault ride-through grid requirement, has been proposed and exemplified for the case of an active stall wind turbine. This approach relies on the combination of knowledge from complimentary simulation tools, which have expertise in different specialized design areas for wind turbines. In order to quantify the impact of the grid faults and grid requirements fulfillment on wind turbines structural loads and thus on their lifetime, a rainflow and a statistical analysis for fatigue and ultimate structural loads, respectively, have been performed and compared for two cases, i.e. one when the turbine is immediately disconnected from the grid when a grid fault occurs and one when the turbine is equipped with a fault ride-through controller and therefore it is able to remain connected to the grid during the grid fault. Different storm control strategies, that enable variable speed wind turbines to produce power at wind speeds higher than 25m/s and up to 50m/s without substantially increasing

A Novel Dual-Rotor Turbine for Increased Wind Energy Capture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosenberg, A; Selvaraj, S; Sharma, A

2014-01-01

Horizontal axis wind turbines suffer from aerodynamic inefficiencies in the blade root region (near the hub) due to several non-aerodynamic constraints. Aerodynamic interactions between turbines in a wind farm also lead to significant loss of wind farm efficiency. A new dual-rotor wind turbine (DRWT) concept is proposed that aims at mitigating these two losses. A DRWT is designed that uses an existing turbine rotor for the main rotor, while the secondary rotor is designed using a high lift-to-drag ratio airfoil. Reynolds Averaged Navier- Stokes computational fluid dynamics simulations are used to optimize the design. Large eddy simulations confirm the increase energy capture potential of the DRWT. Wake comparisons however do not show enhanced entrainment of axial momentum

Urban wind turbines. Guidelines for small wind turbines in the built environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cace, J.; Ter Horst, E.; Syngellakis, K.; Niel, M.; Clement, P.; Heppener, R.; Peirano, E.

2007-02-01

The objective of the WINEUR project (Wind Energy Integration in the Urban Environment) is to determine the deployability of small wind turbines in built environments while identifying the current significant constraints and possible solutions. The purpose of this document is to Inform the stakeholders about the state of the development of small wind turbines for the built environment; Provide practical guidelines to actors dealing with installation of small wind turbines in urban areas; and Provide recommendations for future products and for market development

Aero-acoustics noise assessment for Wind-Lens turbine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hashem, I.; Mohamed, M.H.; Hafiz, A.A.

2017-01-01

This paper introduces an aero-acoustic computational study that investigates the noise caused by one of the most promising wind energy conversion concepts, namely the 'Wind-Lens' technology. The hybrid method - where the flow field and acoustic field are solved separately, was deemed to be an appropriate tool to compute this study. The need to investigate this phenomenon increased gradually, since the feasibility of utilizing Wind-Lens turbine within densely populated cities and urban areas depends largely on their noise generation. Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings (FW-H) equation and its integral solution are used to predict the noise radiating to the farfield. CFD Simulations of transient three-dimensional flow field using (URANS) unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are computed to acquire the acoustic sources location and sound intensity. Then, the noise propagates from the before-mentioned sources to pre-defined virtual microphones positioned in different locations. ANSYS-FLUENT is used to calculate the flow field on and around such turbines which is required for the FW-H code. Some effective parameters are investigated such as Wind-Lens shape, brim height and tip speed ratio. Comparison of the noise emitted from the bare wind turbine and different types of Wind-Lens turbine reveals that, the Wind-Lens generates higher noise intensity. - Highlights: • Aero-acoustic noise generated by wind turbines are one of the major challenges. • Noise from wind turbine equipped with a brimmed diffuser is investigated. • A computational aero-acoustic study using the hybrid method is introduced. • Effective parameters are studied such Wind-Lens shape, brim height and speed ratio. • The optimal shape has a moderate power coefficient and the less noise generation.

Active aerodynamic load control on wind turbines : Aeroservoelastic modeling and wind tunnel

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Barlas, A.

2011-01-01

This thesis investigates particular concepts and technologies that can alleviate fatigue loads on wind turbines by using distributed active aerodynamic devices on the blades, a concept briefly referred to as `smart blades'. Firstly, published research work on smart control devices is reviewed, and

Noise from wind turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fegeant, Olivier [Royal Inst. of Tech., Stockholm (Sweden). Dept. of Building Sciences

2002-02-01

A rapid growth of installed wind power capacity is expected in the next few years. However, the siting of wind turbines on a large scale raises concerns about their environmental impact, notably with respect to noise. To this end, variable speed wind turbines offer a promising solution for applications in densely populated areas like the European countries, as this design would enable an efficient utilisation of the masking effect due to ambient noise. In rural and recreational areas where wind turbines are sited, the ambient noise originates from the action of wind on the vegetation and about the listener's ear (pseudo-noise). It shows a wind speed dependence similar to that of the noise from a variable speed wind turbine and can therefore mask the latter for a wide range of conditions. However, a problem inherent to the design of these machines is their proclivity to pure tone generation, because of the enhanced difficulty of avoiding structural resonances in the mechanical parts. Pure tones are deemed highly annoying and are severely regulated by most noise policies. In relation to this problem, the vibration transmission of structure-borne sound to the tower of the turbine is investigated, in particular when the tower is stiffened at its upper end. Furthermore, since noise annoyance due to wind turbine is mostly a masking issue, the wind-related sources of ambient noise are studied and their masking potentials assessed. With this aim, prediction models for wind-induced vegetation noise and pseudo-noise have been developed. Finally, closely related to the effect of masking, is the difficulty, regularly encountered by local authorities and wind farm developers, to measure noise immission from wind turbines. A new measurement technique has thus been developed in the course of this work. Through improving the signal-to-noise ratio between wind turbine noise and ambient noise, the new technique yields more accurate measurement results.

Reliability Analysis of Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toft, Henrik Stensgaard; Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

2008-01-01

In order to minimise the total expected life-cycle costs of a wind turbine it is important to estimate the reliability level for all components in the wind turbine. This paper deals with reliability analysis for the tower and blades of onshore wind turbines placed in a wind farm. The limit states...... consideres are in the ultimate limit state (ULS) extreme conditions in the standstill position and extreme conditions during operating. For wind turbines, where the magnitude of the loads is influenced by the control system, the ultimate limit state can occur in both cases. In the fatigue limit state (FLS......) the reliability level for a wind turbine placed in a wind farm is considered, and wake effects from neighbouring wind turbines is taken into account. An illustrative example with calculation of the reliability for mudline bending of the tower is considered. In the example the design is determined according...

Gravo-Aeroelastic Scaling for Extreme-Scale Wind Turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fingersh, Lee J [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Loth, Eric [University of Virginia; Kaminski, Meghan [University of Virginia; Qin, Chao [University of Virginia; Griffith, D. Todd [Sandia National Laboratories

2017-06-09

A scaling methodology is described in the present paper for extreme-scale wind turbines (rated at 10 MW or more) that allow their sub-scale turbines to capture their key blade dynamics and aeroelastic deflections. For extreme-scale turbines, such deflections and dynamics can be substantial and are primarily driven by centrifugal, thrust and gravity forces as well as the net torque. Each of these are in turn a function of various wind conditions, including turbulence levels that cause shear, veer, and gust loads. The 13.2 MW rated SNL100-03 rotor design, having a blade length of 100-meters, is herein scaled to the CART3 wind turbine at NREL using 25% geometric scaling and blade mass and wind speed scaled by gravo-aeroelastic constraints. In order to mimic the ultralight structure on the advanced concept extreme-scale design the scaling results indicate that the gravo-aeroelastically scaled blades for the CART3 are be three times lighter and 25% longer than the current CART3 blades. A benefit of this scaling approach is that the scaled wind speeds needed for testing are reduced (in this case by a factor of two), allowing testing under extreme gust conditions to be much more easily achieved. Most importantly, this scaling approach can investigate extreme-scale concepts including dynamic behaviors and aeroelastic deflections (including flutter) at an extremely small fraction of the full-scale cost.

Design and aero-acoustic analysis of a counter-rotating wind turbine

Science.gov (United States)

Agrawal, Vineesh V.

Wind turbines have become an integral part of the energy business because they are one of the most economical and reliable sources of renewable energy. Conventional wind turbines are capable of capturing less than half of the energy present in the wind. Hence, to make the wind turbines more efficient, it is important to increase their performance. A horizontal axis wind turbine with multiple rotors is one concept that can achieve a higher power conversion rate. Also, a concern for wind energy is the noise generated by wind turbines. Hence, an investigation into the acoustic behavior of a multi-rotor horizontal axis wind turbine is required. In response to the need of a wind turbine design with higher power coefficient, a unique design of a counter-rotating horizontal axis wind turbine (CR-HAWT) is proposed. The Blade Element Momentum (BEM) theory is used to aerodynamically design the blades of the two rotors. Modifications are made to the BEM theory to accommodate the interaction of the two rotors. The tower effect on the noise generation of the downwind rotor is investigated. Predictions are made for the total noise generated by the wind turbine at its design operating conditions. A total power coefficient of 65.2% is predicted for the proposed CR-HAWT design. A low tip speed ratio is chosen to minimize the noise generation. The aeroacoustic analysis of the CR-HAWT shows that the noise generated at its design operating conditions is within an acceptable range. Thus, the CR-HAWT is predicted to be a quiet wind turbine with a high power coefficient, making it highly desirable for small wind turbine applications.

Overall control strategy of variable speed doubly-fed induction generator wind turbine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hansen, Anca D.; Soerensen, Poul [Risoe National Laboratory, Roskilde (Denmark). Wind Energy Dept.; Iov, Florin; Blaabjerg, Frede [Aalborg Univ. (Denmark). Inst. of Energy Technology

2004-07-01

The variable speed doubly-fed induction generator wind turbine is today the most widely used concept. The paper presents an overall control system of the variable speed DFIG wind turbine, with focus on the control strategies and algorithms applied at each hierarchical control level of the wind turbine. The present control method is designed for normal continuous operations. The strongest feature of the implemented control method is that it allows the turbine to operate with the optimum power efficiency over a wider range of wind speeds. The variable speed/variable pitch wind turbine with doubly-fed induction generator is implemented in the dynamic power system simulation tool DIgSILENT. Simulation results are performed and analyzed in different normal operating conditions.

Design and evaluation of low-cost laminated wood composite blades for intermediate size wind turbines: Blade design, fabrication concept, and cost analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Lieblein, S.; Gaugeon, M.; Thomas, G.; Zueck, M.

1982-01-01

As part of a program to reduce wind turbine costs, an evaluation was conducted of a laminated wood composite blade for the Mod-OA 200 kW wind turbine. The effort included the design and fabrication concept for the blade, together with cost and load analyses. The blade structure is composed of laminated Douglas fir veneers for the primary spar and nose sections, and honeycomb cored plywood panels for the trailing edges sections. The attachment of the wood blade to the rotor hub was through load takeoff studs bonded into the blade root. Tests were conducted on specimens of the key structural components to verify the feasibility of the concept. It is concluded that the proposed wood composite blade design and fabrication concept is suitable for Mod-OA size turbines (125-ft diameter rotor) at a cost that is very competitive with other methods of manufacture.

Wind turbine control and monitoring

CERN Document Server

Luo, Ningsu; Acho, Leonardo

2014-01-01

Maximizing reader insights into the latest technical developments and trends involving wind turbine control and monitoring, fault diagnosis, and wind power systems, 'Wind Turbine Control and Monitoring' presents an accessible and straightforward introduction to wind turbines, but also includes an in-depth analysis incorporating illustrations, tables and examples on how to use wind turbine modeling and simulation software.   Featuring analysis from leading experts and researchers in the field, the book provides new understanding, methodologies and algorithms of control and monitoring, comput

A Survey of Control Issues in PMSG-Based Small Wind-Turbine Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Orlando, Natalia Angela; Liserre, Marco; Mastromauro, Rosa Anna

2013-01-01

/position estimation, pitch control, braking chopper control, dc/dc converter control, and grid converter control. Specific issues for small wind-turbines arise in the wind energy extraction optimization and limitation and in the innovative concept of “universal” wind-turbine operation, that leads these system...... generators directly connected to the grid, while recently permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSG) with power converter, either partially or fully controlled, became popular. This paper reviews the control issues related to these small wind-turbine systems: generator torque control, speed...

Wind turbines and health

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rideout, K.; Copes, R.; Bos, C.

2010-01-01

This document summarized the potential health hazards associated with wind turbines, such as noise and low frequency sound, vibration and infrasound; electromagnetic fields (EMF); shadow flicker; and ice throw and structural failure. Various symptoms can be attributed to wind turbines, including dizziness, sleep disruption, and headaches. A review of available research regarding potential health affects to residents living in close proximity to wind turbines showed that the sound level associated with wind turbines at common residential setbacks is not sufficient to damage hearing, but may lead to annoyance and sleep disturbance. Research has shown that wind turbines are not a significant source of EMF exposure, and although shadows caused by the blades may be annoying, they are not likely to cause epileptic seizures at normal operational speeds. The risk of injury from ice throw can be minimized with setbacks of 200 to 400 m. Examples of Canadian wind turbine setback guidelines and regulations were also offered. It was concluded that setbacks and operational guidelines can be utilized in combination to address safety hazards, sound levels, land use issues, and impacts on people. 46 refs., 2 tabs., 2 figs.

Integrated installation for offshore wind turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Way, J.; Bowerman, H.

2003-07-01

A project to investigate the feasibility of integrating the offshore installation of foundation, turbine and tower for offshore wind turbines into one operation is described. Three separate objectives are listed. They are: (1) Telescopic tower study - reversible process incorporating lift and lock mechanisms; (2) Transportation study - technical and economic feasibility of transporting and installing a wind turbine unit via a standard barge with minimal conversion and (3) Self-burial system study - to demonstrate the feasibility of self burial of a slab foundation via controlled jetting beneath the slab. The background to the study and the proposed concepts are discussed. The work carried out to date and the costs are reported together with the findings. Recommendations for future work are listed. The work was carried out by Corus UK Ltd and is managed by Future Energy Solutions for the DTI.

Wind Turbine Providing Grid Support

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2011-01-01

changing the operation of the wind turbine to a more efficient working point.; When the rotational speed of the rotor reaches a minimum value, the wind turbine enters a recovery period to re-accelerate the rotor to the nominal rotational speed while further contributing to the stability of the electrical......A variable speed wind turbine is arranged to provide additional electrical power to counteract non-periodic disturbances in an electrical grid. A controller monitors events indicating a need to increase the electrical output power from the wind turbine to the electrical grid. The controller...... is arranged to control the wind turbine as follows: after an indicating event has been detected, the wind turbine enters an overproduction period in which the electrical output power is increased, wherein the additional electrical output power is taken from kinetic energy stored in the rotor and without...

Optimum Operational Parameters for Yawed Wind Turbines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David A. Peters

2011-01-01

Full Text Available A set of systematical optimum operational parameters for wind turbines under various wind directions is derived by using combined momentum-energy and blade-element-energy concepts. The derivations are solved numerically by fixing some parameters at practical values. Then, the interactions between the produced power and the influential factors of it are generated in the figures. It is shown that the maximum power produced is strongly affected by the wind direction, the tip speed, the pitch angle of the rotor, and the drag coefficient, which are specifically indicated by figures. It also turns out that the maximum power can take place at two different optimum tip speeds in some cases. The equations derived herein can also be used in the modeling of tethered wind turbines which can keep aloft and deliver energy.

Aerodynamics of wind turbines emerging topics

CERN Document Server

Amano, R S

2014-01-01

Focusing on Aerodynamics of Wind Turbines with topics ranging from Fundamental to Application of horizontal axis wind turbines, this book presents advanced topics including: Basic Theory for Wind turbine Blade Aerodynamics, Computational Methods, and Special Structural Reinforcement Technique for Wind Turbine Blades.

Integrated analysis of wind turbines - The impact of power systems on wind turbine design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barahona Garzón, Braulio

Megawatt-size wind turbines nowadays operate in very complex environmental conditions, and increasingly demanding power system requirements. Pursuing a cost-effective and reliable wind turbine design is a multidisciplinary task. However nowadays, wind turbine design and research areas...... conditions that stem from disturbances in the power system. An integrated simulation environment, wind turbine models, and power system models are developed in order to take an integral perspective that considers the most important aeroelastic, structural, electrical, and control dynamics. Applications...... of the integrated simulation environment are presented. The analysis of an asynchronous machine, and numerical simulations of a fixedspeed wind turbine in the integrated simulation environment, demonstrate the effects on structural loads of including the generator rotor fluxes dynamics in aeroelastic studies. Power...

Equivalent models of wind farms by using aggregated wind turbines and equivalent winds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandez, L.M.; Garcia, C.A.; Saenz, J.R.; Jurado, F.

2009-01-01

As a result of the increasing wind farms penetration on power systems, the wind farms begin to influence power system, and therefore the modeling of wind farms has become an interesting research topic. In this paper, new equivalent models of wind farms equipped with wind turbines based on squirrel-cage induction generators and doubly-fed induction generators are proposed to represent the collective behavior on large power systems simulations, instead of using a complete model of wind farms where all the wind turbines are modeled. The models proposed here are based on aggregating wind turbines into an equivalent wind turbine which receives an equivalent wind of the ones incident on the aggregated wind turbines. The equivalent wind turbine presents re-scaled power capacity and the same complete model as the individual wind turbines, which supposes the main feature of the present equivalent models. Two equivalent winds are evaluated in this work: (1) the average wind from the ones incident on the aggregated wind turbines with similar winds, and (2) an equivalent incoming wind derived from the power curve and the wind incident on each wind turbine. The effectiveness of the equivalent models to represent the collective response of the wind farm at the point of common coupling to grid is demonstrated by comparison with the wind farm response obtained from the detailed model during power system dynamic simulations, such as wind fluctuations and a grid disturbance. The present models can be used for grid integration studies of large power system with an important reduction of the model order and the computation time

Wind turbine supply in Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snodin, H.

2007-01-01

This study reported on wind turbine supplies to the Canadian market. The report was written to address concerns for Canada's supply outlook in the near future due to the booming wind energy market. Turbine shortages have arisen as a result of continued growth in both European and North American markets. Long lead-times on turbine orders are now increasing the pressure to lock in turbine supply during the initial phases of the development process. Future growth of the wind energy industry will be impacted if turbine supply difficulties continue to contribute to uncertainties in the development process. The report provided an overview of the North American and global wind energy markets, as well as a summary of telephone interviews conducted with turbine suppliers. The implications for the future of turbine supply to the Canadian market were also analyzed. It was concluded that policy-makers should focus on supporting the expansion of manufacturing facilities for small wind turbines and control infrastructure in Canada 7 refs., 3 figs

Model Predictive Control of Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henriksen, Lars Christian

Wind turbines play a major role in the transformation from a fossil fuel based energy production to a more sustainable production of energy. Total-cost-of-ownership is an important parameter when investors decide in which energy technology they should place their capital. Modern wind turbines...... the need for maintenance of the wind turbine. Either way, better total-cost-of-ownership for wind turbine operators can be achieved by improved control of the wind turbines. Wind turbine control can be improved in two ways, by improving the model on which the controller bases its design or by improving...

WindPACT Reference Wind Turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dykes, Katherine L [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Rinker, Jennifer [Former National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) employee

2018-04-02

To fully understand how loads and turbine cost scale with turbine size, it is necessary to have identical turbine models that have been scaled to different rated powers. The report presents the WindPACT baseline models, which are a series of four baseline models that were designed to facilitate investigations into the scalings of loads and turbine cost with size. The models have four different rated powers (750 kW, 1.5 MW, 3.0 MW, and 5.0 MW), and each model was designed to its specified rated power using the same design methodology. The models were originally implemented in FAST_AD, the predecessor to NREL's open-source wind turbine simulator FAST, but have yet to be implemented in FAST. This report contains the specifications for all four WindPACT baseline models - including structural, aerodynamic, and control specifications - along with the inherent assumptions and equations that were used to calculate the model parameters. It is hoped that these baseline models will serve as extremely useful resources for investigations into the scalings of costs, loads, or optimization routines.

Wind turbine noise diagnostics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Richarz, W.; Richarz, H.

2009-01-01

This presentation proposed a self-consistent model for broad-band noise emitted from modern wind turbines. The simple source model was consistent with the physics of sound generation and considered the unique features of wind turbines. Although the acoustics of wind turbines are similar to those of conventional propellers, the dimensions of wind turbines pose unique challenges in diagnosing noise emission. The general features of the sound field were deduced. Source motion and source directivity appear to be responsible for amplitude variations. The amplitude modulation is likely to make wind-turbine noise more audible, and may be partly responsible for annoyance that has been reported in the literature. Acoustic array data suggests that broad-band noise is emitted predominantly during the downward sweep of each rotor blade. Source motion and source directivity account for the observed pattern. Rotor-tower interaction effects are of lesser importance. Predicted amplitude modulation ranges from 1 dB to 6dB. 2 refs., 9 figs.

Design and Aero-elastic Simulation of a 5MW Floating Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vita, Luca; Schmidt Paulsen, Uwe; Aagaard Madsen, Helge

2013-01-01

This paper deals with the design of a 5MW floating offshore Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT). The design is based on a new offshore wind turbine concept (DeepWind concept), consisting of a Darrieus rotor mounted on a spar buoy support structure, which is anchored to the sea bed with mooring lines......-DTU. The numerical simulations take into account the fully coupled aerodynamic and hydrodynamic loads on the structure, due to wind, waves and currents. The turbine is tested in operative conditions, at different sea states, selected according to the international offshore standards. The research is part...... of the European project DeepWind (2010-2014), which has been financed by the European Union (FP7-Future Emerging Technologies)....

Motion Performance and Mooring System of a Floating Offshore Wind Turbine

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Jing Zhao; Liang Zhang; Haitao Wu

2012-01-01

The development of offshore wind farms was originally carried out in shallow water areas with fixed (seabed mounted) structures.However,countries with limited shallow water areas require innovative floating platforms to deploy wind turbines offshore in order to harness wind energy to generate electricity in deep seas.The performances of motion and mooring system dynamics are vital to designing a cost effective and durable floating platform.This paper describes a numerical model to simulate dynamic behavior of a new semi-submersible type floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) system.The wind turbine was modeled as a wind block with a certain thrust coefficient,and the hydrodynamics and mooring system dynamics of the platform were calculated by SESAM software.The effect of change in environmental conditions on the dynamic response of the system under wave and wind loading was examined.The results indicate that the semi-submersible concept has excellent performance and SESAM could be an effective tool for floating wind turbine design and analysis.

Motion performance and mooring system of a floating offshore wind turbine

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Jing; Zhang, Liang; Wu, Haitao

2012-09-01

The development of offshore wind farms was originally carried out in shallow water areas with fixed (seabed mounted) structures. However, countries with limited shallow water areas require innovative floating platforms to deploy wind turbines offshore in order to harness wind energy to generate electricity in deep seas. The performances of motion and mooring system dynamics are vital to designing a cost effective and durable floating platform. This paper describes a numerical model to simulate dynamic behavior of a new semi-submersible type floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) system. The wind turbine was modeled as a wind block with a certain thrust coefficient, and the hydrodynamics and mooring system dynamics of the platform were calculated by SESAM software. The effect of change in environmental conditions on the dynamic response of the system under wave and wind loading was examined. The results indicate that the semi-submersible concept has excellent performance and SESAM could be an effective tool for floating wind turbine design and analysis.

Probabilistic Design of Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toft, Henrik Stensgaard

During the last decades, wind turbines have been continuously developed with the aim of maximizing the life cycle benefits (production of electricity) minus the costs of planning, materials, installation, operation & maintenance as well as possible failure. In order to continue this development...... turbines and the central topics considered are statistical load extrapolation of extreme loads during operation and reliability assessment of wind turbine blades. Wind turbines differ from most civil engineering structures by having a control system which highly influences the loading. In the literature......, methods for estimating the extreme load-effects on a wind turbine during operation, where the control system is active, have been proposed. But these methods and thereby the estimated loads are often subjected to a significant uncertainty which influences the reliability of the wind turbine...

