Wind Turbine Installation Research Articles

Selection of the Optimum Sites for the Wind Turbines Installation in Nineveh Governorate by using GIS

Green energy, including wind energy, becomes a vital component of reducing air pollution and enhancing its sustainability. Wind energy production increases rapidly due to its significant turbine technologies, compatible with sources of energy-environment friendly in reducing Carbon emissions. This paper presents an evaluation of wind power potential of Nineveh governorate in the northern part of Iraq based on the GIS technique using 20 years daily wind speed and direction at elevation 10m, 50m on earth surface covering the period of 2000 to 2019 obtained from NASA agency. It is observed that Nineveh Governorate and its surrounding have a wind speed between 2.8 and 3.7m/s at 10m, and wind speed between 3.9 and 5.3m/s at 50m. The annual mean power density ranges from 54 to 124 W/m2 at 50m.These results indicate that the monthly variation recorded for the speed is maximum 3.7m/s at 10m and a value of 5.3 m/s at 50m in the northwest direction in Hadhar site which matched with the results obtained by GIS/ IDW interpolation map of the power density.

Fuzzy and Neural Network Approaches to Wind Turbine Fault Diagnosis

The fault diagnosis of safety critical systems such as wind turbine installations includes extremely challenging aspects that motivate the research issues considered in this paper. Therefore, this work investigates two fault diagnosis solutions that exploit the direct estimation of the faults by means of data-driven approaches. In this way, the diagnostic residuals are represented by the reconstructed faults affecting the monitored process. The proposed methodologies are based on fuzzy systems and neural networks used to estimate the nonlinear dynamic relations between the input and output measurements of the considered process and the faults. To this end, the considered prototypes are integrated with auto-regressive with exogenous input descriptions, thus making them able to approximate unknown nonlinear dynamic functions with arbitrary degree of accuracy. These residual generators are estimated from the input and output measurements acquired from a high-fidelity benchmark that simulates the healthy and the faulty behaviour of a wind turbine system. The robustness and the reliability features of the developed solutions are validated in the presence of model-reality mismatch and modelling error effects featured by the wind turbine simulator. Moreover, a hardware-in-the-loop tool is implemented for testing and comparing the performance of the developed fault diagnosis strategies in a more realistic environment and with respect to different fault diagnosis approaches. The achieved results have demonstrated the effectiveness of the developed schemes also with respect to more complex model-based and data-driven fault diagnosis methodologies.

Three-Dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamic Analysis of a Large-Scale Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

The vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) configuration has many advantages for an offshore wind turbine installation. The VAWT is omnidirectional and its rotating mechanical components can be placed close to sea level. In this paper, the three dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamics analysis of a large-scale 5 MW VAWT is conducted. At the optimum tip-speed ratio (TSR), the VAWT maximum inline force was 75% larger than the maximum lateral force.

Understanding the Potential of Wind Farm Exploitation in Tropical Island Countries: A Case for Indonesia

Countries worldwide must dramatically reduce their emissions to achieve the goal of limiting temperature increases in line with the Paris Agreement. Involving developing countries in global actions on emission reduction will greatly enhance the effectiveness of global warming mitigation. This study investigated the feasibility of establishing a wind farm at four onshore and three offshore sites in Indonesia. Installing wind turbines with the highest hub height, largest rotor diameter, and lowest cut-in and rated wind speed in an identified area off Wetar Island presented the highest time-based availability and a capacity factor of 46%, as well as the highest power-based availability at 76%. The levelized cost of electricity at 0.082 USD/kWh was comparable to that of power generated from fossil fuels, which ranges from 0.07 to 0.15 USD/kWh in Indonesia. Increasing the feed-in-tariff for wind power from the current 0.08 USD/kWh would provide sufficient incentive for investment. Moving subsidies from fossil fuels toward renewables would facilitate the transition to low-carbon renewables without increasing the financial burden on the country.

