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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 397 records · Page 22

Open-Loop Control of Adjustable Tuned Mass Dampers for Floating Wind Turbine Platforms

In this study, we demonstrate the ability of adjustable tuned mass dampers (TMDs) to reduce the platform motion of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs). The TMDs are located in the hull and provide control authority by varying the amount of water ballast and compressed air in a reservoir over time. The optimal TMD settings depend on the wind and wave conditions of the FOWT. We present an open-loop control scheme that changes the TMD natural frequency based on sea state and a simple method for estimating the peak wave period and significant wave height. The performance of this open-loop control is compared to ideal control of the TMDs (set knowing the exact sea state), a TMD with a constant natural frequency targeting the design load case with the greatest platform motion, and a baseline set of simulations of the platform without TMDs. The constant natural frequency case performs nearly as effectively as the actively controlled case, suggesting that the TMDs can be simply designed for extreme load conditions and provide consistent control over a range of environments; however, the methods used to find the optimal TMD parameters and estimate sea state statistics could be used in other aspects of FOWT control and design.

artificial intelligence↗

H2O2 space shuttle APU

A cryogenic H2-O2 auxiliary power unit (APU) was developed and successfully demonstrated. It has potential application as a minimum weight alternate to the space shuttle baseline APU because of its (1) low specific propellant consumption and (2) heat sink capabilities that reduce the amount of expendable evaporants. A reference system was designed with the necessary heat exchangers, combustor, turbine-gearbox, valves, and electronic controls to provide 400 shp to two aircraft hydraulic pumps. Development testing was carried out first on the combustor and control valves. This was followed by development of the control subsystem including the controller, the hydrogen and oxygen control valves, the combustor, and a turbine simulator. The complete APU system was hot tested for 10 hr with ambient and cryogenic propellants. Demonstrated at 95 percent of design power was 2.25 lb/hp-hr. At 10 percent design power, specific propellant consumption was 4 lb/hp-hr with space simulated exhaust and 5.2 lb/hp-hr with ambient exhaust. A 10 percent specific propellant consumption improvement is possible with some seal modifications. It was demonstrated that APU power levels could be changed by several hundred horsepower in less than 100 msec without exceeding allowable turbine inlet temperatures or turbine speed.

Source record↗

Grid Forming Fast Frequency Response for PMSG-Based Wind Turbines

Electric power systems are undergoing a rapid transition from fuel-based generation using synchronous generators to renewable generation interfaced by power electronics. In this context, a key challenge is using renewable generation with limited controllability to contribute to power system stability. In this work, we investigate grid-forming control of permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) wind turbines. The proposed control and curtailment strategy supports the entire spectrum of standard functions of grid-following (e.g. maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and grid-forming control (e.g., primary frequency control) without explicit mode switching. A detailed case study is used to compare the performance of the proposed control at operating points corresponding to MPPT and frequency control with standard grid-forming and grid-following controls. Further, the results demonstrate that (i) the proposed energy balancing grid forming control is self-synchronizing in MPPT mode, (ii) the (limited) energy storage and controllability of wind turbines can be adequately utilized to provide grid support, and (ii) the proposed control exhibits good performance under variable wind speeds and does not result in a significant increase of wind turbine fatigue loads.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Developing and Evaluating a Smart Curtailment Strategy Integrated with a Wind Turbine Manufacturer Platform

The Renewable Energy Wildlife Institute lead a team of scientists, wind developers, and turbine manufacturers in a study to develop and test a “smart curtailment” system intended to help reduce bat collisions with wind turbines. The Vestas Bat Protection System (VBPS) is a newly developed software module within the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system of Vestas turbines. The VBPS combines data from commercially available environmental sensors and the turbine’s built-in sensors with the Vestas SCADA system. VBPS is designed to receive environmental data from sensors on the turbine such as temperature, wind speed, wind direction, time of day, and time of year, relays that information to the SCADA system to determine whether to execute turbine curtailments at any given time. The goals of this study were to 1) develop a bat fatality risk model based on bat activity data and environmental data collected in year 1, and to 2) evaluate the VBPS, using the bat fatality risk model to implement curtailment, in comparison to “blanket curtailment” (turbines curtailed when wind speed is below 5.0 meters per second (m/s)) and “control” (normally operating, feathered below 3.0 m/s) turbines in year 2. The field study took place at a wind energy facility in Iowa during the fall bat migration seasons (July – October) in 2021 and 2022. For VBPS to succeed as a viable strategy for the minimization of bat fatalities, it should meet or exceed the performance of blanket curtailment. Specifically, the VBPS should meet the following performance targets to demonstrate whether it an effective, practical risk reduction measure: (1) Turbines operating VBPS should have equal or fewer bat fatalities compared to turbines operating with blanket curtailment, and significantly fewer bat fatalities compared to control turbines; and (2) Turbines operating VBPS should have greater power production compared to turbines operating with blanket curtailment. The study was completed in accordance with the Statement of Project Objectives and within the terms of the Budget Justification. This Final Report describes the progress, challenges, and outcomes of the study.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Field tests of a highly flexible downwind ultralight rotor to mimic a 13-MW turbine rotor

Offshore extreme-scale turbines of 20–25 MW in size may offer reduced energy costs. The technical barriers at these extreme scales include escalating blade masses with increased flexibility as well as high gravity loads and tower-strike issues. These barriers may be addressed with a load-aligning downwind turbine. To investigate this type of design, a field test campaign was conducted with an aeroelastically scaled rotor, termed the Segmented Ultralight Morphing Rotor Demonstrator (SUMR-D). The tests were conducted on the Controls Advanced Research Turbine at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The paper gives an overview of the experimental diagnostics, blade design, and results of the field campaign, as well as makes conclusions and recommendations regarding extreme-scale highly flexible downwind rotors.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Advanced detection, isolation and accommodation of sensor failures: Real-time evaluation

The objective of the Advanced Detection, Isolation, and Accommodation (ADIA) Program is to improve the overall demonstrated reliability of digital electronic control systems for turbine engines by using analytical redundacy to detect sensor failures. The results of a real time hybrid computer evaluation of the ADIA algorithm are presented. Minimum detectable levels of sensor failures for an F100 engine control system are determined. Also included are details about the microprocessor implementation of the algorithm as well as a description of the algorithm itself.

