Abstract
Rain-induced leading-edge erosion of wind turbine blades is associated with high repair and maintenance costs. For efficient operation and maintenance, erosion models are required that provide estimates of blade coating lifetime at a real scale. In this study, a statistical rainfall model is established that describes probabilistic distributions of rain parameters that are critical for site-specific leading-edge erosion assessment. A new droplet size distribution (DSD) is determined based on two years’ onshore rainfall data of an inland site in the Netherlands and the obtained DSD is compared with those from the literature. Joint probability distribution functions of rain intensities and droplet sizes are also established for this site as well as for a coastal site in the Netherlands. Then, the application of the proposed model is presented for a 5 MW wind turbine, where the model is combined with wind statistics along with an analytical surface fatigue model that describes lab-scale coating degradation. The expected lifetime of the blade coating is found three to four times less for the wind turbine operating at the coastal site than for the inland site - primarily due to rainfall at higher wind speeds. Further, the robustness of the proposed model is found consistent with varying data periods used for the analyses.
Highlights
A series of steps will be considered such as determining a new droplet size distribution (DSD) based on two years of onshore rainfall data measured by KNMI using the Thies Clima disdrometer at the inland De Bilt site in the Netherlands
This section is divided into two parts, where the first part (A) deals with the discussion of results related to the development of the probabilistic rainfall model whereas the second part (B) discusses the results related to the application of the proposed model where expected leading-edge lifetime of the coating system is calculated for both the considered sites
The present paper proposed a probabilistic rainfall model that enables site-specific assessment of leading-edge lifetime of the blade coating system through the probabilistic distributions of rain and wind conditions for a given wind turbine site
Summary
The continuous demand in the growth of renewable sources of power production has led to rapid growth in the wind energy sector Wind turbines, both at onshore and offshore locations, are in high demand and it is expected that by 2050, half of the EU's1 electricity demand will be met by wind energy alone [1]. Costly repair and maintenance work is imperative to be performed in order to maintain the design power curve of the wind turbine, thereby contributing to the overall increase in the cost of energy. It has been reported in Refs. [10,11] that LEE repair and maintenance expenses cost the European offshore wind turbine sector over £56 million annually, and LEE of WTBs requires urgent attention
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