Dual multivariable model-free adaptive individual pitch control for load reduction in wind turbines with actuator faults

Thanks to the great advances in the installations of large wind turbines, individual pitch control (IPC) has gained mounting interest among researchers. The actuator faults, however, have become a hindrance with the individual pitch process introducing more actuator actions and the pitch system operating in complex conditions. The traditional fault-tolerant control strategies of the IPC, which are mainly based on the system modeling information, and require the process of fault diagnosis, isolation or parameter estimation. The subsequent model errors and unmodeled dynamics have somehow limited the application of the strategies. Therefore, this paper proposes a passive fault-tolerant individual pitch control scheme independent of the above process, and based on the scheme, a dual multivariable model-free adaptive control strategy with differential characteristic is constructed. The benchmark 5 MW wind turbine model provided by FAST is employed to evaluate the performance. The results show that, compared with the traditional individual pitch control strategy, the proposed scheme can achieve almost identical load control and even better power control under fault-free conditions. Once the fault occurs, the proposed scheme can quickly compensate for the faulty actuator dynamics, and finally achieve almost the same performance in power and load control as under the nominal conditions.

Dynamic Response of Offshore Wind Turbine on 3×3 Barge Array Floating Platform under Extreme Sea Conditions

Offshore wind farm construction is nowadays state of the art in the wind power generation technology. However, deep water areas with huge amount of wind energy require innovative floating platforms to arrange and install wind turbines in order to harness wind energy and generate electricity. The conventional floating offshore wind turbine system is typically in the state of force imbalance due to the unique sway characteristics caused by the unfixed foundation and the high center of gravity of the platform. Therefore, a floating wind farm for 3×3 barge array platforms with shared mooring system is presented here to increase stability for floating platform. The NREL 5 MW wind turbine and ITI Energy barge reference model is taken as a basis for this work. Furthermore, the unsteady aerodynamic load solution model of the floating wind turbine is established considering the tip loss, hub loss and dynamic stall correction based on the blade element momentum (BEM) theory. The second development of AQWA is realized by FORTRAN programming language, and aerodynamic — hydrodynamic — Mooring coupled dynamics model is established to realize the algorithm solution of the model. Finally, the 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) dynamic response of single barge platform and barge array under extreme sea condition considering the coupling effect of wind and wave were observed and investigated in detail. The research results validate the feasibility of establishing barge array floating wind farm, and provide theoretical basis for further research on new floating wind farm.

Development of a wind turbine gearbox virtual load sensor using multibody simulation and artificial neural networks

A current development trend in wind energy is characterized by the installation of wind turbines (WT) with increasing rated power output. Higher towers and larger rotor diameters increase rated power leading to an intensification of the load situation on the drive train and the main gearbox. However, current main gearbox condition monitoring systems (CMS) do not record the 6‑degree of freedom (6-DOF) input loads to the transmission as it is too expensive. Therefore, this investigation aims to present an approach to develop and validate a low-cost virtual sensor for measuring the input loads of a WT main gearbox. A prototype of the virtual sensor system was developed in a virtual environment using a multi-body simulation (MBS) model of a WT drivetrain and artificial neural network (ANN) models. Simulated wind fields according to IEC 61400‑1 covering a variety of wind speeds were generated and applied to a MBS model of a Vestas V52 wind turbine. The turbine contains a high-speed drivetrain with 4‑points bearing suspension, a common drivetrain configuration. The simulation was used to generate time-series data of the target and input parameters for the virtual sensor algorithm, an ANN model. After the ANN was trained using the time-series data collected from the MBS, the developed virtual sensor algorithm was tested by comparing the estimated 6‑DOF transmission input loads from the ANN to the simulated 6‑DOF transmission input loads from the MBS. The results show high potential for virtual sensing 6‑DOF wind turbine transmission input loads using the presented method.