On the aerodynamics of variable-geometry oval-trajectory Darrieus wind turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ponta, F.L.; Seminara, J.J.; Otero, A.D. [College of Engineering, University of Buenos Aires, Paseo Colon 850, Buenos Aires C1063ACV (Argentina)

2007-01-15

A new computational model for the aerodynamics of vertical-axis wind turbines is introduced. It is based on the double-multiple streamtube concept and it incorporates the capacity of dealing with rotors whose blades follow oval-trajectories at variable setting-angles. We applied this model to the study of the aerodynamics of an innovative concept in extra-large wind-power plants: the VGOT (variable-geometry oval-trajectory) Darrieus wind turbine. Due to the especial geometric characteristics of the VGOT Darrieus, it was necessary to propose three new non-dimensional parameters to quantify its performance under different wind-conditions: the equivalent power coefficient, the equivalent solidity coefficient and the trajectory efficiency. We show some numerical results testing several rotor configurations working under different wind scenarios. (author)

Wind turbine

Science.gov (United States)

Cheney, Jr., Marvin C.

1982-01-01

A wind turbine of the type having an airfoil blade (15) mounted on a flexible beam (20) and a pitch governor (55) which selectively, torsionally twists the flexible beam in response to wind turbine speed thereby setting blade pitch, is provided with a limiter (85) which restricts unwanted pitch change at operating speeds due to torsional creep of the flexible beam. The limiter allows twisting of the beam by the governor under excessive wind velocity conditions to orient the blades in stall pitch positions, thereby preventing overspeed operation of the turbine. In the preferred embodiment, the pitch governor comprises a pendulum (65,70) which responds to changing rotor speed by pivotal movement, the limiter comprising a resilient member (90) which engages an end of the pendulum to restrict further movement thereof, and in turn restrict beam creep and unwanted blade pitch misadjustment.

Comparison of wind turbines based on power curve analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-02-01

In the study measured power curves for 46 wind turbines were analyzed with the purpose to establish the basis for a consistent comparison of the efficiency of the wind turbines. Emphasis is on wind turbines above 500 kW rated power, with power curves measured after 1994 according to international recommendations. The available power curves fulfilling these requirements were smoothened according to a procedure developed for the purpose in such a way that the smoothened power curves are equally representative as the measured curves. The resulting smoothened power curves are presented in a standardized format for the subsequent processing. Using wind turbine data from the power curve documentation the analysis results in curves for specific energy production (kWh/M{sup 2}/yr) versus specific rotor load (kW/M{sup 2}) for a range of mean wind speeds. On this basis generalized curves for specific annual energy production versus specific rotor load are established for a number of generalized wind turbine concepts. The 46 smoothened standardized power curves presented in the report, the procedure developed to establish them, and the results of the analysis based on them aim at providers of measured power curves as well as users of them including manufacturers, advisors and decision makers. (au)

Load-Direction-Derived Support Structures for Wind Turbines: A Lattice Tower Concept and Preparations for Future Certifications: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jonkman, Jason [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Damiani, Rick R [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Struve, Achim [University of Applied Sciences Flensburg; Faber, Torsten [University of Applied Sciences Flensburg; Ummenhofer, Thomas [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

2017-11-07

The call for more cost-effective and environmentally friendly tower concepts is motivated by tower costs [1] and tower CO2-emission contributions [2], which are high relative to the whole wind turbine system. The proposed rotatable tower concept with yaw bearing at the bottom instead of the top of the tower will provide beneficial economic and environmental impacts to the turbine system. This wind alignment capability indicates a load-direction-derived tower design. By combining this approach with a lattice concept, large material and cost savings for the tower can be achieved. This paper presents a way to analyze and verify the proposed design through aero-servo-elastic simulations, which make future certifications of rotatable tower concepts viable. For this reason, the state-of-the-art, open-source lattice-tower finite-element-method (FEM) module SubDyn [10], developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, has been modified to account for arbitrary member cross-sections. Required changes in the beam element stiffness and mass matrix formulation took place according to an energy method [13]. All validated adaptions will be usable within the aero-servo-elastic simulation framework FAST and are also beneficial for other nonrotatable lattice structures.

New guidelines for wind turbine gearboxes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McNiff, B. [McNiff Light Industry, Blue Hill, ME (United States); Errichello, R. [GEARTECH, Townsend, MT (United States)

1997-12-31

The American Gear Manufacturers Association in cooperation with the American Wind Energy Association will soon be publishing AGMA/AWEA 921-A97 {open_quotes}Recommended Practices for Design and Specification of Gearboxes for Wind Turbine Generator Systems.{close_quotes} Much has been learned about the unique operation and loading of gearboxes in wind turbine applications since the burgeoning of the modern wind turbine industry in the early 1980`s. AGMA/AWEA 921-A97 documents this experience in a manner that provides valuable information to assist gear manufacturers and wind turbine designers, operators, and manufacturers in developing reliable wind turbine gearboxes. The document provides information on procurement specification development, wind turbine architecture, environmental considerations, and gearbox load determination, as well as the design, manufacturing, quality assurance, lubrication, operation and maintenance of wind turbine gearboxes. This paper presents the salient parts of the practices recommended in AGMA/AWEA 921-A97.

Advanced Wind Turbine Program Next Generation Turbine Development Project: June 17, 1997--April 30, 2005

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

GE Wind Energy, LLC

2006-05-01

This document reports the technical results of the Next Generation Turbine Development Project conducted by GE Wind Energy LLC. This project is jointly funded by GE and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.The goal of this project is for DOE to assist the U.S. wind industry in exploring new concepts and applications of cutting-edge technology in pursuit of the specific objective of developing a wind turbine that can generate electricity at a levelized cost of energy of $0.025/kWh at sites with an average wind speed of 15 mph (at 10 m height).

Certificate for Safe Emergency Shutdown of Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wisniewski, Rafal; Svenstrup, Mikael; Pedersen, Andreas Søndergaard

2013-01-01

To avoid damage to a wind turbine in the case of a fault or a large wind gust, a detection scheme for emergency shutdown is developed. Specifically, the concept of a safety envelope is introduced. Within the safety envelope, the system can be shutdown without risking structural damage to the turb...

Small Wind Turbine Technology Assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Avia Aranda, F.; Cruz Cruz, I.

1999-01-01

The result of the study carried out under the scope of the ATYCA project Test Plant of Wind Systems for Isolated Applications, about the state of art of the small wind turbine technology (wind turbines with swept area smaller than 40 m 2 ) is presented. The study analyzes the collected information on 60 models of wind turbines from 23 manufacturers in the worldwide market. Data from Chinese manufacturers, that have a large participation in the total number of small wind turbines in operation, are not included, due to the unavailability of the technical information. (Author) 15 refs

On the aerodynamics of a vertical axis wind turbine wake : An experimental and numerical study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tescione, G.

2016-01-01

THE recent trend in wind energy industry, with the increasing deployment of offshore wind farms, has revived the interest in the concept of a vertical axis wind turbine. The scientific, technological and economical challenges of the next generation of wind turbines indicate that a transformative

Wind Turbine Converter Control Interaction with Complex Wind Farm Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kocewiak, Lukasz Hubert; Hjerrild, Jesper; Bak, Claus Leth

2013-01-01

. The same wind turbine converter control strategy is evaluated in two different wind farms. It is emphasised that the grid-side converter controller should be characterised by sufficient harmonic/noise rejection and adjusted depending on wind farms to which it is connected. Various stability indices......This study presents wind turbine converter stability analysis of wind farms in frequency domain. The interaction between the wind turbine control system and the wind farm structure in wind farms is deeply investigated. Two wind farms (i.e. Horns Rev II and Karnice) are taken into consideration...... in this study. It is shown that wind farm components, such as long high-voltage alternating current cables and park transformers, can introduce significant low-frequency series resonances seen from the wind turbine terminals that can affect wind turbine control system operation and overall wind farm stability...

Noise immission from wind turbines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

The project has dealt with practical ways to reduce the influence of background noise caused by wind acting on the measuring microphones. The uncertainty of measured noise emission (source strength) has been investigated. The main activity was a Round Robin Test involving measurements by five laboratories at the same wind turbine. Each laboratory brought its own instrumentation and performed the measurements and analyses according to their interpretation. The tonality of wind turbine noise is an essential component of the noise impact on the environment. In the present project the uncertainty in the newest existing methods for assessing tonality was investigated. The project included noise propagation measurements in different weather conditions around wind turbines situated in different types of terrain. The results were used to validate a noise propagation model developed in the project. Finally, the project also included a study with listeners evaluating recordings of wind turbine noise. The results are intended as guidance for wind turbine manufacturers in identifying the aspects of wind turbine noise most important to annoyance. (author)

WindPACT Turbine Rotor Design Study: June 2000--June 2002 (Revised)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malcolm, D. J.; Hansen, A. C.

2006-04-01

This report presents the results of the turbine rotor study completed by Global Energy Concepts (GEC) as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's WindPACT (Wind Partnership for Advanced Component Technologies) project. The purpose of the WindPACT project is to identify technology improvements that will enable the cost of energy from wind turbines to fall to a target of 3.0 cents/kilowatt-hour in low wind speed sites. The study focused on different rotor configurations and the effect of scale on those rotors.

Reliability assessment of Wind turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

2015-01-01

Wind turbines can be considered as structures that are in between civil engineering structures and machines since they consist of structural components and many electrical and machine components together with a control system. Further, a wind turbine is not a one-of-a-kind structure...... but manufactured in series production based on many component tests, some prototype tests and zeroseries wind turbines. These characteristics influence the reliability assessment where focus in this paper is on the structural components. Levelized Cost Of Energy is very important for wind energy, especially when...... comparing to other energy sources. Therefore much focus is on cost reductions and improved reliability both for offshore and onshore wind turbines. The wind turbine components should be designed to have sufficient reliability level with respect to both extreme and fatigue loads but also not be too costly...

Floating wind turbine system

Science.gov (United States)

Viterna, Larry A. (Inventor)

2009-01-01

A floating wind turbine system with a tower structure that includes at least one stability arm extending therefrom and that is anchored to the sea floor with a rotatable position retention device that facilitates deep water installations. Variable buoyancy for the wind turbine system is provided by buoyancy chambers that are integral to the tower itself as well as the stability arm. Pumps are included for adjusting the buoyancy as an aid in system transport, installation, repair and removal. The wind turbine rotor is located downwind of the tower structure to allow the wind turbine to follow the wind direction without an active yaw drive system. The support tower and stability arm structure is designed to balance tension in the tether with buoyancy, gravity and wind forces in such a way that the top of the support tower leans downwind, providing a large clearance between the support tower and the rotor blade tips. This large clearance facilitates the use of articulated rotor hubs to reduced damaging structural dynamic loads. Major components of the turbine can be assembled at the shore and transported to an offshore installation site.

CFD analysis of a Darrieus wind turbine

Science.gov (United States)

Niculescu, M. L.; Cojocaru, M. G.; Pricop, M. V.; Pepelea, D.; Dumitrache, A.; Crunteanu, D. E.

2017-07-01

The Darrieus wind turbine has some advantages over the horizontal-axis wind turbine. Firstly, its tip speed ratio is lower than that of the horizontal-axis wind turbine and, therefore, its noise is smaller, privileging their placement near populated areas. Secondly, the Darrieus wind turbine does needs no orientation mechanism with respect to wind direction in contrast to the horizontal-axis wind turbine. However, the efficiency of the Darrieus wind turbine is lower than that of the horizontal-axis wind turbine since its aerodynamics is much more complex. With the advances in computational fluids and computers, it is possible to simulate the Darrieus wind turbine more accurately to understand better its aerodynamics. For these reasons, the present papers deals with the computational aerodynamics of a Darrieus wind turbine applying the state of the art of CFD methods (anisotropic turbulence models, transition from laminar to turbulent, scale adaptive simulation) to better understand its unsteady behavior.

RBI Optimization of Offshore Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ramírez, José G. Rangel; Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

2009-01-01

methods for oil & gas installations, a framework for optimal inspection and maintenance planning of offshore wind turbines is presented. Special aspects for offshore wind turbines considered are the fatigue loading characteristics where usually the wind loading are dominating the wave loading, wake......Wind turbines for electricity production have increased significantly the last years both in production capability and size. This development is expected to continue also in the coming years. Offshore wind turbines with an electricity production of 5-10 MW are planned. Typically, the wind turbine...... support structure is a steel structure consisting of a tower and a monopile, tripod or jacket type foundation. This paper considers aspects of inspection and maintenance planning of fatigue prone details in jacket and tripod type of wind turbine support structures. Based on risk-based inspection planning...

Wind Climate Parameters for Wind Turbine Fatigue Load Assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toft, Henrik Stensgaard; Svenningsen, Lasse; Moser, Wolfgang

2016-01-01

Site-specific assessment of wind turbine design requires verification that the individual wind turbine components can survive the site-specific wind climate. The wind turbine design standard, IEC 61400-1 (third edition), describes how this should be done using a simplified, equivalent wind climate...... climate required by the current design standard by comparing damage equivalent fatigue loads estimated based on wind climate parameters for each 10 min time-series with fatigue loads estimated based on the equivalent wind climate parameters. Wind measurements from Boulder, CO, in the United States...

Life cycle assessment of a floating offshore wind turbine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weinzettel, Jan [Department of Electrotechnology, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Technicka 2, Praha 166 27 (Czech Republic); Charles University in Prague Environment Center, U Krize 8, Prague 158 00 (Czech Republic); Reenaas, Marte; Solli, Christian [Industrial Ecology Programme, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491 Trondheim (Norway); Hertwich, Edgar G. [Industrial Ecology Programme, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491 Trondheim (Norway); Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491 Trondheim (Norway)

2009-03-15

A development in wind energy technology towards higher nominal power of the wind turbines is related to the shift of the turbines to better wind conditions. After the shift from onshore to offshore areas, there has been an effort to move further from the sea coast to the deep water areas, which requires floating windmills. Such a concept brings additional environmental impact through higher material demand. To evaluate additional environmental burdens and to find out whether they can be rebalanced or even offset by better wind conditions, a prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) study of one floating concept has been performed and the results are presented in this paper. A comparison with existing LCA studies of conventional offshore wind power and electricity from a natural gas combined cycle is presented. The results indicate similar environmental impacts of electricity production using floating wind power plants as using non-floating offshore wind power plants. The most important stage in the life cycle of the wind power plants is the production of materials. Credits that are connected to recycling these materials at the end-of-life of the power plant are substantial. (author)

Control of wind turbines with 'Smart' rotors : Proof of concept & LPV subspace identification

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Wingerden, J.W.

2008-01-01

Active control is becoming more and more important for the wind energy community. If we compare the 'old' stall regulated turbines with today's individual pitch controlled turbines we see that the loads can be considerably reduced, leading to lighter or larger turbines. However, limited actuator

Noise from wind turbines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersen, B.; Larsen, P.

1993-01-01

Denmark has 3200 wind turbines with an installed maximum capacity of 418MW. The most important Danish research projects into wind turbine noise and the main results are listed. These date from 1983. Two comprehensive studies are currently in progress. The first is an analytical and empirical investigation of aerodynamic noise from wind turbine rotors and has so far dealt mainly with tip noise. The measurement method, using a hard board mounted microphone on the ground near the turbine, is described. Four different tip designs have been tested. Some examples of reference sound power level spectra for three of the designs are presented. During the past two years a computerbased data acquisition system has been used for real-time determination of sound power levels. The second study, which has just commenced, is on annoyance from wind turbine noise. It will include noise measurements, masking calculations and a social survey on the perceived nuisance. (UK)

Wind Turbine Acoustics

Science.gov (United States)

Hubbard, Harvey H.; Shepherd, Kevin P.

2009-01-01

Wind turbine generators, ranging in size from a few kilowatts to several megawatts, are producing electricity both singly and in wind power stations that encompass hundreds of machines. Many installations are in uninhabited areas far from established residences, and therefore there are no apparent environmental impacts in terms of noise. There is, however, the potential for situations in which the radiated noise can be heard by residents of adjacent neighborhoods, particularly those neighborhoods with low ambient noise levels. A widely publicized incident of this nature occurred with the operation of the experimental Mod-1 2-MW wind turbine, which is described in detail elsewhere. Pioneering studies which were conducted at the Mod-1 site on the causes and remedies of noise from wind turbines form the foundation of much of the technology described in this chapter.

Nonlinear Dynamics of Wind Turbine Wings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Jesper Winther

, large wind turbines become increasingly flexible and dynamically sensitive. This project focuses on the structural analysis of highly flexible wind turbine wings, and the aerodynamic loading of wind turbine wings under large changes in flow field due to elastic deformations and changing wind conditions....

A turn for the better? Innovative concepts for wind turbines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Vries, Eize

2001-01-01

This paper focuses on successful innovation in wind technology and describes the approach of Danish developers using a rigid, non-integrated, gear-driven transmission layout with 3 blades which is often viewed as the basis of the modern wind industry. Recent developments reviewed cover multi-rotor designs, hybrid designs, direct drive technology, variable speed operation, modular systems, high voltage systems, discoidal technology, and the diffuser augmented turbine

Wind turbine technology principles and design

CERN Document Server

Adaramola, Muyiwa

2014-01-01

IntroductionPart I: AerodynamicsWind Turbine Blade Design; Peter J. Schubel and Richard J. CrossleyA Shrouded Wind Turbine Generating High Output Power with Wind-Lens Technology; Yuji Ohya and Takashi KarasudaniEcomoulding of Composite Wind Turbine Blades Using Green Manufacturing RTM Process; Brahim AttafAerodynamic Shape Optimization of a Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine Using Differential Evolution; Travis J. Carrigan, Brian H. Dennis, Zhen X. Han, and Bo P. WangPart II: Generators and Gear Systems

Dynamic modeling and simulation of wind turbines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghafari Seadat, M.H.; Kheradmand Keysami, M.; Lari, H.R.

2002-01-01

Using wind energy for generating electricity in wind turbines is a good way for using renewable energies. It can also help to protect the environment. The main objective of this paper is dynamic modeling by energy method and simulation of a wind turbine aided by computer. In this paper, the equations of motion are extracted for simulating the system of wind turbine and then the behavior of the system become obvious by solving the equations. The turbine is considered with three blade rotor in wind direction, induced generator that is connected to the network and constant revolution for simulation of wind turbine. Every part of the wind turbine should be simulated for simulation of wind turbine. The main parts are blades, gearbox, shafts and generator

Wind Turbine Radar Cross Section

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Jenn

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The radar cross section (RCS of a wind turbine is a figure of merit for assessing its effect on the performance of electronic systems. In this paper, the fundamental equations for estimating the wind turbine clutter signal in radar and communication systems are presented. Methods of RCS prediction are summarized, citing their advantages and disadvantages. Bistatic and monostatic RCS patterns for two wind turbine configurations, a horizontal axis three-blade design and a vertical axis helical design, are shown. The unique electromagnetic scattering features, the effect of materials, and methods of mitigating wind turbine clutter are also discussed.

Wind turbine optimal control during storms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petrović, V; Bottasso, C L

2014-01-01

This paper proposes a control algorithm that enables wind turbine operation in high winds. With this objective, an online optimization procedure is formulated that, based on the wind turbine state, estimates those extremal wind speed variations that would produce maximal allowable wind turbine loads. Optimization results are compared to the actual wind speed and, if there is a danger of excessive loading, the wind turbine power reference is adjusted to ensure that loads stay within allowed limits. This way, the machine can operate safely even above the cut-out wind speed, thereby realizing a soft envelope-protecting cut-out. The proposed control strategy is tested and verified using a high-fidelity aeroservoelastic simulation model

Detection of Wind Evolution and Lidar Trajectory Optimization for Lidar-Assisted Wind Turbine Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Schlipf

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Recent developments in remote sensing are offering a promising opportunity to rethink conventional control strategies of wind turbines. With technologies such as lidar, the information about the incoming wind field - the main disturbance to the system - can be made available ahead of time. Initial field testing of collective pitch feedforward control shows, that lidar measurements are only beneficial if they are filtered properly to avoid harmful control action. However, commercial lidar systems developed for site assessment are usually unable to provide a usable signal for real time control. Recent research shows, that the correlation between the measurement of rotor effective wind speed and the turbine reaction can be modeled and that the model can be used to optimize a scan pattern. This correlation depends on several criteria such as turbine size, position of the measurements, measurement volume, and how the wind evolves on its way towards the rotor. In this work the longitudinal wind evolution is identified with the line-of-sight measurements of a pulsed lidar system installed on a large commercial wind turbine. This is done by staring directly into the inflowing wind during operation of the turbine and fitting the coherence between the wind at different measurement distances to an exponential model taking into account the yaw misalignment, limitation to line-of-sight measurements and the pulse volume. The identified wind evolution is then used to optimize the scan trajectory of a scanning lidar for lidar-assisted feedforward control in order to get the best correlation possible within the constraints of the system. Further, an adaptive filer is fitted to the modeled correlation to avoid negative impact of feedforward control because of uncorrelated frequencies of the wind measurement. The main results of the presented work are a first estimate of the wind evolution in front of operating wind turbines and an approach which manufacturers of

Small Wind Turbine Installation Compatibility Demonstration Methodology

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-01

wind turbine (HAWT) and one 2.9-kW vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT), we planned to measure radar, acoustic and seismic, turbulence, bird and...non-issue for small turbines . The majority of studies of bat and bird interactions with wind turbines are for large turbines (BPA 2002; Whittam...et al. 2010). The majority of studies of bat and bird interactions with wind energy facil- ities are for utility-scale turbines (> 1 MW) with

Megawatt wind turbines gaining momentum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oehlenschlaeger, K.; Madsen, B.T.

1996-01-01

Through the short history of the modern wind turbine, electric utilities have made it amply clear that they have held a preference for large scale wind turbines over smaller ones, which is why wind turbine builders through the years have made numerous attempts develop such machines - machines that would meet the technical, aesthetic and economic demands that a customer would require. Considerable effort was put into developing such wind turbines in the early 1980s. There was the U.S. Department of Energy's MOD 1-5 program, which ranged up to 3.2 MW, Denmark's Nibe A and B, 630 kW turbine and the 2 MW Tjaereborg machine, Sweden's Naesudden, 3 MW, and Germany's Growian, 3 MW. Most of these were dismal failures, though some did show the potential of MW technology. (au)

Overall control strategy of variable speed doubly-fed induction generator wind turbine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, A.D.; Iov, F.; Sørensen, Poul Ejnar

2004-01-01

The variable speed doubly-fed induction generator wind turbine is today the most widely used concept. The paper presents an overall control system of the variable speed DFIG wind turbine, with focus on the control strategies and algorithms applied at each hierarchical control level of the wind tu......-fed induction generator is implemented in the dynamic power system simulation tool DIgSILENT. Simulation results are performed and analyzed in different normal operating conditions....

Wind Turbine With Concentric Ducts

Science.gov (United States)

Muhonen, A. J.

1983-01-01

Wind Turbine device is relatively compact and efficient. Converging inner and outer ducts increase pressure difference across blades of wind turbine. Turbine shaft drives alternator housed inside exit cone. Suitable for installation on such existing structures as water towers, barns, houses, and commercial buildings.

Wind Turbine Acoustic Day 2018

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mogensen, Jesper; Søndergaard, Bo; Hünerbein, Sabine Von

The bi-annual event entitled Wind Turbine Acoustic Day dealing with wind turbine noise issues organized by DTU Wind Energy took place on May, 17th 2018 as its third edition. The abstracts and slides for the presentations are reported....

Structural Reliability Aspects in Design of Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

2007-01-01

Reliability assessment, optimal design and optimal operation and maintenance of wind turbines are an area of significant interest for the fast growing wind turbine industry for sustainable production of energy. Offshore wind turbines in wind farms give special problems due to wake effects inside...... the farm. Reliability analysis and optimization of wind turbines require that the special conditions for wind turbine operation are taken into account. Control of the blades implies load reductions for large wind speeds and parking for high wind speeds. In this paper basic structural failure modes for wind...... turbines are described. Further, aspects are presented related to reliability-based optimization of wind turbines, assessment of optimal reliability level and operation and maintenance....

Wind Predictions Upstream Wind Turbines from a LiDAR Database

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soledad Le Clainche

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This article presents a new method to predict the wind velocity upstream a horizontal axis wind turbine from a set of light detection and ranging (LiDAR measurements. The method uses higher order dynamic mode decomposition (HODMD to construct a reduced order model (ROM that can be extrapolated in space. LiDAR measurements have been carried out upstream a wind turbine at six different planes perpendicular to the wind turbine axis. This new HODMD-based ROM predicts with high accuracy the wind velocity during a timespan of 24 h in a plane of measurements that is more than 225 m far away from the wind turbine. Moreover, the technique introduced is general and obtained with an almost negligible computational cost. This fact makes it possible to extend its application to both vertical axis wind turbines and real-time operation.

Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Blade Design Methodologies for Efficiency Enhancement—A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shafiqur Rehman

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Among renewable sources of energy, wind is the most widely used resource due to its commercial acceptance, low cost and ease of operation and maintenance, relatively much less time for its realization from concept till operation, creation of new jobs, and least adverse effect on the environment. The fast technological development in the wind industry and availability of multi megawatt sized horizontal axis wind turbines has further led the promotion of wind power utilization globally. It is a well-known fact that the wind speed increases with height and hence the energy output. However, one cannot go above a certain height due to structural and other issues. Hence other attempts need to be made to increase the efficiency of the wind turbines, maintaining the hub heights to acceptable and controllable limits. The efficiency of the wind turbines or the energy output can be increased by reducing the cut-in-speed and/or the rated-speed by modifying and redesigning the blades. The problem is tackled by identifying the optimization parameters such as annual energy yield, power coefficient, energy cost, blade mass, and blade design constraints such as physical, geometric, and aerodynamic. The present paper provides an overview of the commonly used models, techniques, tools and experimental approaches applied to increase the efficiency of the wind turbines. In the present review work, particular emphasis is made on approaches used to design wind turbine blades both experimental and numerical, methodologies used to study the performance of wind turbines both experimentally and analytically, active and passive techniques used to enhance the power output from wind turbines, reduction in cut-in-speed for improved wind turbine performance, and lastly the research and development work related to new and efficient materials for the wind turbines.

Vertical axis wind turbines : past initiatives and future prospects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Islam, M.; Fartaj, A.; Ting, D. [Windsor Univ., ON (Canada). Dept. of Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering

2003-08-01

Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT) and Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) are the two categories of modern wind turbines used for producing electricity and pumping water. While their popularity declined in the 1970s and 1980s to more economical fossil fuel resources, many countries have expressed a renewed interest in wind power in response to environmental concerns and energy security. Renewable energy sources supply more than 14 per cent of the total global energy demand, and wind energy plays the biggest role. In 2002, more than $7 billion was invested in wind technology. Canada has been a leader in VAWT technology. In 1966, Engineers at the Low Speed Aerodynamics Laboratory of the National Research Council devised a VAWT configuration with non-adjustable hoop-shaped airfoils that had greater efficiency that conventional high-solidity VAWT. In the early 1980s, a multi-megawatt VAWT was built in Quebec under the auspices of the EOLE project. The EOLE is the largest VAWT in the world. In 1980, Canada's national Atlantic Wind Test Site was developed for the purpose of testing and developing wind technology. Research at this facility has focused on dynamically soft Darrieus rotors, a concept which can reduce structural loads. Early development has shown that although VAWT is slightly less efficient than HAWT, it can be built larger and more cost effectively. This paper presents the outstanding features of VAWT products including the Solwind SW 10/4800 series VAWT, the Chinook 2000 wind turbine, the Ropatec Windrotor, the Windside Turbine, the VAWTEX, the Windstar VAWT, and Windtec. 19 refs., 13 figs.

Type IV Wind Turbine Model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Anca Daniela; Margaris, Ioannis D.

. In the project, this wind turbine model will be further incorporated in a wind power plant model together with the implementation in the wind power control level of the new control functionalities (inertial response, synchronising power and power system damping). For this purpose an aggregate wind power plant......This document is created as part of the EaseWind project. The goal of this project is to develop and investigate new control features for primary response provided by wind power plants. New control features as inertial response, synchronising power and power system damping are of interest to EaseWind...... project to be incorporated in the wind power plant level. This document describes the Type 4 wind turbine simulation model, implemented in the EaseWind project. The implemented wind turbine model is one of the initial necessary steps toward integrating new control services in the wind power plant level...

Cost optimization of wind turbines for large-scale offshore wind farms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuglsang, P.; Thomsen, K.

1998-02-01

This report contains a preliminary investigation of site specific design of off-shore wind turbines for a large off-shore wind farm project at Roedsand that is currently being proposed by ELKRAFT/SEAS. The results were found using a design tool for wind turbines that involve numerical optimization and aeroelastic calculations of response. The wind climate was modeled in detail and a cost function was used to estimate costs from manufacture and installation. Cost of energy is higher for off-shore installations. A comparison of an off-shore wind farm site with a typical stand alone on-shore site showed an increase of the annual production of 28% due to the difference in wind climate. Extreme loads and blade fatigue loads were nearly identical, however,fatigue loads on other main components increased significantly. Optimizations were carried out to find the optimum overall off-shore wind turbine design. A wind turbine for the off-shore wind farm should be different compared with a stand-alone on-shore wind turbine. The overall design changed were increased swept area and rated power combined with reduced rotor speed and tower height. Cost was reduced by 12% for the final 5D/14D off-shore wind turbine from 0.306 DKr/kWh to 0.270 DKr/kWh. These figures include capital costs from manufacture and installation but not on-going costs from maintenance. These results make off-shore wind farms more competitive and comparable to the reference on-shore stand-alone wind turbine. A corresponding reduction of cost of energy could not be found for the stand alone on-shore wind turbine. Furthermore the fatigue loads on wind turbines in on-shore wind farms will increase and cost of energy will increase in favor of off-shore wind farms. (au) EFP-95; EU-JOULE-3; 21 tabs., 7 ills., 8 refs

Wind power production: from the characterisation of the wind resource to wind turbine technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beslin, Guy; Multon, Bernard

2016-01-01

Illustrated by graphs and tables, this article first describes the various factors and means related to the assessment of wind resource in the World, in Europe, and the factors which characterize a local wind resource. In this last respect, the authors indicate how local topography is taken into account to calculate wind speed, how time variations are taken into account (at the yearly, seasonal or daily level), the different methods used to model a local wind resource, how to assess the power recoverable by a wind turbine with horizontal axis (notion of Betz limit). In the second part, the authors present the different wind turbines, their benefits and drawbacks: vertical axis, horizontal axis (examples of a Danish-type wind turbine, of wind turbines designed for extreme conditions). Then, they address the technology of big wind turbines: evolution of technology and of commercial offer, aerodynamic characteristics of wind turbine and benefit of a varying speed (technological solutions, importance of the electric generator). They describe how to choose a wind turbine, how product lines are organised, how the power curve and energy capacity are determined. The issue of integration of wind energy into the power system is then addressed. The next part addressed the economy of wind energy production (annualized production cost, order of magnitude of wind electric power production cost). Future trends are discussed and offshore wind energy production is briefly addressed

Controls of Hydraulic Wind Turbine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhang Yin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper a hydraulic wind turbine generator system was proposed based on analysis the current wind turbines technologies. The construction and principles were introduced. The mathematical model was verified using MATLAB and AMsim. A displacement closed loop of swash plate of motor and a speed closed loop of generator were setup, a PID control is introduced to maintain a constant speed and fixed frequency at wind turbine generator. Simulation and experiment demonstrated that the system can connect grid to generate electric and enhance reliability. The control system demonstrates a high performance speed regulation and effectiveness. The results are great significant to design a new type hydraulic wind turbine system.

Probabilistic Design of Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, John Dalsgaard; Toft, H.S.

2010-01-01

Probabilistic design of wind turbines requires definition of the structural elements to be included in the probabilistic basis: e.g., blades, tower, foundation; identification of important failure modes; careful stochastic modeling of the uncertain parameters; recommendations for target reliability....... It is described how uncertainties in wind turbine design related to computational models, statistical data from test specimens, results from a few full-scale tests and from prototype wind turbines can be accounted for using the Maximum Likelihood Method and a Bayesian approach. Assessment of the optimal...... reliability level by cost-benefit optimization is illustrated by an offshore wind turbine example. Uncertainty modeling is illustrated by an example where physical, statistical and model uncertainties are estimated....

Wind Turbine Generator System Safety and Function Test Report for the Entegrity EW50 Wind Turbine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, J.; Huskey, A.; Jager, D.; Hur, J.

2012-11-01

This report summarizes the results of a safety and function test that NREL conducted on the Entegrity EW50 wind turbine. This test was conducted in accordance with the International Electrotechnical Commissions' (IEC) standard, Wind Turbine Generator System Part 2: Design requirements for small wind turbines, IEC 61400-2 Ed.2.0, 2006-03.

Lightning protection of wind turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soerensen, T; Brask, M H [DEFU (Denmark); Jensen, F V; Raben, N [SEAS (Denmark); Saxov, J [Nordjyllandsvaerket (Denmark); Nielsen, L [Vestkraft (Denmark); Soerensen, P E [Risoe National Lab. (Denmark)

1999-03-01

Lightning damage to wind turbines is a serious problem for Danish power companies, who have experienced some cases with very costly lightning damage and a large number of cases with minor damage. The most costly cases include one catastrophic damage to an entire wind turbine, and several cases of destruction of blades, main bearings, generators and control systems. Over the years there have been several hundreds of cases with minor damage - typically damage and interruptions of the control and communication systems, or the power systems. The Danish power companies anticipate that the lightning threat will be even bigger for the large off-shore wind turbine installations that are currently being planned in Denmark. Furthermore, it is known from the off-shore wind turbines at Vindeby in Denmark that the costs of inspection and particularly repair work must be expected to be much higher off-shore as compared to wind turbines on land. These considerations was the background for a two year project concerned with investigation of lighting damages and with the formulation of a DEFU Recommendation for lightning protection of wind turbines, which was published in January 1999. The project was funded by the Danish power companies Elsam, Eltra, Elkraft and by DEFU. (au)

Advances in wind turbine blade design and materials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wind energy is gaining critical ground in the area of renewable energy, with wind energy being predicted to provide up to 8% of the world’s consumption of electricity by 2021. Advances in wind turbine blade design and materials reviews the design and functionality of wind turbine rotor blades...... as well as the requirements and challenges for composite materials used in both current and future designs of wind turbine blades. Part one outlines the challenges and developments in wind turbine blade design, including aerodynamic and aeroelastic design features, fatigue loads on wind turbine blades......, and characteristics of wind turbine blade airfoils. Part two discusses the fatigue behavior of composite wind turbine blades, including the micromechanical modelling and fatigue life prediction of wind turbine blade composite materials, and the effects of resin and reinforcement variations on the fatigue resistance...

Wind turbine improvements by wind-lidar-based preview and control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mikkelsen, Torben

2014-01-01

Wind turbines equipped with laser prevision hold potential for up to 6+ years lifetime extension. Forward looking wind lidars integrated within operational wind turbines providing feed-forward control can reduce the daily operation loads. The turbine lifetime may in this way be extended by up to 30...

Small power wind turbine (Type DARRIEUS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcel STERE

2012-03-01

Full Text Available This presentation focuses on the calculation for small vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT for an urban application. The fixed-pitch straight – bladed vertical axis wind turbine (SB-VAWT is one of the simplest types of wind turbine and accepts wind from any angle (no yaw system. This turbine is useful for moderate wind speeds (3 - 6 m/s. A case study is presented based upon the use of well documented symmetrical NACA 0012 turbine blade profile. We describe a solution for VAWT. To perform a linear static analysis in the structure, the commercial finite element analysis code ANSYS is used because of its flexibility for handling information in files written in a more or less free format.

Noise from wind turbines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersen, B.; Jakobsen, J.

1992-11-01

Based on a previous project concerning the calculation of the amount of noise emanating from wind turbine arrays, this one examines the subject further by investigating whether there could be significant differences in the amount of noise made by individual wind turbines in an array, and whether the noise is transmitted in varying directions - so that when it is carried in the same direction as the wind blows it would appear to be louder. The aim was also to determine whether the previously used method of calculation lacked precision. It was found that differences in noise niveaux related to individual wind turbines were insignificant and that noise was not so loud when it was not borne in the direction of the wind. It was necessary to change the method of calculation as reckoning should include the influence of the terrain, wind velocity and distance. The measuring and calculation methods are exemplified and the resulting measurements are presented in detail. (AB)

Wind speed reductions by large-scale wind turbine deployments lower turbine efficiencies and set low wind power potentials

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Lee; Kleidon, Axel

2017-04-01

Wind turbines generate electricity by removing kinetic energy from the atmosphere. Large numbers of wind turbines are likely to reduce wind speeds, which lowers estimates of electricity generation from what would be presumed from unaffected conditions. Here, we test how well wind power potentials that account for this effect can be estimated without explicitly simulating atmospheric dynamics. We first use simulations with an atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) that explicitly simulates the effects of wind turbines to derive wind power limits (GCM estimate), and compare them to a simple approach derived from the climatological conditions without turbines [vertical kinetic energy (VKE) estimate]. On land, we find strong agreement between the VKE and GCM estimates with respect to electricity generation rates (0.32 and 0.37 We m-2) and wind speed reductions by 42 and 44%. Over ocean, the GCM estimate is about twice the VKE estimate (0.59 and 0.29 We m-2) and yet with comparable wind speed reductions (50 and 42%). We then show that this bias can be corrected by modifying the downward momentum flux to the surface. Thus, large-scale limits to wind power can be derived from climatological conditions without explicitly simulating atmospheric dynamics. Consistent with the GCM simulations, the approach estimates that only comparatively few land areas are suitable to generate more than 1 We m-2 of electricity and that larger deployment scales are likely to reduce the expected electricity generation rate of each turbine. We conclude that these atmospheric effects are relevant for planning the future expansion of wind power.

On the Fatigue Analysis of Wind Turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sutherland, Herbert J.

1999-06-01

Modern wind turbines are fatigue critical machines that are typically used to produce electrical power from the wind. Operational experiences with these large rotating machines indicated that their components (primarily blades and blade joints) were failing at unexpectedly high rates, which led the wind turbine community to develop fatigue analysis capabilities for wind turbines. Our ability to analyze the fatigue behavior of wind turbine components has matured to the point that the prediction of service lifetime is becoming an essential part of the design process. In this review paper, I summarize the technology and describe the ''best practices'' for the fatigue analysis of a wind turbine component. The paper focuses on U.S. technology, but cites European references that provide important insights into the fatigue analysis of wind turbines.

Alternative Design Study Report: WindPACT Advanced Wind Turbine Drive Train Designs Study; November 1, 2000 -- February 28, 2002

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poore, R.; Lettenmaier, T.

2003-08-01

This report presents the Phase I results of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) WindPACT (Wind Partnership for Advanced Component Technologies) Advanced Wind Turbine Drive Train Designs Study. Global Energy Concepts, LLC performed this work under a subcontract with NREL. The purpose of the WindPACT project is to identify technology improvements that will enable the cost of energy (COE) from wind turbines to be reduced. Other parts of the WindPACT project have examined blade and logistics scaling, balance-of-station costs, and rotor design. This study was designed to investigate innovative drive train designs.

Increasing power generation in horizontal axis wind turbines using optimized flow control

Science.gov (United States)

Cooney, John A., Jr.

In order to effectively realize future goals for wind energy, the efficiency of wind turbines must increase beyond existing technology. One direct method for achieving increased efficiency is by improving the individual power generation characteristics of horizontal axis wind turbines. The potential for additional improvement by traditional approaches is diminishing rapidly however. As a result, a research program was undertaken to assess the potential of using distributed flow control to increase power generation. The overall objective was the development of validated aerodynamic simulations and flow control approaches to improve wind turbine power generation characteristics. BEM analysis was conducted for a general set of wind turbine models encompassing last, current, and next generation designs. This analysis indicated that rotor lift control applied in Region II of the turbine power curve would produce a notable increase in annual power generated. This was achieved by optimizing induction factors along the rotor blade for maximum power generation. In order to demonstrate this approach and other advanced concepts, the University of Notre Dame established the Laboratory for Enhanced Wind Energy Design (eWiND). This initiative includes a fully instrumented meteorological tower and two pitch-controlled wind turbines. The wind turbines are representative in their design and operation to larger multi-megawatt turbines, but of a scale that allows rotors to be easily instrumented and replaced to explore new design concepts. Baseline data detailing typical site conditions and turbine operation is presented. To realize optimized performance, lift control systems were designed and evaluated in CFD simulations coupled with shape optimization tools. These were integrated into a systematic design methodology involving BEM simulations, CFD simulations and shape optimization, and selected experimental validation. To refine and illustrate the proposed design methodology, a

Superconducting Wind Turbine Generators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mijatovic, Nenad

A HTS machine could be a way to address some of the technical barriers offshore wind energy is about to face. Due to the superior power density of HTS machines, this technology could become a milestone on which many, including the wind industry, will rely in the future. The work presented...... in this thesis is a part of a larger endeavor, the Superwind project that focused on identifying the potentials that HTS machines could offer to the wind industry and addressing some of the challenges in the process. In order to identify these challenges, I have design and constructed a HTS machine experimental...... setup which is made to serve as precursor, leading towards an optimized HTS machine concept proposed for wind turbines. In part, the work presented in this thesis will focus on the description of the experimental setup and reasoning behind the choices made during the design. The setup comprises from...

SUSTAINABLE CONCRETE FOR WIND TURBINE FOUNDATIONS.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

BERNDT,M.L.

2004-06-01

The use of wind power to generate electricity continues to grow, especially given commitments by various countries throughout the world to ensure that a significant percentage of energy comes from renewable sources. In order to meet such objectives, increasingly larger turbines with higher capacity are being developed. The engineering aspects of larger turbine development tend to focus on design and materials for blades and towers. However, foundations are also a critical component of large wind turbines and represent a significant cost of wind energy projects. Ongoing wind research at BNL is examining two areas: (a) structural response analysis of wind turbine-tower-foundation systems and (b) materials engineering of foundations. This work is investigating the dynamic interactions in wind turbine systems, which in turn assists the wind industry in achieving improved reliability and more cost efficient foundation designs. The results reported herein cover initial studies of concrete mix designs for large wind turbine foundations and how these may be tailored to reduce cost and incorporate sustainability and life cycle concepts. The approach taken was to investigate material substitutions so that the environmental, energy and CO{sub 2}-impact of concrete could be reduced. The use of high volumes of ''waste'' materials in concrete was examined. These materials included fly ash, blast furnace slag and recycled concrete aggregate. In addition, the use of steel fiber reinforcement as a means to improve mechanical properties and potentially reduce the amount of bar reinforcement in concrete foundations was studied. Four basic mixes were considered. These were: (1) conventional mix with no material substitutions, (2) 50% replacement of cement with fly ash, (3) 50% replacement of cement with blast furnace slag and (4) 25% replacement of cement with fly ash and 25% replacement with blast furnace slag. Variations on these mixes included the addition of 1

Market for wind turbines in italy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

Wind power utilization in Italy has not been very popular until the privatization of the ENEL and introduction of subsidies for private electricity producers. The greatest interest is concentrated around large wind turbines. Therefore the Danish manufacturers with know-how within large wind turbines can establish themselves on the Italian market. Cooperation with one of the four local wind turbine manufacturers is advisable. (EG)

A Comparison on the Dynamics of a Floating Vertical Axis Wind Turbine on Three Different Floating Support Structures

OpenAIRE

Borg, Michael; Collu, Maurizio

2014-01-01

To increase the competitiveness of offshore wind energy in the global energy market, it is necessary to identify optimal offshore wind turbine configurations to deliver the lowest cost of energy. For deep waters where floating wind turbines are the feasible support structure option, the vertical axis wind turbine concept might prove to be one of these optimal configurations. This paper carries out a preliminary investigation into the dynamics of a vertical axis wind turbine coupled with three...

Wind lens technology and its application to wind and water turbine and beyond

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ohya Yuji

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Wind lens is a new type of wind power system consisting of a simple brimmed ring structure that surrounds the rotor causing greater wind to pass through the turbine. As a consequence, the turbine's efficiency of capturing energy from the wind gets dramatically increased. A Wind lens turbine can generate 2–5 times the power of an existing wind turbine given at the same rotor diameter and incoming wind speed. This fluid dynamical effect is also effective in the water. We have developed 1–3 kW Wind lens turbines and a 100 kW Wind lens turbine. In addition to the enhanced output power, Wind lens turbine is quiet. The technology is now used in an offshore experiment with a hexagonal float 18 meters in diameter set off the coast of Hakata Bay in Fukuoka City. Moreover, we are now pursuing larger size Wind lens turbines through multi-rotor design consisting of multiple Wind lens turbines in a same vertical plane to embody larger total power output.

Noise annoyance from wind turbines a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pedersen, Eja

2003-08-01

This study summarises present knowledge on noise perception and annoyances from wind turbines in areas were people live or spend recreation time. There are two main types of noise from a wind turbine: mechanical noise and aerodynamic noise. The aerodynamic noise emits from the rotor blades passing the air. It has a swishing character with a modulation that makes it noticeable from the background noise. This part of the wind turbine noise was found to be the most annoying. Field studies performed among people living in the vicinity of wind turbines showed that there was a correlation between sound pressure level and noise annoyance, but annoyance was also influenced by visual factors such as the attitude to wind turbines' impact on the landscape. Noise annoyance was found at lower sound pressure levels than in studies of annoyance from traffic noise. There is no scientific evidence that noise at levels created by wind turbines could cause health problems other than annoyance. No studies on noise from wind turbines in wilderness areas have been found, but the reaction to other noise sources such as aircraft have been studied. In recreational areas, the expectation of quietness is high among visitors, but wind turbines are, in contrary to aircraft, stationary and could be avoided by recreationists. The visual impact of wind turbines might though be the dominant source of annoyance. Regulations on noise from wind turbines are based on different principles. Some states, e.g. Denmark, have a special legislation concerning wind turbines, while others, like Sweden, have used recommendations originally developed for a different noise source. The noise level could either be absolute, as in Germany, or related to the background noise level as in France. This background noise level could be standardised, measured or related to wind speed

Vertical axis wind turbine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Obretenov, V.; Tsalov, T.; Chakarov, T.

2012-01-01

In recent years, the interest in wind turbines with vertical axis noticeably increased. They have some important advantages: low cost, relatively simple structure, reliable packaging system of wind aggregate long period during which require no maintenance, low noise, independence of wind direction, etc.. The relatively low efficiency, however, makes them applicable mainly for small facilities. The work presents a methodology and software for approximately aerodynamic design of wind turbines of this type, and also analyzed the possibility of improving the efficiency of their workflow

Sound wave contours around wind turbine arrays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Beek, A.; Van Blokland, G.J.

1993-02-01

Noise pollution is an important factor in selecting suitable sites for wind turbines in order to realize 1000 MW of wind power as planned by the Dutch government for the year 2000. Therefore an accurate assessment of wind turbine noise is important. The amount of noise pollution from a wind turbine depends on the wind conditions. An existing standard method to assess wind turbine noise is supplemented and adjusted. In the first part of the investigation the method was developed and applied for a solitary sound source. In the second part attention is paid to the use of the method for wind turbine arrays. It appears that the adjusted method results in a shift of the contours of the permitted noise level. In general the contours are 15-25% closer to the wind farm, which means that the minimal permitted distance between houses and wind turbine arrays can be reduced. 14 figs., 1 tab., 4 appendices, 7 refs

Superconductivity for Large Scale Wind Turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

R. Fair; W. Stautner; M. Douglass; R. Rajput-Ghoshal; M. Moscinski; P. Riley; D. Wagner; J. Kim; S. Hou; F. Lopez; K. Haran; J. Bray; T. Laskaris; J. Rochford; R. Duckworth

2012-10-12

A conceptual design has been completed for a 10MW superconducting direct drive wind turbine generator employing low temperature superconductors for the field winding. Key technology building blocks from the GE Wind and GE Healthcare businesses have been transferred across to the design of this concept machine. Wherever possible, conventional technology and production techniques have been used in order to support the case for commercialization of such a machine. Appendices A and B provide further details of the layout of the machine and the complete specification table for the concept design. Phase 1 of the program has allowed us to understand the trade-offs between the various sub-systems of such a generator and its integration with a wind turbine. A Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) analysis have been completed resulting in the identification of high risk components within the design. The design has been analyzed from a commercial and economic point of view and Cost of Energy (COE) calculations have been carried out with the potential to reduce COE by up to 18% when compared with a permanent magnet direct drive 5MW baseline machine, resulting in a potential COE of 0.075 $/kWh. Finally, a top-level commercialization plan has been proposed to enable this technology to be transitioned to full volume production. The main body of this report will present the design processes employed and the main findings and conclusions.

