Wind Turbine Installation Research Articles

Iceland wind farm assessment case study and development: An empirical data from wind and wind turbine

This study aimed to apply empirical data to assess wind energy production at the Búrfell site in Iceland based on the E44 turbine model. The empirical data are 5 years of recordings at the site location by the Iceland Metrological office. The wind speed data are measured at a 10 m height from 2017 to 2021. There are two E44 wind turbines test installed on the site. In the previous studies, the wind farm capacity and Levelized cost of energy (LCOE) were reported without investigating the wake loss model and its impacts on LCOE and have an estimation applied. The previous research was based on the two installed wind turbines at the site, which are located in a straight line and perpendicular to the prevailing wind speed. This study applies the Jensen-Katic model to investigate wake loss. Downwind and crosswind ten-rotor diameters and five-rotor diameters are calculated respectively as the best options. Afterward, an appropriate number of wind turbines is suggested for 80MW production. In addition, this study's optimum capacity factor (CF) is 26.08%, which was reported at 37.9% - 38.38% before. On average, the turbines produce less than 30% of their rated power, which has been reported at 38.15% in prior studies. This study presents the LCOE as equal to 0.0659 USD/kWh, which is less than 0.0703 USD/kWh in the previous studies and the LCOE reported by the 2020 LCOE European report. The obtained LCOE in this study is based on the weighted average cost of capital in the energy project by Landsvirkjun, the national power company of Iceland. The obtained result from the model used, which matched the empirical measurements, displays Iceland's best rank for wind energy LCOE metric among European countries. The proposed method provides a vision to use the wake loss model output in deep learning training to predict power production, leading to a sustainable and reliable power grid.

Load identification of a 2.5 MW wind turbine tower using Kalman filtering techniques and BDS data

The rapid increase in the number of wind turbine installations and operations, is increasing the importance of the health monitoring of these wind turbines. To assess the remaining service life of a wind turbine, continuous monitoring of the internal forces acting on the critical locations of fatigue in the structure is required. However, a large number of sensors are usually required for the comprehensive determination of the internal force at a site-specific location; additionally, these sensors cannot be placed in locations with strong stress or strain gradients. Therefore, in this paper, a strategy for estimating the thrust at the tower top and the bending moment at any position of the wind turbine tower is proposed, which only requires a limited number of acceleration sensors and the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS). The estimated load includes static and dynamic components. The former is calculated by fitting the derived function and the BDS data, and the latter is estimated by the time-domain inverse method using the Kalman filter and with acceleration sensors. The performance of the proposed strategy is validated in two case studies, including simulated data and recorded data from a 2.5 MW onshore wind turbine located in China. The results show that the strategy can produce an estimation of thrust and bending moment, with good accuracy.

Fatigue analysis of wind turbine composite blade using finite element method

In the past 30 years, wind turbine blades (WTB) have undergone significant development, increasing their size and introducing composites into manufacturing processes and using numerical simulation to assess their strength and structural integrity, helped increasing the number of installed wind turbine units as well as reducing the cost of wind generated energy. In this paper a DLoad subroutine was developed to assess monitor and evaluate the structural integrity of a large wind turbine blade under numerous static load scenarios. The fatigue study was carried using the finite element method, and the DLoad subroutine developed was used with ABAQUS finite Element analysis Software, and performed perfectly. The results show that the proposed layup parameters and the chosen composite materials gives to the wind turbine the desired structural strength. Furthermore, the DLoad subroutine for the fatigue study shows that the higher is the applied force the faster the blade fail. While, Hashin Criterion shows that the distribution of damage for the matrix and the fiber is all over the blade, but the failure only occurs after reaching an energy threshold which depends on the composite materials and the layup parameters used. Therefore, the chosen layup model will allow the wind turbine blade to withstand the extreme climatic conditions in the sea.