Operation and approximation based on the history of failure modes recorded by SCADA system of Amougdoul Moroccan wind farm using FMECA maintenance model

The wind industry is trying to find tools to accurately predict and know the reliability and availability of newly installed wind turbines. Failure modes, effects and criticality analysis (FMECA) is a technique used to determine critical subsystems, causes and consequences of wind turbines. FMECA has been widely used by manufacturers of wind turbine assemblies to analyze, evaluate and prioritize potential/known failure modes. However, its actual implementation in wind farms has some limitations. This paper aims to determine the most critical subsystems, causes and consequences of the wind turbines of the Moroccan wind farm of Amougdoul during the years 2010–2019 by applying the maintenance model (FMECA), which is an analysis of failure modes, effects and criticality based on a history of failure modes occurred by the SCADA system and proposing solutions and recommendations.

Techno-economic analysis of wind energy potential in Kazakhstan

The use of renewable energy as a future energy source is attracting considerable research interest globally. In particular, there is a significant growth in wind energy utilization during the last few years. This present study through a detailed and systematic literature survey assesses the wind energy potential of Kazakhstan for the first time. Using the Weibull distribution function and hourly wind speed data, the annual power and energy density of the sites are calculated. For the 50 sites considered in this study and at a height of 10 m above the ground, the annual average wind speed, the power density, and energy production of Kazakhstan range from 0.94–5.15 m/s, 4.50–169.34 W/m2 and 39.56–1502.50 kWh/m2/yr, respectively. It was found that Fort Sevcenko, Atbasar, and Akmola are the three best locations for wind turbine installation with wind power densities of 169.34, 135.30, and 111.51 W/m2, respectively. Fort Sevcenko demonstrates the highest potential for wind energy harvesting with an energy density of 1483.46 kWh/m2/yr. For the 15 commercial wind turbines, it was observed that the annual energy production of the selected turbines ranges between 3.8 GWh/yr in Petropavlovsk to 15.4 GWh/yr in Fort Sevcenko among the top six locations. The lowest and highest capacity factors correspond to the same sites with the values of 29.21% and 58.66%, respectively. Overall, it is the intention of this study to constitute a database for the users and developers of wind power in Kazakhstan.

風力エネルギーハンドブック：9章 風車の設置とウィンドファーム(Wind Turbine Installations and Wind Farms)

風力エネルギーハンドブック：9章 風車の設置とウィンドファーム(Wind Turbine Installations and Wind Farms)

Is the Large-Scale Development of Wind-PV with Hydro-Pumped Storage Economically Feasible in Greece?

The achievement of the long-term national energy targets in Greece for large-scale integration of wind and solar energy may be facilitated by the development of hydro-pumped storage projects. In light of the above, technical aspects related with the operation of the Greek power system and its ability to absorb renewable energy are analyzed in connection with the role of hydro-pumped storage and relative economic aspects. The aim of this work is to assess the potential contribution of hydro-pumped storage projects and estimate the capacity magnitude order to support large-scale wind and photovoltaic (PV) integration in Greece. For this purpose, scenarios for the Greek power system with focus on Wind and PV development, in conjunction with hydro-pumped storage capacity, are developed, and results for current situation and reference years 2030 and 2050 are presented. For the simulation, among others, high resolution mesoscale wind data for a typical year in the whole Greek territory are used for the steady state simulation of the Greek power system, in order to better estimate the power that could be generated from installed wind turbines, taking into consideration technical characteristics of a typical commercial wind turbine. Results indicate the need of gradual development of hydro-pumped storage in parallel with the large-scale integration of wind and PV capacity into the Greek power system. In addition, the feasibility of the examined scenarios is supported from the low cost of wind and PV generation. In the case of Greece, thanks to the complex morphology and hydraulic conditions of the country, hydro-pumped storage composes an efficient and low-cost storage solution.