Wake characteristics of wind turbines in utility-scale wind farms

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xiaolei; Foti, Daniel; Sotiropoulos, Fotis

2017-11-01

The dynamics of turbine wakes is affected by turbine operating conditions, ambient atmospheric turbulent flows, and wakes from upwind turbines. Investigations of the wake from a single turbine have been extensively carried out in the literature. Studies on the wake dynamics in utility-scale wind farms are relatively limited. In this work, we employ large-eddy simulation with an actuator surface or actuator line model for turbine blades to investigate the wake dynamics in utility-scale wind farms. Simulations of three wind farms, i.e., the Horns Rev wind farm in Denmark, Pleasant Valley wind farm in Minnesota, and the Vantage wind farm in Washington are carried out. The computed power shows a good agreement with measurements. Analysis of the wake dynamics in the three wind farms is underway and will be presented in the conference. This work was support by Xcel Energy (RD4-13). The computational resources were provided by National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Introduction to wind turbine aerodynamics

CERN Document Server

Schaffarczyk, Alois Peter

2014-01-01

Wind-Turbine Aerodynamics is a self-contained textbook which shows how to come from the basics of fluid mechanics to modern wind turbine blade design. It presents a fundamentals of fluid dynamics and inflow conditions, and gives a extensive introduction into theories describing the aerodynamics of wind turbines. After introducing experiments the book applies the knowledge to explore the impact on blade design.The book is an introduction for professionals and students of very varying levels.

Detection of aeroacoustic sound sources on aircraft and wind turbines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oerlemans, S.

2009-01-01

This thesis deals with the detection of aeroacoustic sound sources on aircraft and wind turbines using phased microphone arrays. First, the reliability of the array technique is assessed using airframe noise measurements in open and closed wind tunnels. It is demonstrated that quantitative acoustic measurements are possible in both wind tunnels. Then, the array technique is applied to characterize the noise sources on two modern large wind turbines. It is shown that practically all noise emitted to the ground is produced by the outer part of the blades during their downward movement. This asymmetric source pattern, which causes the typical swishing noise during the passage of the blades, can be explained by trailing edge noise directivity and convective amplification. Next, a semi-empirical prediction method is developed for the noise from large wind turbines. The prediction code is successfully validated against the experimental results, not only with regard to sound levels, spectra, and directivity, but also with regard to the noise source distribution in the rotor plane and the temporal variation in sound level (swish). The validated prediction method is then applied to calculate wind turbine noise footprints, which show that large swish amplitudes can occur even at large distance. The influence of airfoil shape on blade noise is investigated through acoustic wind tunnel tests on a series of wind turbine airfoils. Measurements are carried out at various wind speeds and angles of attack, with and without upstream turbulence and boundary layer tripping. The speed dependence, directivity, and tonal behaviour are determined for both trailing edge noise and inflow turbulence noise. Finally, two noise reduction concepts are tested on a large wind turbine: acoustically optimized airfoils and trailing edge serrations. Both blade modifications yield a significant trailing edge noise reduction at low frequencies, but also cause increased tip noise at high frequencies

Cooperative wind turbine control for maximizing wind farm power using sequential convex programming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Jinkyoo; Law, Kincho H.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • The continuous wake model describes well the wake profile behind a wind turbine. • The wind farm power function describes well the power production of a wind farm. • Cooperative control increases the wind farm power efficiency by 7.3% in average. • SCP can be employed to efficiently optimize the control actions of wind turbines. - Abstract: This paper describes the use of a cooperative wind farm control approach to improve the power production of a wind farm. The power production by a downstream wind turbine can decrease significantly due to reduced wind speed caused by the upstream wind turbines, thereby lowering the overall wind farm power production efficiency. In spite of the interactions among the wind turbines, the conventional (greedy) wind turbine control strategy tries to maximize the power of each individual wind turbine by controlling its yaw angle, its blade pitch angle and its generator torque. To maximize the overall wind farm power production while taking the wake interference into account, this study employs a cooperative control strategy. We first derive the wind farm power as a differentiable function of the control actions for the wind turbines in a wind farm. The wind farm power function is then maximized using sequential convex programming (SCP) to determine the optimum coordinated control actions for the wind turbines. Using an example wind farm site and available wind data, we show how the cooperative control strategy improves the power production of the wind farm

A process for providing positive primary control power by wind turbines

Science.gov (United States)

Marschner, V.; Michael, J.; Liersch, J.

2014-12-01

Due to the increasing share of wind energy in electricity generation, wind turbines have to fulfil additional requirements in the context of grid integration. The paper examines to which extent wind turbines can provide positive control power following the related grid code. The additional power has to be obtained from the rotating flywheel mass of the wind turbine's rotor. A simple physical model is developed that allows to draw conclusions about appropriate concepts by means of a dynamic simulation of the variables rotational speed, torque, power output and rotor power. The paper discusses scenarios to provide control power. The supply of control power at partial load is examined in detail using simulations. Under partial load conditions control power can be fed into the grid for a short time. Thereby the rotational speed drops so that aerodynamic efficiency decreases and feed-in power is below the initial value after the control process. In this way an unfavourable situation for the grid control is produced, therefore the paper proposes a modified partial load condition with a higher rotational speed. By providing primary control power the rotor is delayed to the optimum rotational speed so that more rotational energy can be fed in and fed-in power can be increased persistently. However, as the rotor does not operate at optimum speed, a small amount of the energy yield is lost. Finally, the paper shows that a wind farm can combine these two concepts: A part of the wind turbines work under modified partial load conditions can compensate the decrease of power of the wind turbines working under partial load conditions. Therefore the requested control power is provided and afterwards the original value of power is maintained.

Meteorological Controls on Wind Turbine Wakes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barthelmie, Rebecca J.; Hansen, Kurt Schaldemose; Pryor, S.C.

2013-01-01

, modeling, and predicting this complex and interdependent system is therefore critical to understanding and modeling wind farm power losses due to wakes, and to optimizing wind farm layout. This paper quantifies the impact of these variables on the power loss due to wakes using data from the large offshore......The primary control on the magnitude of the power losses induced by wind turbine wakes in large wind farms is the hub-height wind speed via its link to the turbine thrust coefficient. Hence, at low to moderate wind speeds (between cut-in and rated turbine wind speeds) when the thrust coefficient...

Damping Wind and Wave Loads on a Floating Wind Turbine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Søren; Bak, Thomas; Knudsen, Torben

2013-01-01

Offshore wind energy capitalizes on the higher and less turbulent wind speeds at sea. To enable deployment of wind turbines in deep-water locations, structures are being explored, where wind turbines are placed on a floating platform. This combined structure presents a new control problem, due......, and we show the influence that both wind speed, wave frequencies and misalignment between wind and waves have on the system dynamics. A new control model is derived that extends standard turbine models to include the hydrodynamics, additional platform degrees of freedom, the platform mooring system...

Smart Wind Turbine: Analysis and Autonomous Flap

OpenAIRE

Bernhammer, L.O.

2015-01-01

Wind turbines convert kinetic energy of the wind into electrical energy. Unfortunately, this process is everything but constant, as the wind source shows large fluctuations with high and low frequencies. This turbulence, together with the wind shear and yawed inflow, excites the turbine structure, thereby driving the loads and the design of turbines in general and blades in particular. In response to this, several control mechanisms have been applied to wind turbines since the generation of s...

Materials for Wind Turbine Blades: An Overview

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mishnaevsky, Leon; Branner, Kim; Petersen, Helga Nørgaard

2017-01-01

A short overview of composite materials for wind turbine applications is presented here. Requirements toward the wind turbine materials, loads, as well as available materials are reviewed. Apart from the traditional composites for wind turbine blades (glass fibers/epoxy matrix composites), natural...... composites, hybrid and nanoengineered composites are discussed. Manufacturing technologies for wind turbine composites, as well their testing and modelling approaches are reviewed....

Materials for Wind Turbine Blades: An Overview.

Science.gov (United States)

Mishnaevsky, Leon; Branner, Kim; Petersen, Helga Nørgaard; Beauson, Justine; McGugan, Malcolm; Sørensen, Bent F

2017-11-09

A short overview of composite materials for wind turbine applications is presented here. Requirements toward the wind turbine materials, loads, as well as available materials are reviewed. Apart from the traditional composites for wind turbine blades (glass fibers/epoxy matrix composites), natural composites, hybrid and nanoengineered composites are discussed. Manufacturing technologies for wind turbine composites, as well their testing and modelling approaches are reviewed.

Wind Turbine Generator System Safety and Function Test Report for the Southwest Windpower H40 Wind Turbine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

van Dam, J.; Link, H.; Meadors, M.; Bianchi, J.

2002-06-01

The objective of this test was to evaluate the safety and function characteristics of the Whisper H40 wind turbine. The general requirements of wind turbine safety and function tests are defined in the IEC standard WT01. The testing was conducted in accordance with the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) Quality Assurance System, including the NWTC Certification Team Certification Quality Manual and the NWTC Certification Team General Quality Manual for the Testing of Wind Turbines, as well as subordinate documents. This safety and function test was performed as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Field Verification Program for small wind turbines.

Reliability Assessment Of Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

2014-01-01

Reduction of cost of energy for wind turbines are very important in order to make wind energy competitive compared to other energy sources. Therefore the turbine components should be designed to have sufficient reliability but also not be too costly (and safe). This paper presents models...... for uncertainty modeling and reliability assessment of especially the structural components such as tower, blades, substructure and foundation. But since the function of a wind turbine is highly dependent on many electrical and mechanical components as well as a control system also reliability aspects...... of these components are discussed and it is described how there reliability influences the reliability of the structural components. Two illustrative examples are presented considering uncertainty modeling, reliability assessment and calibration of partial safety factors for structural wind turbine components exposed...

Gone with the wind? The impact of wind turbines on tourism demand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Broekel, Tom; Alfken, Christoph

2015-01-01

While wind energy production is relatively free from environmental externalities such as air pollution, it is frequently considered to negatively impact landscapes' visual aesthetic values, thereby inducing negative effects on tourism demand. Existing evidence for Germany indeed points towards a negative relationship between tourism demand and wind turbine construction. However, the existing studies primarily rely on interview data and simple bivariate statistics. In contrast, we make use of secondary statistics on tourism and wind turbine locations at the level of German municipalities. Using spatial panel regression techniques, we confirm a negative relation between wind turbines around municipalities and tourism demand for municipalities not located near the coast. In the latter regions, the relation between wind turbines and tourism demand is more complex. - Highlights: • Comprehensive quantitative empirical study on wind turbines and tourism demand. • Consideration of wind turbines in vacation municipalities and in their geographic surroundings. • Novel data set on wind turbines and touristic demand in all German municipalities. • Application of spatial panel analysis in the context of tourism research. • Evidence for a negative relationship between wind turbines and tourism demand.

Prototype bucket foundation for wind turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ibsen, Lars Bo; Liingaard, Morten

The first full scale prototype bucket foundation for wind turbines has been installed in October 2002 at Aalborg University offshore test facility in Frederikshavn, Denmark. The suction caisson and the wind turbine have been equipped with an online monitoring system, consisting of 15 accelerometers...... and a real-time data-acquisition system. The report concerns the in service performance of the wind turbine, with focus on estimation of the natural frequencies of the structure/foundation. The natural frequencies are initially estimated by means of experimental Output-only Modal analysis. The experimental...... estimates are then compared with numerical simulations of the suction caisson foundation and the wind turbine. The numerical model consists of a finite element section for the wind turbine tower and nacelle. The soil-structure interaction of the soil-foundation section is modelled by lumped-parameter models...

Tornado type wind turbines

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Cheng-Ting

1984-01-01

A tornado type wind turbine has a vertically disposed wind collecting tower with spaced apart inner and outer walls and a central bore. The upper end of the tower is open while the lower end of the structure is in communication with a wind intake chamber. An opening in the wind chamber is positioned over a turbine which is in driving communication with an electrical generator. An opening between the inner and outer walls at the lower end of the tower permits radially flowing air to enter the space between the inner and outer walls while a vertically disposed opening in the wind collecting tower permits tangentially flowing air to enter the central bore. A porous portion of the inner wall permits the radially flowing air to interact with the tangentially flowing air so as to create an intensified vortex flow which exits out of the top opening of the tower so as to create a low pressure core and thus draw air through the opening of the wind intake chamber so as to drive the turbine.

OffWindSolver: Wind farm design tool based on actuator line/actuator disk concept in OpenFoam architecture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Panjwani Balram

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Wind energy is a good alternative to meet the energy requirements in some parts of the world; however the efficiency of wind farm depends on the optimized location of the wind turbines. Therefore a software tool that is capable of predicting the in-situ performance of multiple turbine installations in different operating conditions with reliable accuracy is needed. In present study wind farm layout design tool OffWindSolver is developed within the OpenFoam architecture. Unsteady PisoFoam solver is extended to account for wind turbines, where each turbine is modeled as a sink term in the momentum equation. Turbine modeling is based on actuator line concepts derived from SOWFA code, where each blade of the turbine is represented as a line. The loading on each line/blade of the turbine is estimated using the Blade Element Method (BEM. The inputs for the solver are tabulated airfoil aerodynamic data, dimension and height of the wind turbines, wind magnitude and direction. OffWindSolver is validated for a real wind farm – Lillgrund offshore facility in Sweden/Denmark operated by Vattenfall Vindkraft AB. Because of the scale of the computation, we only examine the effect of wind from one direction at one speed. In the absence of time dependent Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer (MABL, a log wind profile with surface roughness of 0.04 is used at the inlet. The simulated power production of each turbine is compared to the field data and large-eddy simulation. The overall power of the wind farm is well predicted. The simulation shows the significant decreases of the power for those turbines that were in the wake.

Aeroservoelasticity of Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kallesøe, Bjarne Skovmose

2007-01-01

This thesis deals with the fundamental aeroelastic interaction between structural motion, Pitch action and control for a wind turbine blade. As wind turbines become larger, the interaction between pitch action, blade motion, aerodynamic forces, and control become even more important to understand......, and furthermore linear and therefore suitable for control design. The development of the primary aeroelastic blade model is divided into four steps: 1) Nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs) of structural blade motion are derived together with equations of pitch action and rotor speed; the individual...... to a 2D blade section model, and it can be used instead of this in many applications, giving a transparent connection to a real wind turbine blade. In this work the aeroelastic blade model is used to analyze interaction between pitch action, blade motion and wind speed variations. Furthermore the model...

Siemens Wind Power 3.6 MW wind turbines for large offshore wind farms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akhmatov, Vladislav; Nygaard Nielsen, Joergen; Thisted, Jan; Groendahl, Erik; Egedal, Per; Noertoft Frydensbjerg, Michael; Jensen, Kim Hoej [Siemens Wind Power A/S, Brande (Denmark)

2008-07-01

Siemens Wind power A/S is the key player on the offshore wind power market. The Siemens Wind Power 3.6 MW variable-speed wind turbine is among the word's largest, most advanced and competitive wind turbines with a solid portfolio of large offshore wind farms. Transmission system operators and developers require dynamic wind turbine models for evaluation of fault-ride-through capability and investigations of power system stability. The even larger size of the on- and offshore wind farms has entailed that the grid impact of the voltage and frequency control capability of the wind farm can be appropriated modelled and evaluated. Siemens Wind Power has developed a dynamic model of the 3.6 MW variable-speed wind turbine with the fault-ride-through sequences and models of the voltage and frequency controllers to be applied for large offshore wind farms. The dynamic models have been implemented in the commercially available simulation tools such as DIgSILENT PowerFactory and Siemens PTI PSS/E and successfully validated from measurements. (orig.)

Wind turbine with lightning protection system

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2016-01-01

The present invention relates to a wind turbine comprising a lightning protection system comprising a waveguide interconnecting a communication device and a signal-carrying structure. In other aspects, the present invention relates to the use of a waveguide in a lightning protection system...... of a wind turbine, a power splitter and its use in a lightning protection system of a wind turbine....

Optimal Structural Reliability of Offshore Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, John Dalsgaard; Tarp-Johansen, N.J.

2005-01-01

The main failure modes of modern large wind turbines are fatigue failure of wings, hub, shaft and main tower, local buckling of main tower, and failure of the foundation. This paper considers reliability-based optimal design of wind turbines. Compared to onshore wind turbines and building...... structures, humans spent little time in the vicinity of offshore wind turbines and the probability of human injury during storm conditions is small. Further environmental pollution will also in general be small in case of failure. One could therefore argue that the reliability level of offshore wind turbines...... can be lower than for onshore wind turbines and other civil engineering structures and can be assessed by reliability-based cost-optimization. Specifically this paper considers the main tower and foundation. Both fatigue and ultimate strength failure modes are included. Different formulations...

Design of Wind Turbine Vibration Monitoring System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shoubin Wang

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In order to ensure safety of wind turbine operation and to reduce the occurrence of faults as well as to improve the reliability of wind turbine operation, a vibration monitoring for wind turbine is developed. In this paper, it analyses the enlargement of all the parts of the structure and the working mechanism, the research method of wind turbine operation vibration is introduced, with the focus being the use of the sensor principle. Finally the hardware design and software of this system is introduced and the main function of this system is described, which realizes condition monitoring of the work state of wind turbines.

Robust, Gain-Scheduled Control of Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Østergaard, Kasper Zinck

Wind turbines are today large and efficient machines, which are combined into wind farms operating on par with conventional power plants. When looking back, this is significantly different from the status only a few years ago, when wind turbines were sold mainly to private people. This change...... in turbine owners has resulted in a new focus on operational reliability instead of turbine size. This research deals with investigating model-based gain-scheduling control of wind turbines by use of linear parameter varying (LPV) methods. The numerical challenges grow quickly with the model size...

Progress in wind tunnel experimental techniques for wind turbine?

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Jingping XIAO; Li CHEN; Qiang WANG; Qiao WANG

2016-01-01

Based on the unsteady aerodynamics experiment (UAE) phase VI and the model experiment in controlled conditions (MEXICO) projects and the related research carried out in China Aerodynamic Research and Development Center (CARDC), the recent progress in the wind tunnel experimental techniques for the wind turbine is sum-marized. Measurement techniques commonly used for di?erent types of wind tunnel ex-periments for wind turbine are reviewed. Important research achievements are discussed, such as the wind tunnel disturbance, the equivalence of the airfoil in?ow condition, the three-dimensional (3D) e?ect, the dynamic in?ow in?uence, the ?ow ?eld structure, and the vortex induction. The corresponding research at CARDC and some ideas on the large wind turbine are also introduced.

A spinner-integrated wind lidar for enhanced wind turbine control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mikkelsen, Torben; Angelou, Nikolas; Hansen, Kasper Hjorth

2013-01-01

A field test with a continuous wave wind lidar (ZephIR) installed in the rotating spinner of a wind turbine for unimpeded preview measurements of the upwind approaching wind conditions is described. The experimental setup with the wind lidar on the tip of the rotating spinner of a large 80 m roto...... of the spinner lidar data, is investigated. Finally, the potential for enhancing turbine control and performance based on wind lidar preview measurements in combination with feed-forward enabled turbine controllers is discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd....

Sandia SWiFT Wind Turbine Manual.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

White, Jonathan; LeBlanc, Bruce Philip; Berg, Jonathan Charles; Bryant, Joshua; Johnson, Wesley D.; Paquette, Joshua

2016-01-01

The Scaled Wind Farm Technology (SWiFT) facility, operated by Sandia National Laboratories for the U.S. Department of Energy's Wind and Water Power Program, is a wind energy research site with multiple wind turbines scaled for the experimental study of wake dynamics, advanced rotor development, turbine control, and advanced sensing for production-scale wind farms. The SWiFT site currently includes three variable-speed, pitch-regulated, three-bladed wind turbines. The six volumes of this manual provide a detailed description of the SWiFT wind turbines, including their operation and user interfaces, electrical and mechanical systems, assembly and commissioning procedures, and safety systems. Further dissemination only as authorized to U.S. Government agencies and their contractors; other requests shall be approved by the originating facility or higher DOE programmatic authority. 111 UNCLASSIFIED UNLIMITED RELEASE Sandia SWiFT Wind Turbine Manual (SAND2016-0746 ) approved by: Department Manager SWiFT Site Lead Dave Minster (6121) Date Jonathan White (6121) Date SWiFT Site Supervisor Dave Mitchell (6121) Date Note: Document revision logs are found after the title page of each volume of this manual. iv

Can road traffic mask sound from wind turbines? Response to wind turbine sound at different levels of road traffic sound

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pedersen, Eja; Berg, Frits van den; Bakker, Roel; Bouma, Jelte

2010-01-01

Wind turbines are favoured in the switch-over to renewable energy. Suitable sites for further developments could be difficult to find as the sound emitted from the rotor blades calls for a sufficient distance to residents to avoid negative effects. The aim of this study was to explore if road traffic sound could mask wind turbine sound or, in contrast, increases annoyance due to wind turbine noise. Annoyance of road traffic and wind turbine noise was measured in the WINDFARMperception survey in the Netherlands in 2007 (n=725) and related to calculated levels of sound. The presence of road traffic sound did not in general decrease annoyance with wind turbine noise, except when levels of wind turbine sound were moderate (35-40 dB(A) Lden) and road traffic sound level exceeded that level with at least 20 dB(A). Annoyance with both noises was intercorrelated but this correlation was probably due to the influence of individual factors. Furthermore, visibility and attitude towards wind turbines were significantly related to noise annoyance of modern wind turbines. The results can be used for the selection of suitable sites, possibly favouring already noise exposed areas if wind turbine sound levels are sufficiently low.

Grid Compatibility of Variable Speed Wind Turbines with Directly Coupled Synchronous Generator and Hydro-Dynamically Controlled Gearbox

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mueller, H.; Poeller, M. [DIgSILENT GmbH, 72810 Gomaringen (Germany); Basteck, A.; Tilscher, M.; Pfister, J. [Voith Turbo GmbH and Co. KG, 74564 Crailsheim (Germany)

2006-07-01

This paper analyzes grid integration aspects of a new type of variable-speed wind turbine, the directly coupled synchronous generator with hydro-dynamically controlled gearbox. In contrast to existing wind generators using synchronous generators, the generator of this concept is directly connected to the AC grid, without the application of any power electronics converter. Variable speed operation of the turbine is mechanically achieved by a gear box with continuously controllable variable gear box ratio. For this purpose, a detailed dynamic model of a 2 MW wind turbine with a Voith WinDrive has been implemented using the modelling environment of the simulation software DIgSILENT PowerFactory. For investigating grid compatibility aspects of this new wind generator concept, a model of a 50 MW wind farm, with typical layout, based on 25 wind turbines of the 2 MW-class has been analyzed. This paper focuses on the compatibility of the new concept with existing connection standards, such as the E.ON grid code. Of special interest are typical stability phenomena of synchronous generators, such as transient and oscillatory stability as well as power quality issues like voltage flicker. The results of stability studies are presented and possible advantages of the new concept with special focus on offshore applications are discussed.

Concurrent Aeroservoelastic Design and Optimization of Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tibaldi, Carlo

This work develops and investigates methods to integrate controllers in the wind turbine design process and to perform wind turbine optimization. These techniques can exploit the synergy between wind turbine components and generate new design solutions. Two frameworks to perform wind turbine...... optimization design are presented. These tools handle workflows to model a wind turbine and to evaluate loads and performances under specific conditions. Three approaches to evaluate loads are proposed and integrated in the optimization codes. The first method is based on time domain simulations, the second...... simulations, allows the selection of any controller parameter. The methods to evaluate loads and the pole-placement technique are then employed to carry out wind turbine optimization design from an aeroservoelastic prospective. Several analysis of the NREL 5 MW Reference Wind Turbine and the DTU 10 MW...

A 200-kW wind turbine generator conceptual design study

Science.gov (United States)

1979-01-01

A conceptual design study was conducted to define a 200 kW wind turbine power system configuration for remote applications. The goal was to attain an energy cost of 1 to 2 cents per kilowatt-hour at a 14-mph site (mean average wind velocity at an altitude of 30 ft.) The costs of the Clayton, New Mexico, Mod-OA (200-kW) were used to identify the components, subsystems, and other factors that were high in cost and thus candidates for cost reduction. Efforts devoted to developing component and subsystem concepts and ideas resulted in a machine concept that is considerably simpler, lighter in weight, and lower in cost than the present Mod-OA wind turbines. In this report are described the various innovations that contributed to the lower cost and lighter weight design as well as the method used to calculate the cost of energy.

Design of a New Foundation for Offshore Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ibsen, Lars Bo; Brincker, Rune

2004-01-01

was installed at the test field in Frederikshavn in late 2003, with a 3 MW wind turbine in normal operation. The R&D work is continued the complete the bucket concept and having the design standards for the construction and installation methodologies recognised. The design saves about half of the steel weight...... as compared to a traditional pile foundation, it is much easier to install and it can easily be removed when the wind turbine is taken down. However, the new design is suffering from uncertainties in the accumulated fatigue in the both the steel structure and the surrounding earth material. Therefore an on......The gravitation platform and the monopile have in the previous major offshore wind turbine projects been dominating. A four-year research and development project has proven the bucket foundation to be feasible in suitable soil condition in water depth from near shore to app. 40 meters. A prototype...