Renewable energy resource assessment for rural electrification: a case study in Nepal

Abstract Renewable energy could mitigate remote area energy crises through rural electrification. Karnali province, one of the seven federal provinces of Nepal, is such a remote location and is most deprived in terms of electricity access. Around 67% of the population of the Karnali province is not connected to the national grid electricity supply. High altitude, mountainous topography makes it difficult to provide grid access to the region. This study summarizes the current electricity access status in Nepal and Karnali province specifically. The paper discusses the energy, economic and environmental (3E) analysis of different renewable energy resources like solar and wind energy for the grid-isolated region in Mugu and Jumla district of Karnali province. The study investigates the feasibility of a 200-kW solar power plant installation in Gamghadi, the capital of Mugu district and a 100-kW wind power plant installation in Tila village, Jumla district. The study suggests whether a similar installation of the distributed energy plant is a solution to mitigate the energy crisis problem in the high Himalayas regions, like Karnali province of Nepal. Based on the high-level resource assessment, the study estimates an investment cost ranging from 7 to 9 million USD would be necessary for the installation of such distributed solar PV and wind turbines.

Subjective evaluation of wind turbine noise using 3-dimensional audio- visual reproduction system

In recent years, the installation of new wind turbines has been promoted in Japan. Since wind turbines are often installed in quiet countryside, it is necessary to properly evaluate the noise impact of wind turbine installation. Since wind turbines are thought to have visual as well as auditory effects, we conducted a subjective evaluation experiment on the loudness and annoyance of wind turbine noise (WTN) and road traffic noise (RTN) by magnitude estimation method, using a three-dimensional audio-visual reproduction system consisting of 6 channels of loudspeakers installed around the sound receiving point and a dome screen. As a result, the loudness and annoyance of WTN tended to be evaluated higher than that of RTN. These results were considered to be influenced by the amplitude modulation called "swish sound" and the low-frequency dominant frequency characteristics, which are characteristics of WTN. In addition, when comparing the differences in loudness and annoyance with and without visual information, the two attributes tended to be lower when visual information was present.

Optimal connection of wind turbines to distribution grid to minimize power loss

<span lang="EN-US">This research aims to connect wind turbines to a distribution grid to minimize the power loss and to satisfy the grid’s normal operating condition. The proposed algorithm will determine optimal positions, optimal operation mode and wind turbine type. We must choose the best operation mode from available modes including the constant power factor mode and the constant voltage mode. According to the optimal operation mode, we decide the optimal setting data of wind turbine. This algorithm is coded in MATLAB software and implemented to IEEE 33-buses distribution grid. Noted that in this research, we tested two cases including the original IEEE 33-buses grid and its modification where the power system connected to this grid at multi-position. Results indicated that the proposed algorithm could determine the number of wind turbines, position, optimal operation mode, wind turbine type and the priority order of wind turbine installation to minimize power loss. Moreover, results were also compared to that of other algorithms.</span>

Shape Optimization of an Asymmetric Airfoil for Low Wind Speed Region having Adjoint-Based Optimization Technique

The land needed to install wind turbines is shrinking as power generation from renewable energy sources increases significantly. A large number of studies are being conducted to maximize the power extraction from wind turbines in areas with low wind speeds. Wind turbine blades play a significant role in utilizing the maximum amount of energy from the wind. The aerodynamic performance of a wind turbine blade depends on the airfoil shape. The shape optimization of an asymmetric S2027 airfoil for a low wind speed region was investigated using the adjoint-based optimization technique. The primary objectives of this study were to maximize the lift coefficient, minimize the drag coefficient, and maximize the lift-to-drag ratio. The optimization is based on the adjoint method for Reynolds number variation in the range of 2 × 105 to 5 × 105 and an angle of attack variation from 0° to 12°. A two-dimensional Reynolds–Averaged Navier–Strokes Computational Fluid Dynamics model was created with all the operating parameters and used for optimization. The aerodynamic performance was validated experimentally. For each optimization function, approximately 16 shapes were obtained. The aerodynamic performance for each optimized shape was determined under different operating conditions. Different airfoil shapes with a specific chord, leading and trailing edges, and span arrangement was obtained. The drag coefficient was reduced by 2%–30%; the lift coefficient was improved by 2%–35%, and the lift-to-drag ratio was improved up to 40%.