Design of optimal flow concentrator for vertical-axis wind turbines using computational fluid dynamics, artificial neural networks and genetic algorithm

Wind energy extraction is one of the fastest developing engineering branches today. Number of installed wind turbines is constantly increasing. Appropriate solutions for urban environments are quiet, structurally simple and affordable small-scale vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs). Due to small efficiency, particularly in low and variable winds, main topic here is development of optimal flow concentrator that locally augments wind velocity, facilitates turbine start and increases generated power. Conceptual design was performed by combining finite volume method and artificial intelligence (AI). Smaller set of computational results (velocity profiles induced by existence of different concentrators in flow field) was used for creation, training and validation of several artificial neural networks. Multi-objective optimization of concentrator geometric parameters was realized through coupling of generated neural networks with genetic algorithm. Final solution from the acquired Pareto set is studied in more detail. Resulting computed velocity field is illustrated. Aerodynamic performances of small-scale VAWT with and without optimal flow concentrator are estimated and compared. The performed research demonstrates that, with use of flow concentrator, average increase in wind speed of 20%–25% can be expected. It also proves that contemporary AI techniques can significantly facilitate and accelerate design processes in the field of wind engineering.

RETRACTED: Geospatial mapping of micro-wind energy for district electrification in Ghana

The present study provides an assessment of micro-wind energy potential within the 170 districts in Ghana with more focus on a distributed electricity system for district household electrification. The wind resource is assessed based on three main potentials, the theoretical, the geographical and the technical; these included an assessment of localised wind power densities, necessary environmental conditions of the terrain suitable for wind turbine installation as well as the energy generated by the turbine within the districts. The study was done using wind speed data at a hub of 50 m and then interpolated to a 1 km by 1 km grid cell to enhance granularity and localisation of the geospatial assessment of results. All input datasets were interpolated to this effect. The study is based on a single turbine model; V52/850 and used its power curve to determine the maximum energy output per grid cell. Results of the analysis are visualised using high resolution maps. Results of the analysis show that, areas along the coast and the middle belt areas show high potential with annual production more than a 2,000 GWhy−1 per square kilometre.

Estimating wind power generation capacity in Zimbabwe using vertical wind profile extrapolation techniques: A case study

Only 40% of Zimbabwe’s population has access to electricity. The greater proportion of the power is generated from thermal stations, with some from hydro and solar energy sources. However, there is little investment in the use of wind for electricity generation except for small installations in the Eastern Highlands, as Zimbabwe generally has wind speeds which are too low to be utilised for electricity generation. This paper presents the use of vertical wind profile extrapolation methods to determine the potential of generating electricity from wind at different hub heights in Zimbabwe, using the Hellman and exponential laws to estimate wind speeds. The estimated wind speeds are used to determine the potential of generating electricity from wind. Mangwe district in Matabeleland South province of Zimbabwe was used as a test site. Online weather datasets were used to estimate the wind speeds. The investigation shows that a 2.5kW wind turbine installation in Mangwe can generate more than 3MWh of energy per annum at hub heights above 40m, which is enough to supply power to a typical Zimbabwean rural village. This result will encourage investment in the use of wind to generate electricity in Zimbabwe.
 Highlights
 
 Wind power utilisation is low in Zimbabwe.
 Vertical wind profile is estimated using extrapolation methods.
 Online weather data for soil and water analysis tool was used.
 Electricity can viably be generated from wind in Zimbabwe.