Vertical axis wind turbines

Science.gov (United States)

Krivcov, Vladimir [Miass, RU; Krivospitski, Vladimir [Miass, RU; Maksimov, Vasili [Miass, RU; Halstead, Richard [Rohnert Park, CA; Grahov, Jurij [Miass, RU

2011-03-08

A vertical axis wind turbine is described. The wind turbine can include a top ring, a middle ring and a lower ring, wherein a plurality of vertical airfoils are disposed between the rings. For example, three vertical airfoils can be attached between the upper ring and the middle ring. In addition, three more vertical airfoils can be attached between the lower ring and the middle ring. When wind contacts the vertically arranged airfoils the rings begin to spin. By connecting the rings to a center pole which spins an alternator, electricity can be generated from wind.

'Wind turbine syndrome': fact or fiction?

Science.gov (United States)

Farboud, A; Crunkhorn, R; Trinidade, A

2013-03-01

Symptoms, including tinnitus, ear pain and vertigo, have been reported following exposure to wind turbine noise. This review addresses the effects of infrasound and low frequency noise and questions the existence of 'wind turbine syndrome'. This review is based on a search for articles published within the last 10 years, conducted using the PubMed database and Google Scholar search engine, which included in their title or abstract the terms 'wind turbine', 'infrasound' or 'low frequency noise'. There is evidence that infrasound has a physiological effect on the ear. Until this effect is fully understood, it is impossible to conclude that wind turbine noise does not cause any of the symptoms described. However, many believe that these symptoms are related largely to the stress caused by unwanted noise exposure. There is some evidence of symptoms in patients exposed to wind turbine noise. The effects of infrasound require further investigation.

Status of large scale wind turbine technology development abroad?

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Ye LI; Lei DUAN

2016-01-01

To facilitate the large scale (multi-megawatt) wind turbine development in China, the foreign e?orts and achievements in the area are reviewed and summarized. Not only the popular horizontal axis wind turbines on-land but also the o?shore wind turbines, vertical axis wind turbines, airborne wind turbines, and shroud wind turbines are discussed. The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive comment and assessment about the basic work principle, economic aspects, and environmental impacts of turbines.

Load Extrapolation During Operation for Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toft, Henrik Stensgaard; Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

2008-01-01

In the recent years load extrapolation for wind turbines has been widely considered in the wind turbine industry. Loads on wind turbines during operations are normally dependent on the mean wind speed, the turbulence intensity and the type and settings of the control system. All these parameters...... must be taken into account when characteristic load effects during operation are determined. In the wind turbine standard IEC 61400-1 a method for load extrapolation using the peak over threshold method is recommended. In this paper this method is considered and some of the assumptions are examined...

Morphing Downwind-Aligned Rotor Concept Based on a 13-MW Wind Turbine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ichter, Brian; Steele, Adam; Loth, Eric; Moriarty, Patrick; Selig, Michael

2016-04-01

To alleviate the mass-scaling issues associated with conventional upwind rotors of extreme-scale wind turbines (>/=10 MW), a morphing downwind-aligned rotor (MoDaR) concept is proposed herein. The concept employs a downwind rotor with blades whose elements are stiff (no intentional flexibility) but with hub-joints that can be unlocked to allow for moment-free downwind alignment. Aligning the combination of gravitational, centrifugal and thrust forces along the blade path reduces downwind cantilever loads, resulting in primarily tensile loading. For control simplicity, the blade curvature can be fixed with a single morphing degree of freedom using a near-hub joint for coning angle: 22 degrees at rated conditions. The conventional baseline was set as the 13.2-MW Sandia 100-m all glass blade in a three-bladed upwind configuration. To quantify potential mass savings, a downwind load-aligning, two-bladed rotor was designed. Because of the reduced number of blades, the MoDaR concept had a favorable 33% mass reduction. The blade reduction and coning led to a reduction in rated power, but morphing increased energy capture at lower speeds such that both the MoDaR and conventional rotors have the same average power: 5.4 MW. A finite element analysis showed that quasi-steady structural stresses could be reduced, over a range of operating wind speeds and azimuthal angles, despite the increases in loading per blade. However, the concept feasibility requires additional investigation of the mass, cost and complexity of the morphing hinge, the impact of unsteady aeroelastic influence because of turbulence and off-design conditions, along with system-level Levelized Cost of Energy analysis.

Simplified model of wind turbines with doubly-fed induction generator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Timbus, Adrian; Korba, Petr [ABB Corporate Research, Baden-Daettwil (Switzerland); Vilhunen, Antti; Pepe, Giuseppe; Seman, Slavomir; Niiranen, Jouko [ABB Oy, Helsinki (Finland)

2011-07-01

With an ever increasing pace of wind power installations around the world, the necessity of studying the functionality of the power system with intermittent generation becomes a critical necessity. Power system studies have been carried out by different organizations, using mainly generic models of turbines available in most utilized software tools such as PSS/E, PowerFactory, PSLF, etc. Very often the system operators ask for models of turbines which represent a specific vendor, hence vendor specific models become also available in these tools. These are necessary to evaluate a realistic response of the grid when a particular technology is used for the wind turbines. This paper elaborates on the development of a simplified model of a wind turbine equipped with Doubly-Fed Induction Generator. The model is meant to be suitable for power system studies and should reflect the concept provided by ABB. This model comprises a series of state machines which reflect the functionality of the turbine from start-up until shut-down due to high wind speeds. In addition, attention and efforts were focused to provide the right functionality during low voltage values, - the so called low voltage ride through feature - and to support the grid after voltage sag. (orig.)

Aerodynamic performance prediction of Darrieus-type wind turbines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ion NILĂ

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The prediction of Darrieus wind turbine aerodynamic performances provides the necessarydesign and operational data base related to the wind potential. In this sense it provides the type ofturbine suitable to the area where it is to be installed. Two calculation methods are analyzed for arotor with straight blades. The first one is a global method that allows an assessment of the turbinenominal power by a brief calculation. This method leads to an overestimation of performances. Thesecond is the calculation method of the gust factor and momentum which deals with the pale as beingcomposed of different elements that don’t influence each other. This method, developed based on thetheory of the turbine blades, leads to values close to the statistical data obtained experimentally. Thevalues obtained by the calculation method of gust factor - momentum led to the concept of a Darrieusturbine, which will be tested for different wind values in the INCAS subsonic wind tunnel.

Wind Turbines Adaptation to the Variability of the Wind Field

Science.gov (United States)

Ulianov, Yuriy; Martynenko, Gennadii; Misaylov, Vitaliy; Soliannikova, Iuliia

2010-05-01

WIND TURBINES ADAPTATION TO THE VARIABILITY OF THE WIND FIELD The subject of our scientific research is wind power turbines (WPT) with the horizontal axis which were now common in the world. Efficient wind turbines work is largely determined by non-stationarity of the wind field, expressed in its gustiness, the presence of vertical and horizontal shifts of wind speed and direction. At critical values of the wind parameters WPT has aerodynamic and mechanical overload, leading to breakdowns, premature wear and reduce the life of the wind turbine. To prevent accidents at the peak values of wind speed it is used the regulatory system of windwheels. WPT control systems provide a process orientation of the wind turbine rotor axis in the line of the mean wind. Wind turbines are also equipped with braking device used to protect against breakdowns when a significant increase in the wind. In general, all these methods of regulation are not always effective. Thus, in practice there may be situations when the wind speed is many times greater than the stated limit. For example, if there are microbursts in the atmospheric boundary layer, low-level wind shears caused by its gust front, storms, etc. It is required for a wind power turbine adaptation to intensive short-term wind impulses and considerable vertical wind shifts that the data about them shall be obtained ahead of time. To do this it is necessary to have the information on the real structure of the wind field in the area of the blade sweep for the minimum range against the wind that is determined by the mean speed and the system action time. The implementation of acoustic and laser traditional wind sounding systems is limited by ambient acoustic noise, by heavy rain, snowfall and by fog. There are free of these disadvantages the inclined radioacoustic sounding (IRASS) technique which works for a system of remote detection and control of wind gusts. IRASS technique is realized as low-potential Doppler pulse radar

Wind Penetration with different wind turbine technologies in a weak grid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santos Fuentefria, Ariel; Castro Fernandez, Miguel A.; Martínez García, Antonio

2012-01-01

The insertion of wind energy into electric network may provoke stability problems due to stochastic character of wind. The variation in the wind causes voltage variation in the Point of Common Coupling (PCC). In a weakest system that variation is high. Another important factor is wind turbine technology. The use of grid-connected fixed speed wind generator introduces a great consumption of reactive power that can be compensated using different devices as capacitors bank or static var compensator (SVC or STATCOM). In the other hand the variable speed wind turbine have an electronic converter to control the reactive consumption to maintain the PCC voltage more stable. In this paper a comparison between the different types of wind turbines technology is show. It's analyzing the impact in wind power limit for different wind turbine technologies in a weak system. (author)

Behavior of bats at wind turbines.

Science.gov (United States)

Cryan, Paul M; Gorresen, P Marcos; Hein, Cris D; Schirmacher, Michael R; Diehl, Robert H; Huso, Manuela M; Hayman, David T S; Fricker, Paul D; Bonaccorso, Frank J; Johnson, Douglas H; Heist, Kevin; Dalton, David C

2014-10-21

Wind turbines are causing unprecedented numbers of bat fatalities. Many fatalities involve tree-roosting bats, but reasons for this higher susceptibility remain unknown. To better understand behaviors associated with risk, we monitored bats at three experimentally manipulated wind turbines in Indiana, United States, from July 29 to October 1, 2012, using thermal cameras and other methods. We observed bats on 993 occasions and saw many behaviors, including close approaches, flight loops and dives, hovering, and chases. Most bats altered course toward turbines during observation. Based on these new observations, we tested the hypotheses that wind speed and blade rotation speed influenced the way that bats interacted with turbines. We found that bats were detected more frequently at lower wind speeds and typically approached turbines on the leeward (downwind) side. The proportion of leeward approaches increased with wind speed when blades were prevented from turning, yet decreased when blades could turn. Bats were observed more frequently at turbines on moonlit nights. Taken together, these observations suggest that bats may orient toward turbines by sensing air currents and using vision, and that air turbulence caused by fast-moving blades creates conditions that are less attractive to bats passing in close proximity. Tree bats may respond to streams of air flowing downwind from trees at night while searching for roosts, conspecifics, and nocturnal insect prey that could accumulate in such flows. Fatalities of tree bats at turbines may be the consequence of behaviors that evolved to provide selective advantages when elicited by tall trees, but are now maladaptive when elicited by wind turbines.

Behavior of bats at wind turbines

Science.gov (United States)

Cryan, Paul M.; Gorresen, P. Marcos; Hine, Cris D.; Schirmacher, Michael; Diehl, Robert H.; Huso, Manuela M.; Hayman, David T.S.; Fricker, Paul D.; Bonaccorso, Frank J.; Johnson, Douglas H.; Heist, Kevin W.; Dalton, David C.

2014-01-01

Wind turbines are causing unprecedented numbers of bat fatalities. Many fatalities involve tree-roosting bats, but reasons for this higher susceptibility remain unknown. To better understand behaviors associated with risk, we monitored bats at three experimentally manipulated wind turbines in Indiana, United States, from July 29 to October 1, 2012, using thermal cameras and other methods. We observed bats on 993 occasions and saw many behaviors, including close approaches, flight loops and dives, hovering, and chases. Most bats altered course toward turbines during observation. Based on these new observations, we tested the hypotheses that wind speed and blade rotation speed influenced the way that bats interacted with turbines. We found that bats were detected more frequently at lower wind speeds and typically approached turbines on the leeward (downwind) side. The proportion of leeward approaches increased with wind speed when blades were prevented from turning, yet decreased when blades could turn. Bats were observed more frequently at turbines on moonlit nights. Taken together, these observations suggest that bats may orient toward turbines by sensing air currents and using vision, and that air turbulence caused by fast-moving blades creates conditions that are less attractive to bats passing in close proximity. Tree bats may respond to streams of air flowing downwind from trees at night while searching for roosts, conspecifics, and nocturnal insect prey that could accumulate in such flows. Fatalities of tree bats at turbines may be the consequence of behaviors that evolved to provide selective advantages when elicited by tall trees, but are now maladaptive when elicited by wind turbines.

Performance of a 3 kW wind turbine generator with variable pitch control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagai, Baku M.; Ameku, Kazumasa; Roy, Jitendro Nath

2009-01-01

A prototype 3 kW horizontal upwind type wind turbine generator of 4 m in diameter has been designed and examined under real wind conditions. The machine was designed based on the concept that even small wind turbines should have a variable pitch control system just as large wind turbines, especially in Japan where typhoons occur at least once a year. A characteristic of the machine is the use of a worm and gear system with a stepping motor installed in the center of the hub, and the rotational main shaft. The machine is constructed with no mechanical breaking system so as to avoid damage from strong winds. In a storm, the wind turbine is slowed down by adjusting the pitch angle and the maximum electrical load. Usually the machine is controlled at several stages depending on the rotational speed of the blades. Two control methods have been applied: the variable pitch angle, and regulation of the generator field current. The characteristics of the generator under each rotational speed and field current are first investigated in the laboratory. This paper describes the performances of the wind turbine in terms of the functions of wind turbine rotational speed, generated outputs, and its stability for wind speed changes. The expected performances of the machine have been confirmed under real wind conditions and compared with numerical simulation results. The wind turbine showed a power coefficient of 0.257 under the average wind speed of 7.3 m/s.

Effects of gain-scheduling methods in a classical wind turbine controller on wind turbine aeroservoelastic modes and loads

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tibaldi, Carlo; Henriksen, Lars Christian; Hansen, Morten Hartvig

2014-01-01

The eects of dierent gain-scheduling methods for a classical wind turbine controller, operating in full load region, on the wind turbine aeroservoelastic modes and loads are investigated in this work. The dierent techniques are derived looking at the physical problem to take into account the chan......The eects of dierent gain-scheduling methods for a classical wind turbine controller, operating in full load region, on the wind turbine aeroservoelastic modes and loads are investigated in this work. The dierent techniques are derived looking at the physical problem to take into account...

Aeroelastic instability problems for wind turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Morten Hartvig

2007-01-01

This paper deals with the aeroelostic instabilities that have occurred and may still occur for modem commercial wind turbines: stall-induced vibrations for stall-turbines, and classical flutter for pitch-regulated turbines. A review of previous works is combined with derivations of analytical...... stiffness and chordwise position of the center of gravity along the blades are the main parameters for flutter. These instability characteristics are exemplified by aeroelastic stability analyses of different wind turbines. The review of each aeroelastic instability ends with a list of current research...... issues that represent unsolved aeroelostic instability problems for wind turbines. Copyright (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd....

Analysis and design of a vertical axis wind turbine

OpenAIRE

Goyena Iriso, Joseba

2011-01-01

The main objective of this project is to design a new vertical axis wind turbine, specifically one Giromill wind turbine. The project development requires performing a previous study of the vertical axis wind turbines currently development. This study has to be performed before starting to design the wind turbine. Other very important aim is the development of a new vertical axis wind turbine. The after analyses that will result in the final design of the wind turbine will b...

Wind turbine spoiler

Science.gov (United States)

Sullivan, W.N.

An aerodynamic spoiler system for a vertical axis wind turbine includes spoilers on the blades initially stored near the rotor axis to minimize drag. A solenoid latch adjacent the central support tower releases the spoilers and centrifugal force causes the spoilers to move up the turbine blades away from the rotor axis, thereby producing a braking effect and actual slowing of the associated wind turbine, if desired. The spoiler system can also be used as an infinitely variable power control by regulated movement of the spoilers on the blades over the range between the undeployed and fully deployed positions. This is done by the use of a suitable powered reel and cable located at the rotor tower to move the spoilers.

3D-PTV around Operational Wind Turbines

Science.gov (United States)

Brownstein, Ian; Dabiri, John

2016-11-01

Laboratory studies and numerical simulations of wind turbines are typically constrained in how they can inform operational turbine behavior. Laboratory experiments are usually unable to match both pertinent parameters of full-scale wind turbines, the Reynolds number (Re) and tip speed ratio, using scaled-down models. Additionally, numerical simulations of the flow around wind turbines are constrained by the large domain size and high Re that need to be simulated. When these simulations are preformed, turbine geometry is typically simplified resulting in flow structures near the rotor not being well resolved. In order to bypass these limitations, a quantitative flow visualization method was developed to take in situ measurements of the flow around wind turbines at the Field Laboratory for Optimized Wind Energy (FLOWE) in Lancaster, CA. The apparatus constructed was able to seed an approximately 9m x 9m x 5m volume in the wake of the turbine using artificial snow. Quantitative measurements were obtained by tracking the evolution of the artificial snow using a four camera setup. The methodology for calibrating and collecting data, as well as preliminary results detailing the flow around a 2kW vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT), will be presented.

Impact of wind turbines on birds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clausager, I.; Nohr, H.

1996-01-01

The paper is a review of the present knowledge on impacts of wind turbines on birds, requested by the Danish Ministry of the Environment and Energy. The main conclusions of the review are, that in nearly all the studies so far the numbers of birds recorded colliding with wind turbines have been limited. Some studies indicate that stationary (breeding) birds inside the wind turbine area in the short run habituate to wind turbines, especially the noise and visual impacts, and that the risk for collision becomes low. However, some of the few more long term studies indicate that a negative impact may occur in later generations of breeding birds. In some studies a disturbance effect on bird species, which temporarily stay inside a wind turbine area in order to forage or rest, is observed. The degree of impact is species-specific. An effect is typically recorded inside a zone of up to 250-800 m, with geese and waders as the most sensitive groups of birds. (author)

Assessment of C-Type Darrieus Wind Turbine Under Low Wind Speed Condition

Science.gov (United States)

Misaran, M. S.; Rahman, Md. M.; Muzammil, W. K.; Ismail, M. A.

2017-07-01

Harvesting wind energy in in a low wind speed region is deem un-economical if not daunting task. Study shows that a minimum cut in speed of 3.5 m/s is required to extract a meaningful wind energy for electricity while a mean speed of 6 m/s is preferred. However, in Malaysia the mean speed is at 2 m/s with certain potential areas having 3 m/s mean speed. Thus, this work aims to develop a wind turbine that able to operate at lower cut-in speed and produce meaningful power for electricity generation. A C-type Darrieus blade is selected as it shows good potential to operate in arbitrary wind speed condition. The wind turbine is designed and fabricated in UMS labs while the performance of the wind turbine is evaluated in a simulated wind condition. Test result shows that the wind turbine started to rotate at 1 m/s compared to a NACA 0012 Darrieus turbine that started to rotate at 3 m/s. The performance of the turbine shows that it have good potential to be used in an intermittent arbitrary wind speed condition as well as low mean wind speed condition.

Wind Turbine Contingency Control Through Generator De-Rating

Science.gov (United States)

Frost, Susan; Goebel, Kai; Balas, Mark

2013-01-01

Maximizing turbine up-time and reducing maintenance costs are key technology drivers for wind turbine operators. Components within wind turbines are subject to considerable stresses due to unpredictable environmental conditions resulting from rapidly changing local dynamics. In that context, systems health management has the aim to assess the state-of-health of components within a wind turbine, to estimate remaining life, and to aid in autonomous decision-making to minimize damage to the turbine. Advanced contingency control is one way to enable autonomous decision-making by providing the mechanism to enable safe and efficient turbine operation. The work reported herein explores the integration of condition monitoring of wind turbines with contingency control to balance the trade-offs between maintaining system health and energy capture. The contingency control involves de-rating the generator operating point to achieve reduced loads on the wind turbine. Results are demonstrated using a high fidelity simulator of a utility-scale wind turbine.

Wind Turbine Wake in Atmospheric Turbulence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Réthoré, Pierre-Elouan Mikael

to calibrate faster and simpler engineering wind farm wake models. The most attractive solution was the actuator disc method with the steady state k-ε turbulence model. The first step to design such a tool is the treatment of the forces. This thesis presents a computationally inexpensive method to apply......) shows that the problem mainly comes from the assumptions of the eddy-viscosity concept, which are deeply invalidated in the wind turbine wake region. Different models that intent to correct the k-ε model’s issues are investigated, of which none of them is found to be adequate. The mixing of the wake...

Wind Speed Preview Measurement and Estimation for Feedforward Control of Wind Turbines

Science.gov (United States)

Simley, Eric J.

Wind turbines typically rely on feedback controllers to maximize power capture in below-rated conditions and regulate rotor speed during above-rated operation. However, measurements of the approaching wind provided by Light Detection and Ranging (lidar) can be used as part of a preview-based, or feedforward, control system in order to improve rotor speed regulation and reduce structural loads. But the effectiveness of preview-based control depends on how accurately lidar can measure the wind that will interact with the turbine. In this thesis, lidar measurement error is determined using a statistical frequency-domain wind field model including wind evolution, or the change in turbulent wind speeds between the time they are measured and when they reach the turbine. Parameters of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 5-MW reference turbine model are used to determine measurement error for a hub-mounted circularly-scanning lidar scenario, based on commercially-available technology, designed to estimate rotor effective uniform and shear wind speed components. By combining the wind field model, lidar model, and turbine parameters, the optimal lidar scan radius and preview distance that yield the minimum mean square measurement error, as well as the resulting minimum achievable error, are found for a variety of wind conditions. With optimized scan scenarios, it is found that relatively low measurement error can be achieved, but the attainable measurement error largely depends on the wind conditions. In addition, the impact of the induction zone, the region upstream of the turbine where the approaching wind speeds are reduced, as well as turbine yaw error on measurement quality is analyzed. In order to minimize the mean square measurement error, an optimal measurement prefilter is employed, which depends on statistics of the correlation between the preview measurements and the wind that interacts with the turbine. However, because the wind speeds encountered by

Lubricants : the lifeblood of wind turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tremblay, Y. [Petro-Canada, Calgary, AB (Canada)

2009-07-01

With the significant investments in wind turbine equipment, companies need to exercise due diligence when it comes to the types of lubricants and fluids used. Mechanical and equipment issues can often be eliminated with improved maintenance practices and the appropriate selection of lubricants. This presentation discussed lubricants as being the lifeblood of wind turbines. The presentation first provided an overview and discussed wind turbine trends and application trends. The technical aspects of fluid formation were presented. Lubrication maintenance practices and oil monitoring were discussed. Last, key industry tests, and OEM specifications for bearings, gearboxes, and wind turbines were identified. It was concluded that improved maintenance practices in combination with the correct lubricant selection can address several operating problems. figs.

Application of an advanced cost model in the different design phases of an offshore wind turbine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hendriks, H.B.; Lindenburg, C.; Kooijman, H.J.T.; Bulder, B.H. [ECN Wind, Petten (Netherlands); Bozelie, J.; Madsen, J.B. [NEG Micon Holland, Rhenen (Netherlands); Halfschepel, R. [Van Oord ACZ, Gorinchem (Netherlands); Molenaar, W. [Ballast Nedam, Amstelveen (Netherlands); Van den Berg, R. [LM Glasfiber Holland, Heerhugowaard (Netherlands); Zaaijer, M. [TU-Delft, Delft (Netherlands)

2001-09-01

The goal of the Dutch Offshore Wind Energy Converter (DOWEC) consortium is to develop concepts and technology in order to make large scale offshore wind energy economically feasible. The overall DOWEC development comprises of the design, the construction, and the prototype testing. Onshore testing of a 3 MW research and development prototype is scheduled for the end of 2002. The DOWEC Concept Study aims at the choice of the optimal wind turbine concept. The wind turbine will not be treated as an isolated system. Designs of different wind turbine concepts will be evaluated as an integral part of the complete large-scale offshore wind farm. All significant properties like the structural loads, the power performance, the system reliability, the costs of the electric infrastructure, maintenance costs and installation costs is determined for the optimised designs. A quantitative ranking is then based on the cost of energy generated. Furthermore qualitative criteria like development risk and market potential will be taken into consideration when finalising the choice of concept. An advanced cost model is being developed to facilitate the above evaluation on basis of estimated energy generating costs for each concept. The same methodology will also be used in the system and detail design phase. This paper describes the DOWEC project in general, focusing at the cost modelling aspects including some preliminary results. 4 refs.

InfraSound from wind turbines : observations from Castle River wind farm. Volume 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edworthy, J.; Hepburn, H.