Installation planning for an offshore wind farm: a hybrid modelling framework of integrating simulation and optimisation with a Markov Chain

ABSTRACT Offshore wind energy has been rapidly gaining traction more recently and the development of offshore wind farms continues to rise on a global scale in search of a sustainable future energy source. In the meantime, the capital-intensive project of installing wind turbines offshore involves a multitude of logistics activities and maritime operations. The high-risk installation process becomes more complex, in particular, under the uncertain weather conditions at sea such as wind speed and wave height. We present in this paper a hybrid modelling framework that minimises the overall installation time required to build an offshore wind farm, and develop a mixed-integer linear program submodule embedded on the discrete event simulation model. In addition, to take stochastic weather states into consideration, a Markov-Chain Monte Carlo method is used to generate weather instances with uncertainty. The weather occurrence serves as an integrated look-ahead viewpoint in making turbine component installation decisions. Further, the experiments of sensitivity analysis are designed to draw insights regarding the effects that the number of turbines, the number of vessels, and the seasonality have on the total project timespan. The computational results demonstrate the efficacy of our proposed hybrid solution approach, tested on the case of Southwest Offshore Wind Farm in South Korea.

From FWI to ultra-high-resolution imaging

In recent years, the development of time-lag full-waveform inversion (FWI) has enabled the use of the full wavefield (primary reflections, diving waves, and their multiples and ghosts) in the inversion process. With this advancement, it is possible to obtain a very detailed velocity model, ultimately reaching the point of deriving from the velocity a migration-like reflectivity image called the FWI image. When the FWI maximum frequency is increased, high-resolution velocity models are obtained, revealing superior reservoir information compared to conventional imaging results. Two case studies will be discussed in this paper. The first is in the Greater Castberg area where the 150 Hz FWI image greatly surpassed the Q Kirchhoff prestack depth migration image from the water-bottom level down to the reservoir (located at a depth of about 1.5 km). The second case study is over the Nordkapp Basin. The use of the full wavefield for the shallow ultra-high-resolution (UHR) FWI image (run at 200 Hz) revealed reverse faulting and pockmark details that were invisible with Kirchhoff prestack depth migration and reverse time migration. By using additional information present in multiples, ghosts, and diving waves, a spatial resolution down to 3 m was achieved. This made it possible to image very thin features without the need for a dedicated high-resolution acquisition design. The current UHR FWI image workflow provides velocity and reflectivity information in the near surface that is important in identifying optimal locations for various purposes such as well placement and wind-turbine installation.

Development of a method for determining the optimal areas for alternative energy facilities based on GIS technologies

Acquisition of alternative energy resources using the modern Global Mapper software on an electronic digital map is an important process. This article analyses the possibility of using maps in the implementation of internationally acknowledged projects, as well as interactive services to the government, and the possibility of mapping alternative energy sources, synthesizing data, and developing management decisions through the development of innovative technologies. The research in this study is about determining optimal locations for the installation of solar panels and wind turbines. For the tests, Tashkent and Samarkand provinces were selected. Initially, the elevation of the provinces was determined by remote sensing and the elevation surface was created by interpolation. According to the data obtained from the regional hydrometeorological stations, the air temperature in the regions was taken and geovisualized as a vector layer. At the same time, the wind speed was mapped using the method of geostatistical analysis, which observed the annual average wind speed. On the basis of the highest parts of the earth’s surface and in areas with high temperatures, raster calculations were performed and the method for determining the most optimal place for installing solar panels was improved.

