FEATURE SPONSOR
BLADE INSPECTION & REPAIR
INCREASED OUTPUT THROUGH IMPROVED MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY
CASE STUDY – FIBRE OPTIC BLADE ICE DETECTION SYSTEM PROVEN IN PRACTICE
During winter, multiple international manufacturers tested the fos4Blade ice detection system in their wind turbines. The recently completed evaluation has shown that the fibre optic system with rotor-integrated vibration sensors is not only more accurate than ice measurement systems installed on the wind turbine’s nacelle but also more cost-effective.
A field test determined a yield increase of more than 100 MWh at a 3 MW wind turbine.
ICE FORMATION
Ice formation on wind turbine rotor blades not only adversely affects aerodynamics but is dangerous as well. To avoid chunks of ice breaking off and becoming uncontrolled projectiles, wind turbines must be shut down in the event of ice build-up.
Up until now common practice has been to install sensors on the nacelles of the wind turbines, the ice build-up on which is considered indicative of ice build-up on the rotor blades. The problem is that the measuring processes formerly used to detect ice build-up are not very accurate and thus generally err on the side of caution. As a result wind turbines often remain inoperative for much longer than is actually required to prevent ice throw.
CERTIFICATION
In September 2014, the world’s largest classification company for wind turbine equipment, Germanischer Lloyd (DNV GL SE), certified the blade ice detection system from fibre optic specialists fos4X GmbH. It is also the first system of its kind which fulfils the IEC-61400-13 standard for vibration measurement on wind turbines. In preparation for the pending series integration in wind turbines, a comprehensive set of validation tests was conducted in the winter of 2014/2015 at various turbine manufacturers.
The tests examined case of ice build-up in a range of different operating modes on 14 different types of turbines located in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Canada.
KEY ADVANTAGE
Consequently, the key advantage of measuring vibrations directly at the rotor is the ability to automatically restart once the ice has melted, with no manual intervention.
An additional 119 MWh to 249 MWh were produced when the fibre optic blade ice detection system controlled shutdown of the wine turbines. Based on average yields, this constitutes a 2.2 to 5 per cent annual increase.
fos4X GmbH
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
45
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92