Search Results (10)

In recent years, ultra-large-scale offshore wind turbines have attracted widespread attention. However, accurately evaluating the motion responses of offshore wind turbines under extreme conditions, especially for semisubmersible floating off-shore wind turbines, is often challenging. In order to assess the operational behavior of wind turbines under wind and wave loads, this paper adopted a numerical analysis method to solve the motion responses under extreme conditions. It specifically examines the motion responses of the IEA 15 MW wind turbine in terms of surge, heave, and pitch direction, focusing on environmental loads that occur once every 50 years. The results show that the wind turbine can still operate normally under the Ultimate condition. However, the average amplitude increased by 7% in the pitch direction and decreased by 4% in the heave direction compared to the rated condition. Under extreme conditions (occurring once every 50 years), with the wind turbine parked, the average amplitude in the surge direction reduced by 33%, while the average amplitude in the pitch direction reduced by 106%. Thus, it is essential to pitch the blades and brake the generator in extreme environmental conditions to ensure the safety of the wind turbine. Full article

Accurately predicting the active power output of offshore wind power is of great significance for reducing the uncertainty in new power systems. By utilizing the spatiotemporal correlation characteristics among wind turbine unit outputs, this paper embeds the Diffusion Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN) into the Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) for the feature extraction of spatiotemporal correlations in wind turbine unit outputs. It also combines graph structure learning to propose a sequence-to-sequence model for ultra-short-term power prediction in large offshore wind farms. Firstly, the electrical connection graph within the wind farm is used to preliminarily determine the reference adjacency matrix for the wind turbine units within the farm, injecting prior knowledge of the adjacency matrix into the model. Secondly, a convolutional neural network is utilized to convolve the historical curves of units within the farm along the time dimension, outputting a unit connection probability vector. The Gumbel–softmax reparameterization method is then used to make the probability vector differentiable, thereby generating an optimal adjacency matrix for the prediction task based on the probability vector. At the same time, the difference between the two adjacency matrices is added as a regularization term to the loss function to reduce model overfitting. The simulation of actual cases shows that the proposed model has good predictive performance in ultra-short-term power prediction for large offshore wind farms. Full article

Flutter is an instability phenomenon that can occur in wind turbine blades due to fluid–structure interaction, particularly for longer and more flexible blades. Aeroelastic tailoring through bend–twist coupling is an effective method to enhance the aeroelastic performance of blades. In this study, we investigate the impact of bend–twist coupling on the structural performance and flutter limit of the IEA 15 MW blade, which is currently the longest reference wind turbine blade, and determine the optimal layup configuration that maximizes the flutter speed. The blade is modeled by NuMAD and iVABS, and the cross-section properties are obtained by PreComb and VABS. The accuracy of the blade model is verified in terms of stiffness and frequency. The bend–twist coupling is implemented by changing the fiber angle of the skin and spar cap considering symmetric and asymmetric layups. The flutter limits of both the baseline and the bend–twist coupled blade are evaluated based on HAWC2. The results show that the angle of spar cap carbon fiber has a greater effect on the blade’s structural properties and flutter speed than the skin fiber. Varying the spar cap carbon fiber angle increases the flutter speed, with the effect being more significant for the symmetric layup, up to 9.66% at a fiber angle of 25 degrees. In contrast, the variation in skin fiber angle has a relatively small impact on flutter speed—within ±3%. Full article

Ice generation on the surface of wind generator blades can affect the performance of the generator in several aspects. It can deteriorate sensor performance, reduce efficiency, and cause mechanical failures. One of the alternatives to minimize these effects is to include passive solutions based on the modification of the blade surfaces, and in particular to generate superhydrophobic behavior. Ultra-short laser systems enable improved micromachining of polymer surfaces by reducing the heat affected zone (HAZ) and improving the quality of the final surface topography. In this study, a green fs laser is used to micromachine different patterns on the surface of materials with the same structure that can be found in turbine blades. Convenient optimization of surface topography via fs laser micromachining enables the transformation of an initially hydrophilic surface into a superhydrophobic one. Thus, an initial surface finish with a contact angle ca. 69° is transformed via laser treatment into one with contact angle values above 170°. In addition, it is observed that the performance of the surface is maintained or even improved with time. These results open the possibility of using lasers to control turbine blade surface microstructure while avoiding the use of additional chemical coatings. This can be used as a complementary passive treatment to avoid ice formation in these large structures. Full article

Photovoltaics and wind power are expected to account for a large share of power generation in the carbon-neutral era. A gas turbine combined cycle (GTCC) with an industrial gas turbine as the main engine has the ability to rapidly start up and can follow up to load fluctuations to smooth out fluctuations in power generation from renewable energy sources. Simultaneously, the system must be more efficient than today’s state-of-the-art GTCCs because it will use either Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) when burning natural gas or hydrogen/ammonia as fuel, which is more expensive than natural gas. This paper describes the trend of cooled turbine rotor blades used in large industrial gas turbines that are carbon neutral. First, the evolution of cooled turbine stationary vanes and rotor blades is traced. Then, the current status of heat transfer technology, blade material technology, and thermal barrier coating technology that will lead to the realization of future ultra-high-temperature industrial gas turbines is surveyed. Based on these technologies, this paper introduces turbine vane and blade cooling technologies applicable to ultra-high-temperature industrial gas turbines for GTCC in the carbon-neutral era. Full article