Study to evaluate the effect of terrain surface on performance of a wind farm in Ninh Thuan province, Vietnam

Topography is one of the important factors directly related to the distribution of wind resources, so it plays an important role in determining the layout and operation efficiency of wind power farms. In this research, we use a combination of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data to determine suitable locations for building wind turbines in complex terrain conditions. The selected region to build the analytical model is an area with many hills and mountains adjacent to the East Sea, in Thuan Nam and Ninh Phuoc districts, Ninh Thuan province. The first part, this article will provides a general method for determining the best locations for installation of wind turbines according to specific terrain conditions. Then, apply this method to build accurate 3D models for the area, the models are meshed by hexagonal elements combined with tetrahedron elements with side lengths of 200m. The results obtained from the models are the distributions of wind speed by altitude at specific locations such as mountain peaks, mountain slopes, valleys of the area pointed out. Based on these results, the locations with high and stable wind speed, suitable for wind turbine operation are suggested. In addition, the article also presents some locations where wind with high turbulence or eddy winds may appear, which may adversely affect turbine performance. Finally, the paper gives an optimal location map for a wind farm with a capacity of less than 100MW using a turbine with a 4MW capacity.

Designation of the Boundary Conditions for Estimating the Thrust Loss due to Thruster-Hull Interactions

The azimuth thruster is mainly installed on a vessel that requires a dynamic positioning (DP) function for special purposes. When the azimuth thruster on a vessel operates for DP, the thrust loss is induced by the thruster-hull interaction. This study examined the influence of boundary conditions in numerical simulations for predicting thrust loss. Wind turbine installation vessels (WTIV) and floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) were chosen as a target vessels. In this study, two types of boundaries were defined. The first consideration is that the boundary condition was assigned with consideration of the azimuth angle of the thruster, whereas it is fixed regardless azimuth angle of the thruster. The predicted thrust loss according to these boundary conditions showed a difference. This observation originated from the current load of the vessel. Therefore, the boundary conditions for which the current load is not induced need to be designated to obtain a realistic thrust loss in a numerical simulation.

Potential and economic feasibility of a wind power plant in Ciudad Juárez, México

This study investigated the wind energy potential of Ciudad Juárez (Chihuahua, México) for a whole year. The viability of employing three small-scale wind turbine models, including the S-343, Bergey BWC Excel, and AOC 15/50, in Ciudad Juarez, located in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua in Mexico, is studied in the first stage using RETScreen software. The performance of these three turbine models was subjected to sensitivity analysis in the following study stage using the three defined economic scenarios, assuming a 7% inflation rate, a 9% discount rate, a 7% fuel cost escalation rate, and a 20-year project duration. Finally, the circumstances under which these turbines operate in Ciudad Juarez are discussed economically. Findings indicate that the study site is not economically appropriate, not even for the installation of specific small wind turbines. Finally, it was suggested that the viability of adopting alternative renewable energy systems, such as solar and hybrid systems (photovoltaic wind), be examined in the upcoming study in Ciudad Juárez.

A Positive Position Feedback controller for vibration control of wind turbines

Wind energy has become one of the most important energy sources in the last decades. Most of this type of energy comes from turbines installed onshore though there has been a paradigm shift in this field with the installation of offshore wind turbines, anchored to the seabed or floating ones. Both offshore and onshore technologies have a set of associate problems which sometimes can compromise the turbine integrity, such as environmental disturbances or harmful vibrations. Most of these vibrations and loads are actively compensated in commercial wind turbines through strategies which can modify the turbine power reference to reduce the tower and blades oscillations, at the expense of compromising efficiency. In this work, a new type of control vibration for wind turbines based on piezoelectricity is proposed. A closed loop control is developed from the sensing of the tower vibrations, followed by an in-house designed Positive Position Feedback (PPF) controller, and with a control signal applied to the piezoelectric transducers working as actuators. To design the PPF controller, a simplified wind turbine model is created in COMSOL Multiphysics. A state-space model is obtained, parametrized, validated and used for the tuning of the PPF controller presented in this paper. Simulation results show that with a set of piezoelectric transducers located along the turbine tower, significant reduction of the tower vibrations can be achieved.

