Lightning Protection Of Wind Turbines Research Articles

Effect of Receptor Forms on Wind Turbine Lightning Protection System for Different Positions of the Lightning Step Leader

Effect of Receptor Forms on Wind Turbine Lightning Protection System for Different Positions of the Lightning Step Leader

Reliability Analysis of Wind Turbine Blades Considering Lightning Strike

Lightning strike damage accounts for a significant amount of wind turbines failure. An accurate evaluation of wind turbines’ reliability considering lightning strike is thus of critical importance. This research develops two novel lightning stepped leader models considering the stochastic properties and the branching geometry of lightning. In the framework of the reliability analysis of wind turbine blades, the finite element analyses including the two new leader models are conducted and then the electric field in the wind turbine blades are studied. The results show that the branched model adds extra increment of the electric field in the wind turbine blades which is more practical for the wind turbine lightning protection, wind farm siting, and operations and maintenance of wind farms.

Factors Determining the Effectiveness of a Wind Turbine Generator Lightning Protection System

As a result of the growing supply and demand for wind power, wind turbine generators are increasingly being installed at suboptimal sites that have high soil resistivity and high incidence of lightning strikes. This means that lightning protection systems for wind turbines are becoming a critical component of wind farm design. Not only do effective lightning protection systems ensure the safety of the physical wind turbine structure and human operators, they also protect the electrical and control systems installed inside wind turbine generators and safeguard the lives of human operators. This paper presents a framework to assess the effectiveness of wind turbine lightning protection systems at the wind farm design phase. Performing the analysis at this early stage reduces lightning-induced downtime, which leads to increased energy yield. Our results show that the grounding system plays a critical role in the wind turbine lightning protection system. For this reason, we also analyze various influential parameters of a grounding system design. We present results from full-wave electromagnetic simulations of the complete wind turbine grounding system, including the foundation.

Influence of blade rotation on the lightning stroke characteristic of a wind turbine

AbstractThe blades of a wind turbine rotate during normal operation. To investigate the influence of blade rotation on the lightning‐attracting ability of a wind turbine, a discharge test platform is designed for scaled wind turbines. The 50% impulse voltages and flash probabilities of the scaled wind turbines with gap distances of 1 to 8 m in the static and rotary conditions are determined by using the discharge test and selective discharge test. The discharge test for a single wind turbine with a gap of 1 to 2 m indicates that the breakdown voltages of the gap between the scaled turbine and electrodes increases with an increase in the blade rotation speed. However, the discharge test with a gap distance of 4 to 8 m indicates that the breakdown voltage of the fan decreases with an increase in the blade rotation speed. The test results of the scaled dual wind turbines experiment have the same rules. To explain this phenomenon, the influence of wind speed on the space‐charge distribution and electrical field intensity of corona discharge is simulated in the background of a target thundercloud. The rotation of the fan reduces the space‐charge density near the area of the blade tip, which leads to an increase in the field strength near the blade tip of the wind turbine and a decrease in the field strength away from the blade tip. This influence varies in short and long air gap, resulting in opposite relationships between discharge voltage and distance from the tip of the turbine. The results can provide a reference for the lightning protection of wind turbines.

Rüzgâr Türbinlerinin Yıldırımdan Korunması için Bir Eğitim Setinin Tasarlanması

Among renewable energy sources, wind energy has drawn a great attention in last decade. Wind turbines are usually installed at places with high altitudes because of the nature of the wind. In addition to this, wind turbines have sharp blades. Due to these two features of wind turbines, they can be exposed to lightning. Hence, lightning protection of wind turbines is a critical subject. In this study, an educational kit is designed to demonstrate the lightning protection methods of wind turbine. By using this kit, different receptor, conductor or types of placement of conductor can be examined. In this study, design steps of the kit is presented in details. The educational kit is also tested under artificial lightning which are generated in the high voltage laboratory and measurement results are presented. The education kit is also used by students in a laboratory course to understand lightning protection of a wind turbine.