2005-01-01

Although infrasound has been discussed as a concern by groups opposed to wind farm facilities, there is very little information available about infrasound and wind turbines. This paper presented details of a project conducted by VisionQuest, the largest wind power producer in Canada. Three sensor types were used: precision sound analyzer, seismic geophones, and calibrated microphones to take measurements in low, medium and high winds. The project also measured infrasound when the wind farm was not operating. Acquisition geometry was presented, as well as details of apparent attenuations of wind noise. It was noted that high wind noise was a dominant factor and that there was little difference when the wind farm was not operational. It was suggested that turbines have no impact with high wind, since wind noise is not attenuated with distance. It was noted that increased geophone amplitudes indicate high wind coupled motion which is attenuated when the turbines are on. Results indicate that all frequencies showed attenuation with distance. Evidence showed that low frequency sound pressure levels were often lower when the turbines were switched on. Where turbines contributed to sound pressure levels, the magnitude of the contribution was below levels of concern to human health. Ambient sound pressure levels were much higher than contributions from wind turbines. It was concluded that wind itself generates infrasound. Wind turbines generate low levels of infrasound, detectable very close to facilities at low to medium wind speeds. Wind turbines may reduce ambient infrasound levels at high wind speeds by converting the energy from the wind into electricity. refs., tabs., figs

How the factoid of wind turbines causing 'vibroacoustic disease' came to be 'irrefutably demonstrated'.

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Simon; St George, Alexis

2013-06-01

In recent years, claims have proliferated in cyberspace that wind turbines cause a large variety of symptoms and diseases. One of these, "vibroacoustic disease" (VAD) is frequently mentioned. The aim of this study is to examine the quality of the evidence on how VAD came to be associated with wind turbine exposure by wind farm opponents. Searches of the web (Google advanced) and major research databases for papers on VAD and wind turbines. Self-citation analysis of research papers on VAD. Google returned 24,700 hits for VAD and wind turbines. Thirty-five research papers on VAD were found, none reporting any association between VAD and wind turbines. Of the 35 papers, 34 had a first author from a single Portuguese research group. Seventy-four per cent of citations to these papers were self-citations by the group. Median self-citation rates in science are around 7%. Two unpublished case reports presented at conferences were found asserting that VAD was "irrefutably demonstrated" to be caused by wind turbines. The quality of these reports was abject. VAD has received virtually no scientific recognition beyond the group who coined and promoted the concept. There is no evidence of even rudimentary quality that vibroacoustic disease is associated with or caused by wind turbines. The claim that wind turbines cause VAD is a factoid that has gone 'viral' in cyberspace and may be contributing to nocebo effects among those living near turbines. © 2013 The Authors. ANZJPH © 2013 Public Health Association of Australia.

Experimental investigation on the wake interference among wind turbines sited in atmospheric boundary layer winds

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

W. Tian; A. Ozbay; X. D. Wang; H.Hu

2017-01-01

We examined experimentally the effects of incom-ing surface wind on the turbine wake and the wake interfer-ence among upstream and downstream wind turbines sited in atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) winds. The experi-ment was conducted in a large-scale ABL wind tunnel with scaled wind turbine models mounted in different incom-ing surface winds simulating the ABL winds over typical offshore/onshore wind farms. Power outputs and dynamic loadings acting on the turbine models and the wake flow char-acteristics behind the turbine models were quantified. The results revealed that the incoming surface winds significantly affect the turbine wake characteristics and wake interference between the upstream and downstream turbines. The velocity deficits in the turbine wakes recover faster in the incoming surface winds with relatively high turbulence levels. Varia-tions of the power outputs and dynamic wind loadings acting on the downstream turbines sited in the wakes of upstream turbines are correlated well with the turbine wakes charac-teristics. At the same downstream locations, the downstream turbines have higher power outputs and experience greater static and fatigue loadings in the inflow with relatively high turbulence level, suggesting a smaller effect of wake inter-ference for the turbines sited in onshore wind farms.

Wind turbines and human health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Loren eKnopper

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The association between wind turbines and health effects is highly debated. Some argue that reported health effects are related to wind turbine operation (electromagnetic fields (EMF, shadow flicker, audible noise, low frequency noise, infrasound. Others suggest that when turbines are sited correctly, effects are more likely attributable to a number of subjective variables that result in an annoyed/stressed state. In this review we provide a bibliographic-like summary and analysis of the science around this issue specifically in terms of noise (including audible, low frequency noise and infrasound, EMF and shadow flicker. Now there are roughly 60 scientific peer-reviewed articles on this issue. The available scientific evidence suggests that EMF, shadow flicker, low frequency noise and infrasound from wind turbines are not likely to affect human health; some studies have found that audible noise from wind turbines can be annoying to some. Annoyance may be associated with some self-reported health effects (e.g., sleep disturbance especially at sound pressure levels >40 dB(A. Because environmental noise above certain levels is a recognized factor in a number of health issues, siting restrictions have been implemented in many jurisdictions to limit noise exposure. These setbacks should help alleviate annoyance from noise. Subjective variables (attitudes and expectations are also linked to annoyance and have the potential to facilitate other health complaints via the nocebo effect. Therefore, it is possible that a segment of the population may remain annoyed (or report other health impacts even when noise limits are enforced. Based on the findings and scientific merit of the available studies, the weight of evidence suggests that when sited properly, wind turbines are not related to adverse health. Stemming from this review, we provide a number of recommended best practices for wind turbine development in the context of human health.

Wind turbines and human health.

Science.gov (United States)

Knopper, Loren D; Ollson, Christopher A; McCallum, Lindsay C; Whitfield Aslund, Melissa L; Berger, Robert G; Souweine, Kathleen; McDaniel, Mary

2014-01-01

The association between wind turbines and health effects is highly debated. Some argue that reported health effects are related to wind turbine operation [electromagnetic fields (EMF), shadow flicker, audible noise, low-frequency noise, infrasound]. Others suggest that when turbines are sited correctly, effects are more likely attributable to a number of subjective variables that result in an annoyed/stressed state. In this review, we provide a bibliographic-like summary and analysis of the science around this issue specifically in terms of noise (including audible, low-frequency noise, and infrasound), EMF, and shadow flicker. Now there are roughly 60 scientific peer-reviewed articles on this issue. The available scientific evidence suggests that EMF, shadow flicker, low-frequency noise, and infrasound from wind turbines are not likely to affect human health; some studies have found that audible noise from wind turbines can be annoying to some. Annoyance may be associated with some self-reported health effects (e.g., sleep disturbance) especially at sound pressure levels >40 dB(A). Because environmental noise above certain levels is a recognized factor in a number of health issues, siting restrictions have been implemented in many jurisdictions to limit noise exposure. These setbacks should help alleviate annoyance from noise. Subjective variables (attitudes and expectations) are also linked to annoyance and have the potential to facilitate other health complaints via the nocebo effect. Therefore, it is possible that a segment of the population may remain annoyed (or report other health impacts) even when noise limits are enforced. Based on the findings and scientific merit of the available studies, the weight of evidence suggests that when sited properly, wind turbines are not related to adverse health. Stemming from this review, we provide a number of recommended best practices for wind turbine development in the context of human health.

Wind Turbines and Human Health

Science.gov (United States)

Knopper, Loren D.; Ollson, Christopher A.; McCallum, Lindsay C.; Whitfield Aslund, Melissa L.; Berger, Robert G.; Souweine, Kathleen; McDaniel, Mary

2014-01-01

The association between wind turbines and health effects is highly debated. Some argue that reported health effects are related to wind turbine operation [electromagnetic fields (EMF), shadow flicker, audible noise, low-frequency noise, infrasound]. Others suggest that when turbines are sited correctly, effects are more likely attributable to a number of subjective variables that result in an annoyed/stressed state. In this review, we provide a bibliographic-like summary and analysis of the science around this issue specifically in terms of noise (including audible, low-frequency noise, and infrasound), EMF, and shadow flicker. Now there are roughly 60 scientific peer-reviewed articles on this issue. The available scientific evidence suggests that EMF, shadow flicker, low-frequency noise, and infrasound from wind turbines are not likely to affect human health; some studies have found that audible noise from wind turbines can be annoying to some. Annoyance may be associated with some self-reported health effects (e.g., sleep disturbance) especially at sound pressure levels >40 dB(A). Because environmental noise above certain levels is a recognized factor in a number of health issues, siting restrictions have been implemented in many jurisdictions to limit noise exposure. These setbacks should help alleviate annoyance from noise. Subjective variables (attitudes and expectations) are also linked to annoyance and have the potential to facilitate other health complaints via the nocebo effect. Therefore, it is possible that a segment of the population may remain annoyed (or report other health impacts) even when noise limits are enforced. Based on the findings and scientific merit of the available studies, the weight of evidence suggests that when sited properly, wind turbines are not related to adverse health. Stemming from this review, we provide a number of recommended best practices for wind turbine development in the context of human health. PMID:24995266

Modeling of wind turbines for power system studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Petru, T.

2001-05-01

When wind turbines are installed into the electric grid, the power quality is affected. Today, strict installation recommendations often prevail due to a lack of knowledge on this subject. Consequently, it is important to predict the impact of wind turbines on the electric grid before the turbines are installed. The thesis describes relevant power quality issues, discusses different configurations of wind turbines with respect to power quality and draw requirements regarding wind turbine modeling. A model of a stall-regulated, fixed-speed wind turbine system is introduced and its power quality impact on the electric grid is evaluated. The model is verified with field measurements.

Offshore Floating Wind Turbine-driven Deep Sea Water Pumping for Combined Electrical Power and District Cooling

Science.gov (United States)

Sant, T.; Buhagiar, D.; Farrugia, R. N.

2014-06-01

A new concept utilising floating wind turbines to exploit the low temperatures of deep sea water for space cooling in buildings is presented. The approach is based on offshore hydraulic wind turbines pumping pressurised deep sea water to a centralised plant consisting of a hydro-electric power system coupled to a large-scale sea water-cooled air conditioning (AC) unit of an urban district cooling network. In order to investigate the potential advantages of this new concept over conventional technologies, a simplified model for performance simulation of a vapour compression AC unit was applied independently to three different systems, with the AC unit operating with (1) a constant flow of sea surface water, (2) a constant flow of sea water consisting of a mixture of surface sea water and deep sea water delivered by a single offshore hydraulic wind turbine and (3) an intermittent flow of deep sea water pumped by a single offshore hydraulic wind turbine. The analysis was based on one year of wind and ambient temperature data for the Central Mediterranean that is known for its deep waters, warm climate and relatively low wind speeds. The study confirmed that while the present concept is less efficient than conventional turbines utilising grid-connected electrical generators, a significant portion of the losses associated with the hydraulic transmission through the pipeline are offset by the extraction of cool deep sea water which reduces the electricity consumption of urban air-conditioning units.

Offshore Floating Wind Turbine-driven Deep Sea Water Pumping for Combined Electrical Power and District Cooling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sant, T; Buhagiar, D; Farrugia, R N

2014-01-01

A new concept utilising floating wind turbines to exploit the low temperatures of deep sea water for space cooling in buildings is presented. The approach is based on offshore hydraulic wind turbines pumping pressurised deep sea water to a centralised plant consisting of a hydro-electric power system coupled to a large-scale sea water-cooled air conditioning (AC) unit of an urban district cooling network. In order to investigate the potential advantages of this new concept over conventional technologies, a simplified model for performance simulation of a vapour compression AC unit was applied independently to three different systems, with the AC unit operating with (1) a constant flow of sea surface water, (2) a constant flow of sea water consisting of a mixture of surface sea water and deep sea water delivered by a single offshore hydraulic wind turbine and (3) an intermittent flow of deep sea water pumped by a single offshore hydraulic wind turbine. The analysis was based on one year of wind and ambient temperature data for the Central Mediterranean that is known for its deep waters, warm climate and relatively low wind speeds. The study confirmed that while the present concept is less efficient than conventional turbines utilising grid-connected electrical generators, a significant portion of the losses associated with the hydraulic transmission through the pipeline are offset by the extraction of cool deep sea water which reduces the electricity consumption of urban air-conditioning units

LES investigation of infinite staggered wind-turbine arrays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Xiaolei; Sotiropoulos, Fotis

2014-01-01

The layouts of turbines affect the turbine wake interactions and thus the wind farm performance. The wake interactions in infinite staggered wind-turbine arrays are investigated and compared with infinite aligned turbine arrays in this paper. From the numerical results we identify three types of wake behaviours, which are significantly different from wakes in aligned wind-turbine arrays. For the first type, each turbine wake interferes with the pair of staggered downstream turbine wakes and the aligned downstream turbine. For the second type, each turbine wake interacts with the first two downstream turbine wakes but does not show significant interference with the second aligned downstream turbine. For the third type, each turbine wake recovers immediately after passing through the gap of the first two downstream turbines and has little interaction with the second downstream turbine wakes The extracted power density and power efficiency are also studied and compared with aligned wind-turbine arrays

Method and apparatus for wind turbine braking

Science.gov (United States)

Barbu, Corneliu [Laguna Hills, CA; Teichmann, Ralph [Nishkayuna, NY; Avagliano, Aaron [Houston, TX; Kammer, Leonardo Cesar [Niskayuna, NY; Pierce, Kirk Gee [Simpsonville, SC; Pesetsky, David Samuel [Greenville, SC; Gauchel, Peter [Muenster, DE

2009-02-10

A method for braking a wind turbine including at least one rotor blade coupled to a rotor. The method includes selectively controlling an angle of pitch of the at least one rotor blade with respect to a wind direction based on a design parameter of a component of the wind turbine to facilitate reducing a force induced into the wind turbine component as a result of braking.

Analysis of turbine-grid interaction of grid-connected wind turbine using HHT

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, A.; Wu, W.; Miao, J.; Xie, D.

2018-05-01

This paper processes the output power of the grid-connected wind turbine with the denoising and extracting method based on Hilbert Huang transform (HHT) to discuss the turbine-grid interaction. At first, the detailed Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) and the Hilbert Transform (HT) are introduced. Then, on the premise of decomposing the output power of the grid-connected wind turbine into a series of Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMFs), energy ratio and power volatility are calculated to detect the unessential components. Meanwhile, combined with vibration function of turbine-grid interaction, data fitting of instantaneous amplitude and phase of each IMF is implemented to extract characteristic parameters of different interactions. Finally, utilizing measured data of actual parallel-operated wind turbines in China, this work accurately obtains the characteristic parameters of turbine-grid interaction of grid-connected wind turbine.

Reliability Modeling of Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kostandyan, Erik

Cost reductions for offshore wind turbines are a substantial requirement in order to make offshore wind energy more competitive compared to other energy supply methods. During the 20 – 25 years of wind turbines useful life, Operation & Maintenance costs are typically estimated to be a quarter...... for Operation & Maintenance planning. Concentrating efforts on development of such models, this research is focused on reliability modeling of Wind Turbine critical subsystems (especially the power converter system). For reliability assessment of these components, structural reliability methods are applied...... to one third of the total cost of energy. Reduction of Operation & Maintenance costs will result in significant cost savings and result in cheaper electricity production. Operation & Maintenance processes mainly involve actions related to replacements or repair. Identifying the right times when...

Wind resource estimation and siting of wind turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lundtang Petersen, Erik; Mortensen, N.G.; Landberg, L.

1994-01-01

Detailed knowledge of the characteristics of the natural wind is necessary for the design, planning and operational aspect of wind energy systems. Here, we shall only be concerned with those meteorological aspects of wind energy planning that are termed wind resource estimation. The estimation...... of the wind resource ranges from the overall estimation of the mean energy content of the wind over a large area - called regional assessment - to the prediction of the average yearly energy production of a specific wind turbine at a specific location - called siting. A regional assessment will most often...... lead to a so-called wind atlas. A precise prediction of the wind speed at a given site is essential because for aerodynamic reasons the power output of a wind turbine is proportional to the third power of the wind speed, hence even small errors in prediction of wind speed may result in large deviations...

Operation and Equivalent Loads of Wind Turbines in Large Wind Farms

Science.gov (United States)

Andersen, Soren Juhl; Sorensen, Jens Norkaer; Mikkelsen, Robert Flemming

2017-11-01

Wind farms continue to grow in size and as the technology matures, the design of wind farms move towards including dynamic effects besides merely annual power production estimates. The unsteady operation of wind turbines in large wind farms has been modelled with EllipSys3D(Michelsen, 1992, and Sørensen, 1995) for a number of different scenarios using a fully coupled large eddy simulations(LES) and aero-elastic framework. The turbines are represented in the flow fields using the actuator line method(Sørensen and Shen, 2002), where the aerodynamic forces and deflections are derived from an aero-elastic code, Flex5(Øye, 1996). The simulations constitute a database of full turbine operation in terms of both production and loads for various wind speeds, turbulence intensities, and turbine spacings. The operating conditions are examined in terms of averaged power production and thrust force, as well as 10min equivalent flapwise bending, yaw, and tilt moment loads. The analyses focus on how the performance and loads change throughout a given farm as well as comparing how various input parameters affect the operation and loads of the wind turbines during different scenarios. COMWIND(Grant 2104-09- 067216/DSF), Nordic Consortium on Optimization and Control of Wind Farms, Eurotech Greentech Wind project, Winds2Loads, and CCA LES. Ressources Granted on SNIC and JESS. The Vestas NM80 turbine has been used.

Wind lens technology and its application to wind and water turbine and beyond

OpenAIRE

Ohya Yuji; Karasudani Takashi; Nagai Tomoyuki; Watanabe Koichi

2017-01-01

Wind lens is a new type of wind power system consisting of a simple brimmed ring structure that surrounds the rotor causing greater wind to pass through the turbine. As a consequence, the turbine's efficiency of capturing energy from the wind gets dramatically increased. A Wind lens turbine can generate 2–5 times the power of an existing wind turbine given at the same rotor diameter and incoming wind speed. This fluid dynamical effect is also effective in the water. We have developed 1–3 kW W...

Capturing the journey of wind from the wind turbines (poster)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Giyanani, A.H.; Bierbooms, W.A.A.M.; Van Bussel, G.J.W.

2015-01-01

Wind turbine design, control strategies often assume Taylor’s frozen turbulence where the fluctuating part of the wind is assumed to be constant. In practise, the wind turbine faces higher turbulence in case of gusts and lower turbulence in some cases. With Lidar technology, the frozen turbulence

Minimum Thrust Load Control for Floating Wind Turbine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Søren; Bak, Thomas; Knudsen, Torben

2012-01-01

— Offshore wind energy capitalizes on the higher and less turbulent wind at sea. Shallow water sites are profitable for deployment of monopile wind turbines at water depths of up to 30 meters. Beyond 30 meters, the wind is even stronger and less turbulent. At these depths, floating wind turbines be...... and power stability when using the new control strategy.......— Offshore wind energy capitalizes on the higher and less turbulent wind at sea. Shallow water sites are profitable for deployment of monopile wind turbines at water depths of up to 30 meters. Beyond 30 meters, the wind is even stronger and less turbulent. At these depths, floating wind turbines...... presents a new minimum thrust control strategy capable of stabilizing a floating wind turbine. The new control strategy explores the freedom of variable generator speed above rated wind speed. A comparison to the traditional constant speed strategy, shows improvements in structural fore-aft oscillations...

Site calibration for the wind turbine performance evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nam, Yoon Su; Yoo, Neung Soo; Lee, Jung Wan

2004-01-01

The accurate wind speed information at the hub height of a wind turbine is very essential to the exact estimation of the wind turbine power performance testing. Several method on the site calibration, which is a technique to estimate the wind speed at the wind turbine's hub height based on the measured wind data using a reference meteorological mast, are introduced. A site calibration result and the wind resource assessment for the TaeKwanRyung test site are presented using three-month wind data from a reference meteorological mast and the other mast temporarily installed at the site of wind turbine. Besides, an analysis on the uncertainty allocation for the wind speed correction using site calibration is performed

Thermoplastic Composite Wind Turbine Blades : An Integrated Design Approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Joncas, S.

2010-01-01

This thesis proposes a new structural design concept for future large wind turbine blades based on fully recyclable thermoplastic composites (TPC). With respect to material properties, cost and processing, reactively processed anionic polyamide-6 (APA-6) has been identified as the most promising

Radar Cross Section (RCS) Simulation for Wind Turbines

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-01

wind turbines are unsafe to operate. Also, helical wind turbines generally have less environmental concerns such as killing birds , especially in...SECTION (RCS) SIMULATION FOR WIND TURBINES by Cuong Ton June 2013 Thesis Advisor: David C. Jenn Second Reader: Ric Romero THIS PAGE...TITLE AND SUBTITLE RADAR CROSS SECTION (RCS) SIMULATION FOR WIND TURBINES 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 6. AUTHOR(S) Cuong Ton 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION

Numerical and Experimental Results of a Passive Free Yawing Downwind Wind Turbine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Verelst, David Robert; Van Wingerden, Jan-Willem

The background of this PhD study concerns a medium sized 3 bladed wind turbine in a free yawing and downwind configuration. Largely funded by an EU Marie-Curie IAPP grant, the project was jointly setup by the renewable energy consultant 3E, DTU Wind Energy and the TU Delft. The 3 bladed free yawing...... downwind concept is pursued in an attempt to increase the robustness of a wind turbine by eliminating the traditionally actively controlled, and sometimes failure prone yawing mechanism. Under certain conditions, such as for remote (off shore) and off grid applications, a decreased failure rate can...... increase the economical competitiveness significantly compared to more traditional power supplies. This work presents aeroelastic analysis and results of a wind tunnel test campaign for the 3 bladed free yawing downwind concept. The investigated topics concern free yawing stability and how it is affected...

High-efficiency wind turbine

Science.gov (United States)

Hein, L. A.; Myers, W. N.

1980-01-01

Vertical axis wind turbine incorporates several unique features to extract more energy from wind increasing efficiency 20% over conventional propeller driven units. System also features devices that utilize solar energy or chimney effluents during periods of no wind.

Fatigue-Damage Estimation and Control for Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barradas Berglind, Jose de Jesus

How can fatigue-damage for control of wind turbines be represented? Fatigue-damage is indeed a crucial factor in structures such as wind turbines that are exposed to turbulent and rapidly changing wind flow conditions. This is relevant both in their design stage and during the control......, the inclusion of fatigue-damage within feedback control loops is of special interest. Four strategies in total are proposed in this work: three for the wind turbine level and one for the wind farm level. On one hand, the three strategies in the turbine level are based on hysteresis operators and strive......-damage estimation in wind turbine components, to the mixed objective operation of wind energy conversion systems, and to the synthesis of control strategies that include hysteresis operators....

Aerodynamical noise from wind turbine generators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jakobsen, J.; Andersen, B.

1993-06-01

Two extensive measurement series of noise from wind turbines have been made during different modifications of their rotors. One series focused on the influence from the tip shape on the noise, while the other series dealt with the influence from the trailing edge. The experimental layout for the two investigations was identical. The total A-weighted noise from the wind turbine was measured in 1/3 octave bands from 50 Hz to 10 kHz in 1-minute periods simultaneously with wind speed measurements. The microphone was mounted on a hard board on the ground about 40 m directly downwind of the wind turbine, and the wind speed meter was placed at the same distance upwind of the wind turbine 10 m above ground. Regression analysis was made between noise and wind speed in each 1/3 octave band to determine the spectrum at 8 m/s. During the measurements care was taken to avoid influence from background noise, and the influence from machinery noise was minimized and corrected for. Thus the results display the aerodynamic rotor noise from the wind turbines. By use of this measurement technique, the uncertainty has been reduced to 1.5 - 2 dB per 1/3 octave band in the relevant frequency range and to about 1 dB on the total A-weighted levels. (au) (10 refs.)

Wind-wave induced dynamic response analysis for motions and mooring loads of a spar-type offshore floating wind turbine

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

马钰; 肖龙飞; 胡志强

2014-01-01

Due to the energy crisis and the environmental issues like pollution and global warming, the exploration for renewable and clean energies becomes crucial. The offshore floating wind turbines (OFWTs) draw a great deal of attention recently as a means to exploit the steadier and stronger wind resources available in deep water seas. This paper studies the hydrodynamic characteristics of a spar-type wind turbine known as the OC3-Hywind concept and the dynamic responses of the turbine. Response characteristics of motions and mooring loads of the system under different sea states are evaluated and the effects of the loads induced by the wind and the wave on the system are discussed. The calculations are carried out with the numerical simulation code FAST in the time domain and the frequency analysis is made by using the FFT method. The results and the conclusions from this paper might help better understand the behavior characteristics of the floating wind turbine system under actual ocean environments and provide valuable data in design and engineering practice.