A meteorological data set and wind power density from selective locations of Tamil Nadu, India: Implication for installation of wind turbines

A meteorological data set and wind power density from selective locations of Tamil Nadu, India: Implication for installation of wind turbines

Assessing Wind Energy Projects Potential in Pakistan: Challenges and Way Forward

Energy is the driver of the socioeconomic growth and development of a country. In the pursuit of available and affordable sources of energy, nations around the world have forgotten the sustainability angle and are facing an energy crisis. The developing world has initiated development plans in an unsustainable way, causing a demand–supply gap and leading to very high energy prices. Renewable energy gives us a solution to this circular crisis. The recent world has seen significant investment in renewables, particularly in the wind energy sector. The investment was initiated as a government spending program, but is now taken up by the private sector. The current study presents a thorough analysis of the prospects for wind energy and the means and measures required to fully capacitate the sector in Pakistan. In Pakistan’s three largest provinces, there is tremendous potential for wind energy, which requires proper utilization and exploration for sustained socioeconomic development. This study is based on the mixed-methods approach. In the first phase, content analysis was caried out using the systematic literature review (SLR) technique. Relevant content analysis was performed using the PRISMA diagram. A total of two hundred and thirty-nine (239) documents were scanned; however, only eighty-two (82) were included after the removal of duplications and irrelevant documents. Moreover, short interviews were conducted with entrepreneurs, and themes have been prescribed. The study found that commercially feasible wind energy potential is particularly abundant in Pakistan’s Sindh and Balochistan regions. The country’s diverse geography makes it ideal for wind turbine installations at various sites. The renewable energy policy should be revisited to incentivize the use of wind energy to ensure the nationally determined contributions (NDCs)’ commitments are assured to achieve sustainable development by 2030. Pakistan has seen rapid development in the wind energy sector with around 4 percent of electric power being generated through wind farms in just over 13 years. In order to exploit the potential, there is a need for significant public and private joint efforts.

Application of SCADA data in wind turbine fault detection – a review

PurposeWith the rapid increase in the number of installed wind turbines (WTs) worldwide, requirements and expenses of maintenance have also increased significantly. The condition monitoring (CM) of WT provides a strong “soft guarantee” for preventive maintenance. The supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system records a huge amount of condition data, which has become an effective means of CM. The main objective of the present study is to summarize the application of SCADA data to fault detection in wind turbines, analyze its advantages and disadvantages and predict the potential of future investigations on the use of SCADA data for fault detection.Design/methodology/approachThe authors first review the means of WT CM and summarize the characteristics of CM based on SCADA data. To ensure the quality of SCADA data, data preprocessing methods are analyzed and compared. Then, the failure modes of the key components are discussed and the SCADA data used for fault detection of each component are compared. Moreover, the fault detection methods for WT are classified and a general framework for fault detection is proposed. Finally, the issues in the WT fault detection method based on SCADA data are reviewed.FindingsBased on the performed analyses, it is found that although the fault detection accuracy based on SCADA data is relatively poor, it has low capital expenses and low computational cost. More specifically, when there is scarce fault data, the normal SCADA data can be used to detect the fault time. However, the specific fault type cannot be identified in this way. When a large amount of fault data are accumulated in the SCADA system, it can not only detect the occurrence time of the fault but also identify the specific fault type.Originality/valueThe main contribution of the present study is to summarize the pre-processing methods for SCADA data, the data required for fault detection of key components and the characteristics of the fault detection model. Then we propose a general fault detection framework for wind turbines based on SCADA data, where the maintenance workers can choose the appropriate fault detection method according to different fault detection requirements and data resources. This article is expected to provide guidance for fault detection based on time-series sensor signals and be of interest to researchers, maintenance workers and managers.