Low Cost High Altitude Automatic Weather Station Design

When looking at installing a renewable energy generator, you need to be confident of the resource (solar, wind) at your particular location as this affects the energy generated at the selected site. With solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, this can be done by looking at historic data, generally from satellite readings, for the particular latitude. This will yield pretty accurate resource data. However, the wind resource is incredibly variable and depends upon the exact topology of the area. Houses, trees, and valleys all can affect the local wind resource. For this reason, wind speed data is collected at a potential wind turbine installation site. This gives real data which can be used to assess the wind speed. When installing a number of very expensive large wind turbines, one must be very confident about the wind speed data. The data must be robust and reliable and the developer will be willing to spend a lot of money on accurate industrial equipment to have lots of confidence in the data. This project intends to overcome this barrier by providing a low-cost, reusable, open-source wind speed recording unit, which can be left at high altitude in a remote location to record data and help improve the site’s wind speed assessment. We have proposed and developed a low-cost hardware module based on Arduino open source platform, which measures the meteorological data, including air, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and solar radiation, with two options: The first is the wireless option at which it sends the measured information to Excel spreadsheet running on a PC through wireless link. The second is the data logger option at which it records the measured data to SD card as Excel file with date and time every 10 seconds..

Pitch Angle Optimization for Small Wind Turbines Based on a Hierarchical Fuzzy-PID Controller and Anticipated Wind Speed Measurement

Wind energy is an alternative to meet the growing energy demand and protect the environment; however, in places with limited wind resources, only the installation of small horizontal-axis wind turbines (SHAWTs) is profitable. At the height of these turbines, the wind is usually unstable with gusts and turbulence due to obstacles in its path such as buildings and trees. The pitch angle must be adaptable to guarantee nominal rotation speed, and it is commonly regulated with a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) feedback controller. This controller works well when the wind is stable, but not with drastic changes in wind speed. To correct this problem, this article introduces a PID controller with automatic adjustment of the gain values using a fuzzy logic controller (FLC). The PID gain adjustment allows an optimal response speed of the system for different wind conditions. The membership functions of the FLC are determined from a methodology that includes: The measurement of the wind speed at a calculated distance, a statistical analysis of the wind variability, and a dynamic analysis of the wind path. In this way, it is possible to anticipate the response of the actuator to the arrival of a gust of wind to the rotor. The algorithm is implemented in 14 kW SHAWTs where the difference in performance with a conventional controller is quantified. Satisfactory results were obtained, the electrical output increased by 7%, and the risk of rotor damage due to vibrations or mechanical fatigue was reduced by 20%.

A Model of Reliability Optimization of a Stand-Alone Electric Power System with Constraints on Dynamic Stability of the Wind Turbine

The relevance of the study is due to the development herein of a model for reliability optimization of stand-alone power systems with wind turbines and electrochemical power storage devices, with special emphasis within this model put on the specifics of power equipment operation. The key feature of the model developed is that it enables us to factor in the requirements to be met by the equipment as arising from the considerations of dynamic stability of the stand-alone system. When simulating battery storage operating modes, the charge-discharge limits as well as the remaining charge in the storage are taken into account. Thus, the reduction of the total number of considered mixes of the equipment being commissioned is achieved, the computational efficiency of the reliability optimization method is increased, while the validity of modeling results is improved. Development of methods for optimization of reliability of stand-alone electric power systems with wind turbine installations and electrochemical power storage devices while meeting requirements for electrodynamic stability. A stand-alone power system that is assumed to be located in the coastal area of Lake Baikal in the Kabansky State Nature Reserve, Republic of Buryatia, Russia, serves as the object of the study. Calculations are based on multiple simulation of modes of operation of the electric power system by means of the Monte Carlo method. The values of random variables are modeled as per specified laws of distribution and fault rate indicators of power equipment. Modeling of power generation at wind turbines is based on a detailed analysis of real-life weather data (average hourly wind speed, air density and humidity). The method of reliability optimization of stand-alone power systems with wind turbines and electrochemical energy storage devices was developed so as to take into account the requirements to be met by electric power equipment in terms of dynamic stability. The optimization criterion is the minimum expected value of the cost of produced electricity. Power redundanct and energy storage devices are used as means of reliability assurance. The results of calculations attest to the fact that for the natural and climatic zone under consideration, the use of vertical axis wind turbines in a stand-alone power system proves more efficient than the use of horizontal axis wind turbines

Optimal tuned mass dampers for wind turbines using a Sigmoid satisfaction function‐based multiobjective optimization during earthquakes