This paper presents an overview of the emerging trends in the development of electrical generators for large wind turbines. To describe the developments in the design of electrical generators, it is necessary to look at the conversion system as a whole, and then, the structural and mechanical performances of the drive train need to be considered. Many drive train configurations have been proposed for large wind turbines; they should ensure high reliability, long availability and reduced maintainability. Although most installed wind turbines are geared, directly driven wind turbines with permanent magnet generators have attracted growing interest in the last few years, which has been in parallel to the continuous increase of the per unit turbine power. The aim of this work is to present the recent commercial designs of electrical generators in large wind turbines. Both the strengths and weaknesses of the existing systems are discussed. The most emerging technologies in high-power, low-speed electrical generators are investigated. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of different electrical generator concepts is performed, and the generators are assessed upon a list of criteria such as the mass, cost, and mass-to-torque ratio. Within the framework of these criteria, it may help to determine whether the electrical generator is technically feasible and economically viable for high-power wind turbines. Finally, this review could help to determine suitable generators for use in large and ultra-large wind energy systems. Full article

Extensive use of wind turbine (WT) systems brings remarkable challenges to the stability and safety of the power systems. Due to the difficulty and complexity of modeling such large plants, the model-independent strategies are preferred for the control of the WT plants which eliminates the need to model identification. This current work proposes a novel model-independent control methodology in the rotor side converter (RSC) part to ameliorate low voltage ride through (LVRT) ability especially for the doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) WT. A novel model-independent nonsingular terminal sliding mode control (MINTSMC) was developed based on the principle of the ultra-local pattern. In the suggested controller, the MINTSMC scheme was designed to stabilize the RSC of the DFIG, and a sliding-mode supervisor was adopted to determine the unknown dynamics of the proposed system. An auxiliary dual input interval type 2 fuzzy logic control (DIT2-FLC) was established in a model-independent control structure to remove the estimation error of the sliding mode observer. Real-time examinations have been carried out using a Real-Time Model in Loop (RT-MiL) for validating the applicability of the proposed model-independent control in a real-time platform. To evaluate the usefulness and supremacy of the MINTSMC based DIT2-FLC, the real-time outcomes are compared with outcomes of RSC regulated conventional PI controller and MINTSMC controller. Full article

Joining large and complex polymer–matrix composite structures is becoming increasingly important in industries such as automobiles, aerospace, sports, wind turbines, and others. Ultrasonic welding is an ultra-fast joining process and also provides excellent joint quality as a cost-effective alternative to other joining processes. This research aims at investigating the welding characteristics of novel methyl methacrylate Elium^®, a liquid thermoplastic resin. Elium^® is the first of its kind of thermoplastic resin, which is curable at room temperature and is suitable for mass production processes. The welding characteristics of Elium^® composites were investigated by optimizing the welding parameters with specially designed integrated energy directors (ED) and manufactured using the Resin transfer molding process. The results showed a 23% higher lap shear strength for ultrasonically welded composite joints when compared to the adhesively bonded joints. The optimized welding time for the ultrasonic welded joint was found to be 1.5 s whereas it was 10 min for the adhesively bonded joint. Fractographic analysis showed the significant plastic deformation and shear cusps formation on the fractured surface, which are typical characteristics for strong interfacial bonding. Full article

An initial design of the platform for the moderate water depth (100 m) is performed by upscaling of an existing 5 MW braceless semi-submersible platform design to support the DTU (Danish University of Science and Technology) 10 MW wind turbine. To investigate the dynamic characteristics of the ultra-large semi-submersible floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT), an aero-hydro-servo-elastic numerical modeling is applied to carry out the fully coupled time-domain simulation analysis. The motion responses of the ultra-large semi-submersible FOWT are presented and discussed for selected environmental conditions. Based on the quasi-static and dynamic analysis methods, the influence of the dynamic effects of the mooring lines on the platform motion responses and mooring line tension responses are discussed. Subsequently, the difference in the motion responses and structural dynamics of the DTU 10 MW and NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) 5 MW FOWT is studied due to the difference in turbine properties. The simulation results reveal that the excitation of the low-frequency wind loads on the surge and pitch motions, the tower-base fore-aft bending moments and the mooring line tension response becomes more prominent when the size of the wind turbine increases, but the excitation action of the 3P effect on the structural dynamics of the 5 MW FOWT is more obvious than those of the 10 MW FOWT. Full article

A novel polar fuzzy (PF) control approach for a hybrid power system is proposed in this research. The proposed control scheme remedies the issues of system frequency and the continuity of demand supply caused by renewable sources’ uncertainties. The hybrid power system consists of a wind turbine generator (WTG), solar photovoltaics (PV), a solar thermal power generator (STPG), a diesel engine generator (DEG), an aqua-electrolyzer (AE), an ultra-capacitor (UC), a fuel-cell (FC), and a flywheel (FW). Furthermore, due to the high cost of the battery energy storage system (BESS), a new idea of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) control is applied to use the battery of the electric vehicle (EV) as equivalent to large-scale energy storage units instead of small batteries to improve the frequency stability of the system. In addition, EV customers’ convenience is taken into account. A minimal-order observer is used to estimate the supply error. Then, the area control error (ACE) signal is calculated in terms of the estimated supply error and the frequency deviation. ACE is considered in the frequency domain. Two PF approaches are utilized in the intended system. The mission of each controller is to mitigate one frequency component of ACE. The responsibility for ACE compensation is shared among all parts of the system according to their speed of response. The performance of the proposed control scheme is compared to the conventional fuzzy logic control (FLC). The effectiveness and robustness of the proposed control technique are verified by numerical simulations under various scenarios. Full article