Prediction models for wind speed at turbine locations in a wind farm

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knudsen, Torben; Bak, Thomas; Soltani, Mohsen

2011-01-01

In wind farms, individual turbines disturb the wind field by generating wakes that influence other turbines in the farm. From a control point of view, there is an interest in dynamic optimization of the balance between fatigue and production, and an understanding of the relationship between turbines...... on standard turbine measurements such as rotor speed and power produced, an effective wind speed, which represents the wind field averaged over the rotor disc, is derived. The effective wind speed estimator is based on a continuous–discrete extended Kalman filter that takes advantage of nonlinear time varying...... on the result related to effective wind speed, it is possible to predict wind speeds at neighboring turbines, with a separation of over 700 m, up to 1 min ahead reducing the error by 30% compared with a persistence method. The methodological results are demonstrated on data from an off-shore wind farm...

A wind turbine hybrid simulation framework considering aeroelastic effects

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Wei; Su, Weihua

2015-04-01

In performing an effective structural analysis for wind turbine, the simulation of turbine aerodynamic loads is of great importance. The interaction between the wake flow and the blades may impact turbine blades loading condition, energy yield and operational behavior. Direct experimental measurement of wind flow field and wind profiles around wind turbines is very helpful to support the wind turbine design. However, with the growth of the size of wind turbines for higher energy output, it is not convenient to obtain all the desired data in wind-tunnel and field tests. In this paper, firstly the modeling of dynamic responses of large-span wind turbine blades will consider nonlinear aeroelastic effects. A strain-based geometrically nonlinear beam formulation will be used for the basic structural dynamic modeling, which will be coupled with unsteady aerodynamic equations and rigid-body rotations of the rotor. Full wind turbines can be modeled by using the multi-connected beams. Then, a hybrid simulation experimental framework is proposed to potentially address this issue. The aerodynamic-dominant components, such as the turbine blades and rotor, are simulated as numerical components using the nonlinear aeroelastic model; while the turbine tower, where the collapse of failure may occur under high level of wind load, is simulated separately as the physical component. With the proposed framework, dynamic behavior of NREL's 5MW wind turbine blades will be studied and correlated with available numerical data. The current work will be the basis of the authors' further studies on flow control and hazard mitigation on wind turbine blades and towers.

Rotating transformers in wind turbine applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hylander, J. [Chalmers Univ. of Technology, Goeteborg (Sweden); Engstroem, S. [Aegir konsult AB, Lidingoe (Sweden)

1996-12-01

The power consumption of rotating electrical components is often supplied via slip-rings in wind turbines. Slip-ring equipment is expensive and need maintenance and are prone to malfunction. If the slip-rings could be replaced with contact-less equipment better turbines could be designed. This paper presents the design, some FE calculations and some measurements on a prototype rotating transformer. The proposed transformer consists of a secondary rotating winding and a stationary exciting primary winding. The results indicate that this transformer could be used to replace slip-rings in wind turbines. 4 refs, 3 figs

Wind turbines - generating noise or electricity?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russell, Eric

1999-01-01

Wind turbine technology has made great strides in the past few years. Annual energy output is up by two orders of magnitude and nacelle weight and noise has been halved. Computational fluid dynamics has paid a part in advancing knowledge of air flow and turbulence around wind generators. Current research is focused on how to increase turbine size and improve efficiency. A problem is that while larger wind turbines will produce cheaper electricity, the noise problem will mean that the number of acceptable sites will decrease. The biggest wind generators will need about 800 m clearance from the nearest house. (UK)

Flow separation on wind turbines blades

Science.gov (United States)

Corten, G. P.

2001-01-01

effects of rotation on stall. By using the stall flag method, we were able to clear up two practical problems that seriously threatened the performance of stall turbines. These topics will be described briefly. 1. Inherent Heat Generation The classic result for an actuator disk representing a wind turbine is that the power extracted equals the kinetic power transferred. This is a consequence of disregarding the flow around the disk. When this flow is included, we need to introduce a heat generation term in the energy balance. This has the practical consequence that an actuator disk at the Lanchester-Betz limit transfers 50% more kinetic energy than it extracts. This surplus is dissipated in heat. Using this new argument, together with a classic argument on induction, we see no reason to introduce the concept of edge-forces on the tips of the rotor blades (Van Kuik, 1991). We rather recommend following the ideas of Lanchester (1915) on the edge of the actuator disk and on the wind speed at the disc. We analyse the concept induction, and show that correcting for the aspect ratio, for induced drag and application of Blade Element Momentum Theory all have the same significance for a wind turbine. Such corrections are sometimes made twice (Viterna & Corrigan, 1981). 2. Rotational Effects on Flow Separation In designing wind turbine rotors, one uses the aerodynamic characteristics measured in the wind tunnel on fixed aerodynamic profiles. These characteristics are corrected for the effects of rotation and subsequently used for wind turbine rotors. Such a correction was developed by Snel (1990-1999). This correction is based on boundary layer theory, the validity of which we question in regard to separated flow. We estimated the effects of rotation on flow separation by arguing that the separation layer is thick so the velocity gradients are small and viscosity can be neglected. We add the argument that the chord-wise speed and its derivative normal to the wall is zero at the

Wind turbine remote control using Android devices

Science.gov (United States)

Rat, C. L.; Panoiu, M.

2018-01-01

This paper describes the remote control of a wind turbine system over the internet using an Android device, namely a tablet or a smartphone. The wind turbine workstation contains a LabVIEW program which monitors the entire wind turbine energy conversion system (WECS). The Android device connects to the LabVIEW application, working as a remote interface to the wind turbine. The communication between the devices needs to be secured because it takes place over the internet. Hence, the data are encrypted before being sent through the network. The scope was the design of remote control software capable of visualizing real-time wind turbine data through a secure connection. Since the WECS is fully automated and no full-time human operator exists, unattended access to the turbine workstation is needed. Therefore the device must not require any confirmation or permission from the computer operator in order to control it. Another condition is that Android application does not have any root requirements.

Power Curve of the AWEC-60 wind turbine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Avia, F.

1992-01-01

The experimental wind turbine AWEC-60 was developed to evaluate the possibilities of the Large Wind turbines, from the technical and economical point of view. The project was developed by a spanish-german group, integrated by Union Fenosa, Asinel, M.A.N. Neue Technologie and the Instituto de Energias Renovables from CIEMAT, starting the operation during the year 1990. In this paper, the obtention of the wind turbine power curve is presented, which has been obtained in agreement with the Recommended Practices for Wind Turbine Testing and Evaluation from the Executive Committee for the Research and Development on Wind Energy, of the International Energy Agency (AIE). Using the functioning data of the wind turbine correspondig to the first quarter of the year 1991, the power curves have been obtained, and the results have been compared with the curves measured in other similar Large wind turbines. (Author) 7 refs

Hybrid damper with stroke amplification for damping of offshore wind turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodersen, Mark L.; Høgsberg, Jan

2016-01-01

tower. The proposed hybrid damper consists of a passive viscous dashpot placed in series with a load cell and an active actuator. By integrated force feedback control of the actuator motion, the associated displacement amplitude over the viscous damper can be increased compared with the passive viscous......The magnitude of tower vibrations of offshore wind turbines is a key design driver for the feasibility of the monopilesupport structure. A novel control concept for the damping of these tower vibrations is proposed, where viscous-type hybrid dampers are installed at the bottom of the wind turbine...... case, hereby significantly increasing the feasibility of viscous dampers acting at the bottom of the wind turbine tower. To avoid drift in the actuator displacement, a filtered time integration of the measured force signal is introduced. Numerical examples demonstrate that the filtered time integration...

Market experiences with small wind turbines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Deijl, T.J.

1990-01-01

An overview is given of the marketing experiences of Lagerwey Windturbines with the exploitation of small wind turbines. Attention is paid to the market mechanisms which effect the sale and implementation of small wind turbines: payback of surplus power, provincial and regional subsidies, grid connection costs, energy prices, and flexible solutions for grid connections. Also problems with municipalities with regard to regulations or construction licenses are discussed. Some recommendations are given to stimulate the market for small wind turbines. 1 fig., 1 ref

Small Wind Research Turbine: Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Corbus, D.; Meadors, M.

2005-10-01

The Small Wind Research Turbine (SWRT) project was initiated to provide reliable test data for model validation of furling wind turbines and to help understand small wind turbine loads. This report will familiarize the user with the scope of the SWRT test and support the use of these data. In addition to describing all the testing details and results, the report presents an analysis of the test data and compares the SWRT test data to simulation results from the FAST aeroelastic simulation model.

Analytical Aerodynamic Simulation Tools for Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deglaire, Paul

2010-01-01

Wind power is a renewable energy source that is today the fastest growing solution to reduce CO 2 emissions in the electric energy mix. Upwind horizontal axis wind turbine with three blades has been the preferred technical choice for more than two decades. This horizontal axis concept is today widely leading the market. The current PhD thesis will cover an alternative type of wind turbine with straight blades and rotating along the vertical axis. A brief overview of the main differences between the horizontal and vertical axis concept has been made. However the main focus of this thesis is the aerodynamics of the wind turbine blades. Making aerodynamically efficient turbines starts with efficient blades. Making efficient blades requires a good understanding of the physical phenomena and effective simulations tools to model them. The specific aerodynamics for straight bladed vertical axis turbine flow are reviewed together with the standard aerodynamic simulations tools that have been used in the past by blade and rotor designer. A reasonably fast (regarding computer power) and accurate (regarding comparison with experimental results) simulation method was still lacking in the field prior to the current work. This thesis aims at designing such a method. Analytical methods can be used to model complex flow if the geometry is simple. Therefore, a conformal mapping method is derived to transform any set of section into a set of standard circles. Then analytical procedures are generalized to simulate moving multibody sections in the complex vertical flows and forces experienced by the blades. Finally the fast semi analytical aerodynamic algorithm boosted by fast multipole methods to handle high number of vortices is coupled with a simple structural model of the rotor to investigate potential aeroelastic instabilities. Together with these advanced simulation tools, a standard double multiple streamtube model has been developed and used to design several straight bladed

Design of a wind turbine-generator system considering the conformability to wind velocity fluctuations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wakui, Tetsuya; Hashizume, Takumi; Outa, Eisuke

1999-07-01

The conformability of the rated power output of the wind turbine-generator system and of the wind turbine type to wind velocity fluctuations are investigated with a simulation model. The authors examine three types of wind turbines: the Darrieus-Savonius hybrid, the Darrieus proper and the Propeller. These systems are mainly operated at a constant tip speed ratio, which refers to a maximum power coefficient points. As a computed result of the net extracting power, the Darrieus turbine proper has little conformability to wind velocity fluctuations because of its output characteristics. As for the other turbines, large-scale systems do not always have an advantage over small-scale systems as the effect of its dynamic characteristics. Furthermore, it is confirmed that the net extracting power of the Propeller turbine, under wind direction fluctuation, is much reduced when compared with the hybrid wind turbine. Thus, the authors conclude that the appropriate rated power output of the system exists with relation to the wind turbine type for each wind condition.

Vertical-axial component wind turbine with a high coefficient using for wind energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yersin, Ch. Sh.; Manatbev, R.K.; Yersina, A. K.; Tulepbergenov, A. K.

2012-01-01

The report presents the results of research and development on of promising wind units carousel type with a high ratio utilization of wind energy. This devices use a well-known invention – the wind turbine Darrieus. The rotation of the turbine is due to the action of ascensional power to aerodynamic well-streamlined symmetrical about the chord wing profiles of NASA, which are working wind turbine blades. The shaft rotation can be connected with the working blades of one of two ways: using the “swings” or the way “troposkino”. Darrieus turbine has a ratio utilization of wind energy xmax=045. Despite the fact that this is a good indicator of the efficiency of the turbine working, the proposed option allows us to significantly increase the value of this coefficient. The bases methodology of this research is a method of technical and technological research and development design of prospective wind energy construction (WES). Key words: wind turbine, the blade, coefficient utilization of wind energy

Fault ride-through capability of DFIG wind turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hansen, Anca D. [Risoe National Laboratory, Wind Energy Department, P.O. Box 49, DK-4000 Roskilde (Denmark); Michalke, Gabriele [Darmstadt University, Institute for Electrical Power Systems, Landgraf-Georg-Strasse 4, 64283 Darmstadt (Germany)

2007-07-15

This paper concentrates on the fault ride-through capability of doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) wind turbines. The main attention in the paper is, therefore, drawn to the control of the DFIG wind turbine and of its power converter and to the ability to protect itself without disconnection during grid faults. The paper provides also an overview on the interaction between variable-speed DFIG wind turbines and the power system subjected to disturbances, such as short circuit faults. The dynamic model of DFIG wind turbine includes models for both mechanical components as well as for all electrical components, controllers and for the protection device of DFIG necessary during grid faults. The viewpoint of the paper is to carry out different simulations to provide insight and understanding of the grid fault impact on both DFIG wind turbines and on the power system itself. The dynamic behaviour of DFIG wind turbines during grid faults is simulated and assessed by using a transmission power system generic model developed and delivered by the Danish Transmission System Operator Energinet.dk in the power system simulation toolbox PowerFactory DIgSILENT. The data for the wind turbines are not linked to a specific manufacturer, but are representative for the turbine and generator type used in variable-speed DFIG wind turbines with pitch control. (author)

Annoyance, detection and recognition of wind turbine noise.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Renterghem, Timothy; Bockstael, Annelies; De Weirt, Valentine; Botteldooren, Dick

2013-07-01

Annoyance, recognition and detection of noise from a single wind turbine were studied by means of a two-stage listening experiment with 50 participants with normal hearing abilities. In-situ recordings made at close distance from a 1.8-MW wind turbine operating at 22 rpm were mixed with road traffic noise, and processed to simulate indoor sound pressure levels at LAeq 40 dBA. In a first part, where people were unaware of the true purpose of the experiment, samples were played during a quiet leisure activity. Under these conditions, pure wind turbine noise gave very similar annoyance ratings as unmixed highway noise at the same equivalent level, while annoyance by local road traffic noise was significantly higher. In a second experiment, listeners were asked to identify the sample containing wind turbine noise in a paired comparison test. The detection limit of wind turbine noise in presence of highway noise was estimated to be as low as a signal-to-noise ratio of -23 dBA. When mixed with local road traffic, such a detection limit could not be determined. These findings support that noticing the sound could be an important aspect of wind turbine noise annoyance at the low equivalent levels typically observed indoors in practice. Participants that easily recognized wind-turbine(-like) sounds could detect wind turbine noise better when submersed in road traffic noise. Recognition of wind turbine sounds is also linked to higher annoyance. Awareness of the source is therefore a relevant aspect of wind turbine noise perception which is consistent with previous research. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Active control: Wind turbine model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bindner, Henrik

1999-07-01

This report is a part of the reporting of the work done in the project `Active Control of Wind Turbines`. This project aim is to develop a simulation model for design of control systems for turbines with pitch control and to use that model to design controllers. This report describes the model developed for controller design and analysis. Emphasis has been put on establishment of simple models describing the dynamic behavior of the wind turbine in adequate details for controller design. This has been done with extensive use of measurements as the basis for selection of model complexity and model validation as well as parameter estimation. The model includes a simple model of the structure of the turbine including tower and flapwise blade bending, a detailed model of the gear box and induction generator, a linearized aerodynamic model including modelling of induction lag and actuator and sensor models. The models are all formulated as linear differential equations. The models are validated through comparisons with measurements performed on a Vestas WD 34 400 kW wind turbine. It is shown from a control point of view simple linear models can be used to describe the dynamic behavior of a pitch controlled wind turbine. The model and the measurements corresponds well in the relevant frequency range. The developed model is therefore applicable for controller design. (au) EFP-91. 18 ills., 22 refs.

Tjæreborg Wind Turbine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Øye, Stig

1991-01-01

This paper presents results from the fourth measurement camapign at the Tjæreborg (Tjaereborg) WInd Turbine during operation with stepwise pitch angle changes. The measurements cover one hour of operation at wind speeds between 7 and 10 m/s aceraging approximately 8.7 m/s.......This paper presents results from the fourth measurement camapign at the Tjæreborg (Tjaereborg) WInd Turbine during operation with stepwise pitch angle changes. The measurements cover one hour of operation at wind speeds between 7 and 10 m/s aceraging approximately 8.7 m/s....

Operating wind turbines in strong wind conditions by using feedforward-feedback control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng, Ju; Sheng, Wen Zhong

2014-01-01

Due to the increasing penetration of wind energy into power systems, it becomes critical to reduce the impact of wind energy on the stability and reliability of the overall power system. In precedent works, Shen and his co-workers developed a re-designed operation schema to run wind turbines in strong wind conditions based on optimization method and standard PI feedback control, which can prevent the typical shutdowns of wind turbines when reaching the cut-out wind speed. In this paper, a new control strategy combing the standard PI feedback control with feedforward controls using the optimization results is investigated for the operation of variable-speed pitch-regulated wind turbines in strong wind conditions. It is shown that the developed control strategy is capable of smoothening the power output of wind turbine and avoiding its sudden showdown at high wind speeds without worsening the loads on rotor and blades

Inverse load calculation procedure for offshore wind turbines and application to a 5-MW wind turbine support structure: Inverse load calculation procedure for offshore wind turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pahn, T. [Pahn Ingenieure, Am Seegraben 17b 03051 Cottbus Germany; Rolfes, R. [Institut f?r Statik und Dynamik, Leibniz Universit?t Hannover, Appelstra?e 9A 30167 Hannover Germany; Jonkman, J. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 15013 Denver West Parkway Golden Colorado 80401 USA

2017-02-20

A significant number of wind turbines installed today have reached their designed service life of 20 years, and the number will rise continuously. Most of these turbines promise a more economical performance if they operate for more than 20 years. To assess a continued operation, we have to analyze the load-bearing capacity of the support structure with respect to site-specific conditions. Such an analysis requires the comparison of the loads used for the design of the support structure with the actual loads experienced. This publication presents the application of a so-called inverse load calculation to a 5-MW wind turbine support structure. The inverse load calculation determines external loads derived from a mechanical description of the support structure and from measured structural responses. Using numerical simulations with the software fast, we investigated the influence of wind-turbine-specific effects such as the wind turbine control or the dynamic interaction between the loads and the support structure to the presented inverse load calculation procedure. fast is used to study the inverse calculation of simultaneously acting wind and wave loads, which has not been carried out until now. Furthermore, the application of the inverse load calculation procedure to a real 5-MW wind turbine support structure is demonstrated. In terms of this practical application, setting up the mechanical system for the support structure using measurement data is discussed. The paper presents results for defined load cases and assesses the accuracy of the inversely derived dynamic loads for both the simulations and the practical application.

Smart Wind Turbine : Analysis and Autonomous Flap

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bernhammer, L.O.

2015-01-01

Wind turbines convert kinetic energy of the wind into electrical energy. Unfortunately, this process is everything but constant, as the wind source shows large fluctuations with high and low frequencies. This turbulence, together with the wind shear and yawed inflow, excites the turbine structure,

Small Wind Turbine Applications: Current Practice in Colorado

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Green, Jim

1999-01-01

Numerous small wind turbines are being used by homeowners in Colorado. Some of these installations are quite recent while others date back to the federal tax-credit era of the early 1980s. Through visits with small wind turbine owners in Colorado, I have developed case studies of six small wind energy applications focusing on the wind turbine technology, wind turbine siting, the power systems and electric loads, regulatory issues, and motivations about wind energy. These case studies offer a glimpse into the current state-of-the-art of small-scale wind energy and provide some insight into issues affecting development of a wider market

Design and development of nautilus whorl-wind turbine

Science.gov (United States)

R, Pramod; Kumar, G. B. Veeresh; Harsha, P. Sai Sri; Kumar, K. A. Udaya

2017-07-01

Our life is directly related to energy and its consumption, and the issues of energy research are extremely important and highly sensitive. Scientists and researchers attempt to accelerate solutions for wind energy generation, design parameters under the influence of novel policies adopted for energy management and the concerns for global warming and climate change. The objective of this study is to design a small wind turbine that is optimized for the constraints that come with residential use. The study is aimed at designing a wind turbine for tapping the low speed wind in urban locations. The design process includes the selection of the wind turbine type and the determination of the blade airfoil, finding the maximum drag model and manufacturing of the turbine economically. In this study, the Nautilus turbine is modeled, simulated and the characteristic curves are plotted. The cutting in wind speed for the turbine is around 1m/s. The turbine rotates in a range of 20 rpm to 500 rpm at wind speeds 1m/s to 10m/s On a below average day at noon where the wind speed are usually low the turbine recorded an rpm of 120 (average value) at 4m/s wind speeds. This study focuses on a computational fluid dynamics analysis of compressible radially outward flow.

European wind turbine testing procedure developments. Task 1: Measurement method to verify wind turbine performance characteristics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hunter, R.; Friis Pedersen, Troels; Dunbabin, P.

2001-01-01

There is currently significant standardisation work ongoing in the context of wind farm energy yield warranty assessment and wind turbine power performance testing. A standards maintenance team is revising the current IEC (EN) 61400-12 Ed 1 standard forwind turbine power performance testing....... The standard is being divided into four documents. Two of them are drafted for evaluation and verification of complete wind farms and of individual wind turbines within wind farms. This document, and the project itdescribes, has been designed to help provide a solid technical foundation for this revised...... standard. The work was wide ranging and addressed 'grey' areas of knowledge, regarding existing methodologies or to carry out basic research in support offundamentally new procedures. The work has given rise to recommendations in all areas of the work, including site calibration procedures, nacelle...

Illustration of Modern Wind Turbine Ancillary Services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Margaris, Ioannis D.; Hansen, Anca Daniela; Sørensen, Poul Ejnar

2010-01-01

Increasing levels of wind power penetration in modern power systems has set intensively high standards with respect to wind turbine technology during the last years. Security issues have become rather critical and operation of wind farms as conventional power plants is becoming a necessity as wind...... turbines replace conventional units on the production side. This article includes a review of the basic control issues regarding the capability of the Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) wind turbine configuration to fulfill the basic technical requirements set by the system operators and contribute...

The Load Level of Modern Wind Turbines according to IEC 61400-1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Freudenreich, K; Argyriadis, K

2007-01-01

The paper describes some effects on the load level of state-of-the art multi megawatt wind turbines introduced by the new edition of the standard IEC 61400-1:2005 W ind Turbines - Part 1: Design requirements . Compared to the previous edition, especially the extreme load determination has been modified by applying stochastic and statistical analyses. Within this paper the effect on the overall load level of wind turbines is demonstrated and occurring problems are discussed. Load simulations have been carried out for four state-of-the-art multi-megawatt wind turbines of different design concepts and from different manufacturers. The blade root bending moments and tip deflection have been determined by applying different extrapolation methods. Advantages and disadvantages of these methods and tail fittings for different load components and wind turbine technologies are discussed and interpreted. Further on, the application of the extreme turbulence model is demonstrated. The dependence of the load level on the turbulence intensity and control system, as well as the interaction with extrapolated loads is discussed and limitations outlined. The obtained load level is compared to the overall load level of the turbines according to the previous edition of the standard, IEC 61400-1:1999

Model-Based Control of a Ballast-Stabilized Floating Wind Turbine Exposed to Wind and Waves

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Søren

2013-01-01

wind turbine, for water depths beyond 50 meters where winds are stronger and less turbulent. A floating wind turbine is subject to not only aerodynamics and wind induced loads, but also to hy-drodynamics and wave induced loads. In contrast to a bottom fixed wind turbine, the floating structure......, the hydrodynamics and the loads change the dynamic behavior of a floating wind turbine. Consequently, conventional wind turbine control cause instabilities on floating wind turbines. This work addresses the control of a floating spar buoy wind turbine, and focuses on the impact of the additional platform dynamics....... A time varying control model is presented based on the wind speed and wave frequency. Estimates of the wind speed and wave frequency are used as scheduling variables in a gain scheduled linear quadratic controller to improve the electrical power production while reducing fatigue. To address the problem...