AbstractRecent installation of many wind turbines in earthquake‐prone areas worldwide has increased concerns regarding their seismic performance. This study introduces a multiobjective optimization design method using a modified Sigmoid satisfaction function to efficiently minimize the seismic response by installing tuned mass dampers (TMDs) on wind turbines. Inspired by the human decision‐making process, the modified Sigmoid function was utilized to improve the satisfaction function and balance the optimization objectives. Incorporating the particle swarm optimization algorithm resulted in lower sensitivity to the combination weighting factors and significantly reduced the effort required to calibrate the weighting factors for any practical multiobjective optimization problem. To verify the efficacy of the proposed methodology, a TMD was designed on a National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 5‐MW benchmark wind turbine, with constraints on both the top displacement and TMD stroke as design objectives. The results were compared to those obtained using the conventional linear weighted sum method, thereby highlighting the advantages of the proposed method. The scope of application of the proposed method is further demonstrated by a more complex TMD design problem involving 13 design objectives with typical seismic excitations.

Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of Aerodynamic Noise in Small Wind Turbines

This paper presents an analysis of sound pressure levels through theoretical modeling and experimental validation in a 1 kW small wind turbine. The models used in the theoretical analysis are BPM (Brooks, Pope, and Marcolini) and BM (Brooks and Marcolini), where wind turbine blades are divided in sections, and each section has its own contribution with respect to the total emitted sound pressure level. The noise propagation study and its experimental validation were accomplished within the requirements of the standard IEC 61400-11 Ed.3 and the standard NOM-081-SEMARNAT-1994. The comparative study of theoretical and experimental results showed that the BPM and BM methods have a maximum error of 5.5% corresponding to the rated wind speed of 10 m/s. However, at low wind speeds, the theoretical models fit well to experimental data, for example, in the range from 5 to 8 m/s. The experimental data showed that the rotor’s aerodynamic noise is more evident at low wind speed, because under these conditions, environmental noise is much less than wind turbine noise. Finally, to prevent possible negative effects on people’s health, there is a recommended minimum and suitable distance between small wind turbine installations and buildings.

STUDI EKSPERIMENTAL PERFORMANSI TURBIN SAVONIUS DI PESISIR PANTAI KABUPATEN DEMAK TERHADAP DAYA LISTRIK YANG DIHASILKAN

<p><em>Energy from fossil fuels consisting of petroleum, coal, natural gas containing raw material for energy fulfillment in Indonesia is still very central through the use of raw materials from renewable energy is still very low. In Indonesia the potential for renewable energy such as wind energy needs to be optimized. One of the uses of wind energy is through savonius wind turbine as electricity generators. Characteristics of savonius wind turbine with vertical axis rotors which gave a simple shape, and that able to control low speeds. This is in accordance with regions in Indonesi which have low average speeds. This experimental study, aims to determine the description of wind potential and determine the performance of savonius wind turbines on the coast of Demak regency on the electrical energy produced. Savonius wind turbine used is made of galvalum material in the form of an S type rotor with diameter 1.1 m and height 1.4 m, using pulley transmission system with multiplication ratio 1:6 dan using generator type PMG 200 W. This research uses the method experiment. Data collection in the form of wind speed, humidity, temperature, rotor rotation speed, voltage and electric curret is carried out at 14.30 to 17.30 Western Indonesian Time. Data Analysis in this study uses quantitative descriptive analysis. The result showed the potential of wind on the coast of Demak regency have an average wind speed of 2,02 m/s with a temperature of 31</em><em>,</em><em>34 </em><em><sup>0</sup></em><em>C and humidity of 76,96. And the performance of the installed wind turbine produces the highest power 3.5 watt with an electric power coefficient of 0,181 and tip speed ratio around 1,75. From these result, the potensial of wind with performance savonius turbine can generate electricity used for pond lighting in the village Berahan Kulon Kecamatan Wedung. </em><em></em></p>