풍력발전기의 낙뢰피해 대책 검토 및 적용방안

This investigation presents reviews of many research results on lightning damage to wind turbines and lightning protection strategies from IEC Standard, Europe, USA, Japan and Korea. There have been few studies on lightning protection of wind turbines in Korea, while various investigations have been performed in the other countries. It is necessary to apply some good lightning protection strategies of IEC Standard and the other countries to Korea. Those are as follows: The guideline for lightning protection of wind turbines should be established based on IEC Standards. It needs to be carried out both development of software and experimental studies for understanding the types of lightning damage to wind turbines and compiling the database. In order to minimize the lightning damage to wind turbines, it is a key factor for wind farm owners and researchers to provide the information about the damage cases and wind farm operation technique.

Protection of interconnected wind turbines against lightning effects: Overvoltages and electromagnetic transients study

Abstract This paper is concerned with direct or indirect lightning strokes on wind turbines, studying overvoltages and electromagnetic transients. As wind power generation undergoes rapid growth, lightning damages involving wind turbines have come to be regarded with more attention. With the aim of providing further insights into the lightning protection of wind turbines, describing the transient behavior in an accurate way, the restructured version (RV) of the electromagnetic transients program (EMTP) is used in this paper. A new case study is presented with two interconnected wind turbines, considering a direct lightning stroke to the blade or considering that lightning strikes the soil near a tower. Comprehensive computer simulations with EMTP-RV are presented and conclusions are duly drawn.

A204 風力発電設備の雷害保護(OS2 再生可能エネルギー)

Lightning protection of wind turbines as a measure, analyze, organize a manufacturer of lightningprotection lightning protection measures in law and traditional IEC standards. With lightningprotection measures to consider based on the lightning damage to the windmill in our country, to organize measures for lightning protection of wind turbines in our country. Was based on the current situation we consider each of these factors for lightning protection measures for wind power generation facilities. In order to fully use the features of wind power generation facilities as LPS, it is necessary protective measures in the future of individual trials demonstrated grasp of texture and lightning. These will contribute to improve the performance of wind turbines in the future of our country.

Lightning protection of wind turbines – a comparison of measured data with required protection levels

Latest wind turbine lightning protection systems have been refined to the point where lightning damage is now relatively rare. This is increasingly important as wind turbines move offshore where access for maintenance is more difficult than for most land-based wind farms. Manufacturers have been trying to make sure that the lightning protection systems they install comply with the highest protection levels stipulated in the relevant IEC standards. In this study, data from the Nysted Offshore Wind farm in Denmark and that from a large number of other wind turbines worldwide is reviewed to show the range of lightning currents that have been measured on wind turbines currently in operation. These current values are compared with the required protection levels within the standards.

EMTP-RV Analysis of Lightning Surges on Wind Turbines

This paper is concerned with lightning surge propagation on wind turbines. As wind power generation undergoes rapid growth, lightning incidents involving wind turbines have come to be regarded as a serious problem. Nevertheless, no known studies exist yet in Portugal regarding lightning protection of wind turbines. Hence, we present a case study, based on a wind turbine with an interconnecting transformer, for the analysis of lightning surges. Computer simulations obtained by using the EMTP-RV code are presented. Conclusions are duly drawn.

Analysis of the Thunderstorm Activity in Portugal for its Application in the Lightning Protection of Wind Turbines

This paper presents a brief characterization of wind power in Portugal, considering the installed power capacity, the capacity under construction, and the location of wind farms. It also describes the Portuguese Lightning Location System, and presents the results of the occurrence of cloud-to-ground strikes both temporally and geographically distributed and the accumulative probability of the peak current. Based on these results, new ground flash density maps were drawn. Thus, this paper allows the characterization of discharges occurring in Portugal, helping to improve risk analysis and the protection systems adopted.

Effective Lightning Protection For Wind Turbine Generators

A wind turbine generator is the most exposed of all types of generators connected to electric utility systems. Wind turbines are most often erected in hostile lightning environments. Lightning damage to wind turbines is costly in terms of repair and replacement of equipment. Lightning damage is the single largest cause of unplanned downtime in wind turbines, and that downtime is responsible for the loss of countless megawatts of power generation. There is currently no international standard governing wind turbine lightning protection. This paper offers guidelines for effective protection