Environmental impact and waste recycling technologies for modern wind turbines: An overview.

Wind power is rapidly expanding worldwide, and so is the installation of wind turbines. The concept of wind power as a clean-energy alternative will be questioned if the waste from these turbines is not and adequately controlled. The goal of this review paper is to evaluate the various approaches for end-of-life management of wind turbine blades emphasizing on fibre recovery. Different methods for recovering carbon and glass fibres are described, including thermal treatment and chemical treatments and their economic and environmental comparisons. Life cycle assessment and comparative analysis of different recycling processes are also presented. Natural composites, modified thermoset composites, and thermoplastic composites are also covered as alternative environmentally friendly blade materials.

CRITERIA TO BE MET IN SELECTING THE OPTIMAL AREAS FOR GENERATING ALTERNATIVE ELECTRIC ENERGY FROM WIND

The issue of renewable energy, an alternative to energy resulting from fossil fuels, is one of the most important topics that researchers have been interested in in recent years, due to its importance in reducing the effects of fossil fuels and the environmental pollution they cause, as well as being one of the important methods that reduce the depletion of large quantities of oil and gas in generating electrical energy from it. The generation of alternative electric energy depends on a number of natural elements that are naturally available, permanent, and renewable, such as solar radiation energy, wind energy, as well as water energy and bioenergy resulting from the use of animal remains and the remains of various human uses. We will focus here in this research on wind energy as one of the most important energies used in the generation of clean, environmentally friendly electric power because of its characteristic of not leaving any environmental pollutants during its generation, as well as its other advantages. The generation of electric power from the wind needs to choose the optimal areas for generating it in a way that guarantees its continuity, and generating it in economic quantities that contribute to meeting the increasing needs of electricity in various human activities. Therefore, the study of winds and knowledge of their characteristics, speed and directions are among the most important things concerned by those interested in climate affairs to ensure the continuity of their generation, whose speed should not be less than 3.6 m3 / second during the months of the year. And when choosing any area to generate electric power from wind and installing wind turbines in it, several important criteria must be available that must be available in the chosen area to ensure the success of the project of the stations built on it and ensure its continuity and in economic quantities, so we will focus in our research on those environmental and spatial criteria that must be available in choosing Areas of installation of electric power plants from wind, and we will take the western plateau region in Najaf province as a model for this study. Keywords: Electric Energy, Wind, Renewable Energy

Analysis of the effect of slope on the power characteristics of wind turbines in hillside terrain

As a kind of clean and renewable energy, wind power has a wide development prospect. The aerodynamic performance and power generation efficiency of wind turbines are influenced by the gradient of wind turbine installation terrain. In this paper, the 5 MW wind turbine is taken as the object, and the influence characteristics of slope of hillside terrain on the power of wind turbine are studied through the simulation software STAR CCM+, and the influence characteristics of slope of hillside terrain on the power characteristics of wind turbine are obtained. The results show that when the wind turbine is installed on the top platform of the slope, the power of the wind turbine increases first and then decreases with the increase of the slope, power increased by 16.3% when the slope increased from 15 degrees to 52 degrees, decreased by 22.6% when the slope increased from 52 degrees to 60 degrees and reaches the peak value when the slope is about 52°. The appropriate slope can play a positive role in improving the power generation efficiency of the wind turbine. When the wind turbine is installed at the bottom of the slope, the slope will have an obstruction effect on the incoming flow velocity of the wind turbine, and the obstruction effect becomes more obvious with the increase of the slope, As the slope increased from 15 degrees to 45 degrees, power decreased by 6.7%, thus reducing the power generation efficiency of the wind turbine. Therefore, the influence of the slope on the aerodynamic performance of the wind turbine should be considered in the installation of the wind turbine. This study reveals the influence characteristics of terrain slope on wind turbine power characteristics, and provides a theoretical reference for making full use of terrain advantages to arrange wind turbines reasonably.