Improved Formulation for the Optimization of Wind Turbine Placement in a Wind Farm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zong Woo Geem

2013-01-01

Full Text Available As an alternative to fossil fuels, wind can be considered because it is a renewable and greenhouse gas-free natural resource. When wind power is generated by wind turbines in a wind farm, the optimal placement of turbines is critical because different layouts produce different efficiencies. The objective of the wind turbine placement problem is to maximize the generated power while minimizing the cost in installing the turbines. This study proposes an efficient optimization formulation for the optimal layout of wind turbine placements under the resources (e.g., number of turbines or budget limit by introducing corresponding constraints. The proposed formulation gave users more conveniences in considering resources and budget bounds. After performing the optimization, results were compared using two different methods (branch and bound method and genetic algorithm and two different objective functions.

Vertical axis wind turbine airfoil

Science.gov (United States)

Krivcov, Vladimir; Krivospitski, Vladimir; Maksimov, Vasili; Halstead, Richard; Grahov, Jurij Vasiljevich

2012-12-18

A vertical axis wind turbine airfoil is described. The wind turbine airfoil can include a leading edge, a trailing edge, an upper curved surface, a lower curved surface, and a centerline running between the upper surface and the lower surface and from the leading edge to the trailing edge. The airfoil can be configured so that the distance between the centerline and the upper surface is the same as the distance between the centerline and the lower surface at all points along the length of the airfoil. A plurality of such airfoils can be included in a vertical axis wind turbine. These airfoils can be vertically disposed and can rotate about a vertical axis.

Diagnosis of wind turbine rotor system

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Niemann, Hans Henrik; Mirzaei, Mahmood; Henriksen, Lars Christian

2016-01-01

is based on available standard sensors on wind turbines. The method can be used both on-line as well as off-line. Faults or changes in the rotor system will result in asymmetries, which can be monitored and diagnosed. This can be done by using the multi-blade coordinate transformation. Changes in the rotor......This paper describes a model free method for monitoring and fault diagnosis of the elements in a rotor system for a wind turbine. The diagnosis as well as the monitoring is done without using any model of the wind turbine and the applied controller or a description of the wind profile. The method...

European wind turbine testing procedure developments. Task 1: Measurement method to verify wind turbine performance characteristics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hunter, R.; Friis Pedersen, T.; Dunbabin, P.; Antoniou, I.; Frandsen, S.; Klug, H.; Albers, A.; Lee, W.K.

2001-01-01

There is currently significant standardisation work ongoing in the context of wind farm energy yield warranty assessment and wind turbine power performance testing. A standards maintenance team is revising the current IEC (EN) 61400-12 Ed 1 standard for wind turbine power performance testing. The standard is being divided into four documents. Two of them are drafted for evaluation and verification of complete wind farms and of individual wind turbines within wind farms. This document, and the project it describes, has been designed to help provide a solid technical foundation for this revised standard. The work was wide ranging and addressed 'grey' areas of knowledge, regarding existing methodologies or to carry out basic research in support of fundamentally new procedures. The work has given rise to recommendations in all areas of the work, including site calibration procedures, nacelle anemometry, multi-variate regression analysis and density normalisation. (au)

Powering the Future: A Wind Turbine Design Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Pries, Caitlin Hicks; Hughes, Julie

2011-01-01

Nothing brings out the best in eighth-grade physical science students quite like an engineering challenge. The wind turbine design challenge described in this article has proved to be a favorite among students with its focus on teamwork and creativity and its (almost) sneaky reinforcement of numerous physics concepts. For this activity, pairs of…

A Reliability Based Model for Wind Turbine Selection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.K. Rajeevan

2013-06-01

Full Text Available A wind turbine generator output at a specific site depends on many factors, particularly cut- in, rated and cut-out wind speed parameters. Hence power output varies from turbine to turbine. The objective of this paper is to develop a mathematical relationship between reliability and wind power generation. The analytical computation of monthly wind power is obtained from weibull statistical model using cubic mean cube root of wind speed. Reliability calculation is based on failure probability analysis. There are many different types of wind turbinescommercially available in the market. From reliability point of view, to get optimum reliability in power generation, it is desirable to select a wind turbine generator which is best suited for a site. The mathematical relationship developed in this paper can be used for site-matching turbine selection in reliability point of view.

Design optimization of offshore wind farms with multiple types of wind turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Feng, Ju; Shen, Wen Zhong

2017-01-01

Most studies on offshore wind farm design assume a uniform wind farm, which consists of an identical type of wind turbines. In order to further reduce the cost of energy, we investigate the design of non-uniform offshore wind farms, i.e., wind farms with multiple types of wind turbines and hub-he...

Alcoa wind turbines

Science.gov (United States)

Ai, D. K.

1979-01-01

An overview of Alcoa's wind energy program is given with emphasis on the the development of a low cost, reliable Darrieus Vertical Axis Wind Turbine System. The design layouts and drawings for fabrication are now complete, while fabrication and installation to utilize the design are expected to begin shortly.

Lidar-Enhanced Wind Turbine Control: Past, Present, and Future

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scholbrock, Andrew; Fleming, Paul; Schlipf, David; Wright, Alan; Johnson, Kathryn; Wang, Na

2016-08-01

The main challenges in harvesting energy from the wind arise from the unknown incoming turbulent wind field. Balancing the competing interests of reduction in structural loads and increasing energy production is the goal of a wind turbine controller to reduce the cost of producing wind energy. Conventional wind turbines use feedback methods to optimize these goals, reacting to wind disturbances after they have already impacted the wind turbine. Lidar sensors offer a means to provide additional inputs to a wind turbine controller, enabling new techniques to improve control methods, allowing a controller to actuate a wind turbine in anticipation of an incoming wind disturbance. This paper will look at the development of lidar-enhanced controls and how they have been used for various turbine load reductions with pitch actuation, as well as increased energy production with improved yaw control. Ongoing work will also be discussed to show that combining pitch and torque control using feedforward nonlinear model predictive control can lead to both reduced loads and increased energy production. Future work is also proposed on extending individual wind turbine controls to the wind plant level and determining how lidars can be used for control methods to further lower the cost of wind energy by minimizing wake impacts in a wind farm.

Frequency Based Fault Detection in Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Odgaard, Peter Fogh; Stoustrup, Jakob

2014-01-01

In order to obtain lower cost of energy for wind turbines fault detection and accommodation is important. Expensive condition monitoring systems are often used to monitor the condition of rotating and vibrating system parts. One example is the gearbox in a wind turbine. This system is operated...... in parallel to the control system, using different computers and additional often expensive sensors. In this paper a simple filter based algorithm is proposed to detect changes in a resonance frequency in a system, exemplified with faults resulting in changes in the resonance frequency in the wind turbine...... gearbox. Only the generator speed measurement which is available in even simple wind turbine control systems is used as input. Consequently this proposed scheme does not need additional sensors and computers for monitoring the condition of the wind gearbox. The scheme is evaluated on a wide-spread wind...

Probabilistic Modeling of Wind Turbine Drivetrain Components

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rafsanjani, Hesam Mirzaei

Wind energy is one of several energy sources in the world and a rapidly growing industry in the energy sector. When placed in offshore or onshore locations, wind turbines are exposed to wave excitations, highly dynamic wind loads and/or the wakes from other wind turbines. Therefore, most components...... in a wind turbine experience highly dynamic and time-varying loads. These components may fail due to wear or fatigue, and this can lead to unplanned shutdown repairs that are very costly. The design by deterministic methods using safety factors is generally unable to account for the many uncertainties. Thus......, a reliability assessment should be based on probabilistic methods where stochastic modeling of failures is performed. This thesis focuses on probabilistic models and the stochastic modeling of the fatigue life of the wind turbine drivetrain. Hence, two approaches are considered for stochastic modeling...

On System Identification of Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirkegaard, Poul Henning; Perisic, Nevena; Pedersen, B.J.

Recently several methods have been proposed for the system identification of wind turbines which can be considered as a linear time-varying system due to the operating conditions. For the identification of linear wind turbine models, either black-box or grey-box identification can be used....... The operational model analysis (OMA) methodology can provide accurate estimates of the natural frequencies, damping ratios and mode shapes of the systems as long as the measurements have a low noise to signal ratio. However, in order to take information about the wind turbine into account a grey...

Health Effects Related to Wind Turbine Noise Exposure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt, Jesper Hvass; Klokker, Mads

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Wind turbine noise exposure and suspected health-related effects thereof have attracted substantial attention. Various symptoms such as sleep-related problems, headache, tinnitus and vertigo have been described by subjects suspected of having been exposed to wind turbine noise...... existing statistically-significant evidence indicating any association between wind turbine noise exposure and tinnitus, hearing loss, vertigo or headache. LIMITATIONS: Selection bias and information bias of differing magnitudes were found to be present in all current studies investigating wind turbine...

Frequency weighted model predictive control of wind turbine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klauco, Martin; Poulsen, Niels Kjølstad; Mirzaei, Mahmood

2013-01-01

This work is focused on applying frequency weighted model predictive control (FMPC) on three blade horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT). A wind turbine is a very complex, non-linear system influenced by a stochastic wind speed variation. The reduced dynamics considered in this work are the rotatio...... predictive controller are presented. Statistical comparison between frequency weighted MPC, standard MPC and baseline PI controller is shown as well.......This work is focused on applying frequency weighted model predictive control (FMPC) on three blade horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT). A wind turbine is a very complex, non-linear system influenced by a stochastic wind speed variation. The reduced dynamics considered in this work...... are the rotational degree of freedom of the rotor and the tower for-aft movement. The MPC design is based on a receding horizon policy and a linearised model of the wind turbine. Due to the change of dynamics according to wind speed, several linearisation points must be considered and the control design adjusted...

Dynamic Phase Compensation of wind turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Soerensen, P.; Skaarup, J.; Iov, Florin

2004-01-01

This paper describes a dynamic phase compensation unit for a wind turbine with directly connected induction generators. The compensation unit is based on thyristor switched capacitors, where conventional wind turbine compensations use mechanical contactors to switch the capacitors. The unit modules...

Self-starting aerodynamics analysis of vertical axis wind turbine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianyang Zhu

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Vertical axis wind turbine is a special type of wind-force electric generator which is capable of working in the complicated wind environment. The self-starting aerodynamics is one of the most important considerations for this kind of turbine. This article aims at providing a systematic synthesis on the self-starting aerodynamic characteristics of vertical axis wind turbine based on the numerical analysis approach. First, the physical model of vertical axis wind turbine and its parameter definitions are presented. Secondary, the interaction model between the vertical axis wind turbine and fluid is developed by using the weak coupling approach; the numerical data of this model are then compared with the wind tunnel experimental data to show its feasibility. Third, the effects of solidity and fixed pitch angle on the self-starting aerodynamic characteristics of the vertical axis wind turbine are analyzed systematically. Finally, the quantification effects of the solidity and fixed pitch angle on the self-starting performance of the turbine can be obtained. The analysis in this study will provide straightforward physical insight into the self-starting aerodynamic characteristics of vertical axis wind turbine.

Effects of Armature Winding Segmentation with Multiple Converters on the Short Circuit Torque of 10-MW Superconducting Wind Turbine Generators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Dong; Polinder, Henk; Abrahamsen, Asger Bech

2017-01-01

Superconducting synchronous generators (SCSGs) are drawing more attention in large direct-drive wind turbine applications. Despite low weight and compactness, the short circuit torque of an SCSG may be too high for wind turbine constructions due to a large magnetic air gap of an SCSG. This paper...... aims at assessing the effects of armature winding segmentation on reducing the short circuit torque of 10-MW SCSGs. A concept of armature winding segmentation with multiple power electronic converters is presented. Four SCSG designs using different topologies are examined. Results show that armature...... winding segmentation effectively reduce the short circuit torque in all the four SCSG designs when one segment is shorted at the terminal....

The aerodynamics of wind turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Jens Nørkær; Mikkelsen, Robert Flemming; Troldborg, Niels

2013-01-01

In the paper we present state-of-the-art of research in wind turbine aerodynamics. We start be giving a brief historical review and a survey over aerodynamic research in wind energy. Next, we focus on some recent research results obtained by our wind energy group at Department of Mechanical...... Engineering at DTU. In particular, we show some new results on the classical problem of the ideal rotor and present a series of new results from an on-going research project dealing with the modelling and simulation of turbulent flow structures in the wake behind wind turbines....

Prognostics and Health Management of Wind Turbines: Current Status and Future Opportunities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sheng, Shuangwen

2015-12-14

Prognostics and health management is not a new concept. It has been used in relatively mature industries, such as aviation and electronics, to help improve operation and maintenance (O&M) practices. In the wind industry, prognostics and health management is relatively new. The level for both wind industry applications and research and development (R&D) has increased in recent years because of its potential for reducing O&M cost of wind power, especially for turbines installed offshore. The majority of wind industry application efforts has been focused on diagnosis based on various sensing and feature extraction techniques. For R&D, activities are being conducted in almost all areas of a typical prognostics and health management framework (i.e., sensing, data collection, feature extraction, diagnosis, prognosis, and maintenance scheduling). This presentation provides an overview of the current status of wind turbine prognostics and health management that focuses on drivetrain condition monitoring through vibration, oil debris, and oil condition analysis techniques. It also discusses turbine component health diagnosis through data mining and modeling based on supervisory control and data acquisition system data. Finally, it provides a brief survey of R&D activities for wind turbine prognostics and health management, along with future opportunities.

Mapping of grid faults and grid codes[Wind turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iov, F. [Aalborg Univ., Inst. of Energy Technology (Denmark); Hansen, Anca D.; Soerensen, Poul; Cutululis, N.A. [Risoe National Lab. - DTU, Wind Enegy Dept., Roskilde (Denmark)

2007-06-15

The objective of this project is to investigate into the consequences of the new grid connection requirements for the fatigue and extreme loads of wind turbines. The goal is also to clarify and define possible new directions in the certification process of power plant wind turbines, namely wind turbines, which participate actively in the stabilisation of power systems. Practical experience shows that there is a need for such investigations. The grid connection requirements for wind turbines have increased significantly during the last 5-10 years. Especially the requirements for wind turbines to stay connected to the grid during and after voltage sags, imply potential challenges in the design of wind turbines. These requirements pose challenges for the design of both the electrical system and the mechanical structure of wind turbines. An overview over the frequency of grid faults and the grid connection requirements in different relevant countries is done in this report. The most relevant study cases for the quantification of the loads' impact on the wind turbines' lifetime are defined. The goal of this report is to present a mapping of different grid fault types and their frequency in different countries. The report provides also a detailed overview of the Low Voltage Ride-Through Capabilities for wind turbines in different relevant countries. The most relevant study cases for the quantification of the loads' impact on the wind turbines' lifetime are defined. (au)

Grid impact of variable-speed wind turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Larsson, Aa [Chalmers Univ. of Technology, Dept. of Electric Power Engineering, Goeteborg (Sweden); Soerensen, P [Risoe National Lab., Roskilde (Denmark); Santjer, F [German Wind Energy Inst., DEWI, Wilhelmshaven (Germany)

1999-03-01

In this paper the power quality of variable-speed wind turbines equipped with forced-commutated inverters is investigated. Measurements have been taken on the same type of variable-speed wind turbines in Germany and Sweden. The measurements have been analysed according to existing IEC standards. Special attention has been paid to the aggregation of several wind turbines on flicker emission and harmonics. The aggregation has been compared with the summation laws used in the draft IEC 61400-21 `Power Quality Requirements for Grid Connected wind turbines`. The methods for calculating and summing flicker proposed by IEC Standards are reliable. Harmonics and inter-harmonics are treated in IEC 61000-4-7 and IEC 61000-3-6. The methods for summing harmonics and inter-harmonics in IEC 61000-3-6 are applicable to wind turbines. In order to obtain a correct magnitude of the frequency components, the use of a well-defined window width, according to IEC 61000-4-7 Amendment 1 is of a great importance. (au)

Industrial wind turbines and adverse health effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffery, Roy D; Krogh, Carmen M E; Horner, Brett

2014-01-01

Some people living in the environs of industrial wind turbines (IWTs) report experiencing adverse health and socioeconomic effects. This review considers the hypothesis that annoyance from audible IWTs is the cause of these adverse health effects. We searched PubMed and Google Scholar for articles published since 2000 that included the terms "wind turbine health," "wind turbine infrasound," "wind turbine annoyance," "noise annoyance" or "low frequency noise" in the title or abstract. Industrial wind turbines produce sound that is perceived to be more annoying than other sources of sound. Reported effects from exposure to IWTs are consistent with well-known stress effects from persistent unwanted sound. If placed too close to residents, IWTs can negatively affect the physical, mental and social well-being of people. There is sufficient evidence to support the conclusion that noise from audible IWTs is a potential cause of health effects. Inaudible low-frequency noise and infrasound from IWTs cannot be ruled out as plausible causes of health effects.

Wind Turbine Control: Robust Model Based Approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mirzaei, Mahmood

. Wind turbines are the most common wind energy conversion systems and are hoped to be able to compete economically with fossil fuel power plants in near future. However this demands better technology to reduce the price of electricity production. Control can play an essential part in this context....... This is because, on the one hand, control methods can decrease the cost of energy by keeping the turbine close to its maximum efficiency. On the other hand, they can reduce structural fatigue and therefore increase the lifetime of the wind turbine. The power produced by a wind turbine is proportional...... to the square of its rotor radius, therefore it seems reasonable to increase the size of the wind turbine in order to capture more power. However as the size increases, the mass of the blades increases by cube of the rotor size. This means in order to keep structural feasibility and mass of the whole structure...

Estimating Wind and Wave Induced Forces On a Floating Wind Turbine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henriksen, Lars Christian; Natarajan, Anand; Kim, Taeseong

2013-01-01

-principles derived state space model of the floating wind turbine. The ability to estimate aero- and hydrodynamic states could prove crucial for the performance of model-based control methods applied on floating wind turbines. Furthermore, two types of water kinematics have been compared two determine whether......In this work, the basic model for a spar buoy floating wind turbine [1], used by an extended Kalman filter, is presented and results concerning wind speed and wave force estimations are shown. The wind speed and aerodynamic forces are estimated using an extended Kalman filter based on a first...... or not linear and nonlinear water kinematics lead to significantly different loads....

Wind turbine power performance verification in complex terrain and wind farms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Friis Pedersen, Troels; Gjerding, S.; Enevoldsen, P.

2002-01-01

is a power performance verification procedure for individual wind turbines. The third is a power performance measurement procedure of whole wind farms, and the fourth is a power performance measurement procedurefor non-grid (small) wind turbines. This report presents work that was made to support the basis......The IEC/EN 61400-12 Ed 1 standard for wind turbine power performance testing is being revised. The standard will be divided into four documents. The first one of these is more or less a revision of the existing document on power performance measurementson individual wind turbines. The second one...... then been investigated in more detail. The work has given rise to a range of conclusionsand recommendations regarding: guaranties on power curves in complex terrain; investors and bankers experience with verification of power curves; power performance in relation to regional correction curves for Denmark...

Power Performance Test Report for the SWIFT Wind Turbine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mendoza, I.; Hur, J.

2012-12-01

This report summarizes the results of a power performance test that NREL conducted on the SWIFT wind turbine. This test was conducted in accordance with the International Electrotechnical Commission's (IEC) standard, Wind Turbine Generator Systems Part 12: Power Performance Measurements of Electricity Producing Wind Turbines, IEC 61400-12-1 Ed.1.0, 2005-12. However, because the SWIFT is a small turbine as defined by IEC, NREL also followed Annex H that applies to small wind turbines. In these summary results, wind speed is normalized to sea-level air density.

Annoyance rating of wind turbine noise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iredale, R.A.

1992-01-01

This paper proposes a simple criterion for noise limitation of wind turbines: 'The La A50 from a Wind Farm should not exceeding the L A50 of the wind generated background plus 5dB at any place of potential complaint'. This criterion is then examined and developed in the light of experience to date with turbine noise complaint and procedures. (author)

Numerical simulations of flow fields through conventionally controlled wind turbines and wind farms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yilmaz, Ali Emre; Meyers, Johan

2014-01-01

In the current study, an Actuator-Line Model (ALM) is implemented in our in-house pseudo-spectral LES solver SP-WIND, including a turbine controller. Below rated wind speed, turbines are controlled by a standard-torque-controller aiming at maximum power extraction from the wind. Above rated wind speed, the extracted power is limited by a blade pitch controller which is based on a proportional-integral type control algorithm. This model is used to perform a series of single turbine and wind farm simulations using the NREL 5MW turbine. First of all, we focus on below-rated wind speed, and investigate the effect of the farm layout on the controller calibration curves. These calibration curves are expressed in terms of nondimensional torque and rotational speed, using the mean turbine-disk velocity as reference. We show that this normalization leads to calibration curves that are independent of wind speed, but the calibration curves do depend on the farm layout, in particular for tightly spaced farms. Compared to turbines in a lone-standing set-up, turbines in a farm experience a different wind distribution over the rotor due to the farm boundary-layer interaction. We demonstrate this for fully developed wind-farm boundary layers with aligned turbine arrangements at different spacings (5D, 7D, 9D). Further we also compare calibration curves obtained from full farm simulations with calibration curves that can be obtained at a much lower cost using a minimal flow unit

Power Electronics as key technology in wind turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blaabjerg, Frede

2005-01-01

This paper discuss the development in wind turbines in a two-decade perspective looking at the technology based on track records. Different power electronic topologies for interfacing the wind turbine to the grid are discussed and related to the possibility for the wind turbine to act as a power...

Reliability-Based Optimization of Wind Turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, John Dalsgaard; Tarp-Johansen, N.J.

2004-01-01

Reliability-based optimization of the main tower and monopile foundation of an offshore wind turbine is considered. Different formulations are considered of the objective function including benefits and building and failure costs of the wind turbine. Also different reconstruction policies in case...

Modern Control Design for Flexible Wind Turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wright, A. D.

2004-07-01

Control can improve energy capture and reduce dynamic loads in wind turbines. In the 1970s and 1980s, wind turbines used classical control designs to regulate power and speed. The methods used, however, were not always successful. Modern turbines are larger, mounted on taller towers, and more dynamically active than their predecessors. Control systems to regulate turbine power and maintain stable, closed-loop behavior in the presence of turbulent wind inflow will be critical for these designs. This report applies modern state-space control design methods to a two-bladed teetering hub upwind machine at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC), which is managed by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado. The design objective is to regulate turbine speed and enhance damping in several low-damped flexible modes of the turbine. Starting with simple control algorithms based on linear models, complexity is added incrementally until the desired performance is firmly established.

Vertical axis wind turbines: a survey and bibliography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abramovich, H

1987-01-01

The stimulus for the development of modern, big wind turbines has been the world-wide oil crisis during the seventies. Although the horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT) was the most popular type of wind turbine the Darrieus vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) has been recognized as a machine with competitive economic potential. The state of the art of the VAWT is reviewed. The wind turbine carrying the name of Darrieus was first proposed by the French inventor in 1925. His original patent covered a range of vertical-axis configurations but the term 'Darrieus' is now generally associated with the curved-blade geometry. In 1966 two researchers at the Canadian NRC again raised the idea of both the straight and curved-blade versions of the Darrieus VAWT.

Effect of Second-Order Hydrodynamics on a Floating Offshore Wind Turbine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roald, L.; Jonkman, J.; Robertson, A.

2014-05-01

The design of offshore floating wind turbines uses design codes that can simulate the entire coupled system behavior. At the present, most codes include only first-order hydrodynamics, which induce forces and motions varying with the same frequency as the incident waves. Effects due to second- and higher-order hydrodynamics are often ignored in the offshore industry, because the forces induced typically are smaller than the first-order forces. In this report, first- and second-order hydrodynamic analysis used in the offshore oil and gas industry is applied to two different wind turbine concepts--a spar and a tension leg platform.

Quantifying the hurricane risk to offshore wind turbines.

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, Stephen; Jaramillo, Paulina; Small, Mitchell J; Grossmann, Iris; Apt, Jay

2012-02-28

The U.S. Department of Energy has estimated that if the United States is to generate 20% of its electricity from wind, over 50 GW will be required from shallow offshore turbines. Hurricanes are a potential risk to these turbines. Turbine tower buckling has been observed in typhoons, but no offshore wind turbines have yet been built in the United States. We present a probabilistic model to estimate the number of turbines that would be destroyed by hurricanes in an offshore wind farm. We apply this model to estimate the risk to offshore wind farms in four representative locations in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal waters of the United States. In the most vulnerable areas now being actively considered by developers, nearly half the turbines in a farm are likely to be destroyed in a 20-y period. Reasonable mitigation measures--increasing the design reference wind load, ensuring that the nacelle can be turned into rapidly changing winds, and building most wind plants in the areas with lower risk--can greatly enhance the probability that offshore wind can help to meet the United States' electricity needs.