Merrill, Walter C.↗

A Literature Review of NO x Emissions in Current and Future State-of-the-Art Gas Turbines

Current U.S. government policy seeks to achieve a completely carbon-free economy by 2050, with a carbon-free electricity sector by 2035 (per executive orders #14008 and #14057). To address these goals, the U.S. Department of Energy is evaluating strategies and technologies that support the production, utilization, transport, and storage of hydrogen (via initiatives such as Department of Energy's (DOE) Energy Earthshot—Hydrogen and various DOE funding opportunity announcements). A carbon-free fuel such as hydrogen cannot be overvalued in a dynamic electric energy sector seeking to decarbonize. One of the most important technologies needed to achieve the goal of a carbon-free electricity sector is a 100% hydrogen-fueled gas turbine. Accommodating hydrogen-based fuels has been a key goal for various original engine manufacturers (OEMs) for many years, but much more research and development (R&D) is needed. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the current state-of-the- art of hydrogen turbine technology, especially regarding nitrogen oxide (NO X ) emissions compared to natural gas-fueled turbines. NO X is the primary criteria pollutant from thermally driven combustion turbines and should be controlled to levels that are equivalent to or below existing standards (as reported “existing standards” for hydrogen-fueled gas turbines may need to be rebaselined). Further, this paper will provide an overview of hydrogen as a fuel and various NO X emissions control techniques that are relevant for hydrogen-based fuels. A conclusion from this overview is that, with some level of R&D, NO X emissions from hydrogen-fueled gas turbines can be controlled to levels similar to those produced by state-of-the-art (SOTA) natural gas-fueled combustion turbines while remaining competitive in terms of performance and efficiency.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Camera / Raw Data

The SUMR-D CART2 turbine data are recorded by the CART2 wind turbine's supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system for the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) SUMR-D project located at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Flatirons Campus. For the project, the CART2 wind turbine was outfitted with a highly flexible rotor specifically designed and constructed for the project. More details about the project can be found here: https://sumrwind.com/. The data contain video data of the wind turbine blades during operation as well as while parked. Since the blades had a coning angle, the blades are only in frame of the video camera when the blades are in a pitched to run configuration.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Wind Turbine / Reviewed Data

The SUMR-D CART2 turbine data are recorded by the CART2 wind turbine's supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system for the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) SUMR-D project located at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Flatirons Campus. For the project, the CART2 wind turbine was outfitted with a highly flexible rotor specifically designed and constructed for the project. More details about the project can be found here: https://sumrwind.com/. The data include power, loads, and meteorological information from the turbine during startup, operation, and shutdown, and when it was parked and idle.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Advanced detection, isolation, and accommodation of sensor failures - Real-time evaluation

The objective of the Advanced Detection, Isolation, and Accommodation (ADIA) program is to improve the overall demonstrated reliability of digital electronic control systems for turbine engines by using analytical redundancy to detect sensor failures. The results of a real-time hybrid computer evaluation of the ADIA algorithm are presented. Minimum detectable levels of sensor failures for an F100 engine control system are determined. Also included are details about the microprocessor implementation of the algorithm as well as a description of the algorithm itself.

Merrill, Walter C.↗

Description of the 3 MW SWT-3 wind turbine at San Gorgonio Pass, California

The SWT-3 wind turbine, a microprocessor controlled three bladed variable speed upwind machine with a 3MW rating that is presently operational and undergoing system testing, is discussed. The tower, a rigid triangular truss configuration, is rotated about its vertical axis to position the wind turbine into the prevailing wind. The blades rotate at variable speed in order to maintain an optimum 6 to 1 tip speed ratio between cut in and fated wind velocity, thereby maximizing power extraction from the wind. Rotor variable speed is implemented by the use of a hydrostatic transmission consisting of fourteen fixed displacement pumps operating in conjunction with eighteen variable displacement motors. Full blade pitch with on-off hydraulic actuation is used to maintain 3MW of output power.

Rybak, S. C.↗

The application of LQR synthesis techniques to the turboshaft engine control problem

A power turbine governor was designed for a recent-technology turboshaft engine coupled to a modern, articulated rotor system using Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) and Kalman Filter (KF) techniques. A linear, state-space model of the engine and rotor system was derived for six engine power settings from flight idle to maximum continuous. An integrator was appended to the fuel flow input to reduce the steady-state governor error to zero. Feedback gains were calculated for the system states at each power setting using the LQR technique. The main rotor tip speed state is not measurable, so a Kalman Filter of the rotor was used to estimate this state. The crossover of the system was increased to 10 rad/s compared to 2 rad/sec for a current governor. Initial computer simulations with a nonlinear engine model indicate a significant decrease in power turbine speed variation with the LQR governor compared to a conventional governor.

Pfeil, W. H.↗

The application of LQR synthesis techniques to the turboshaft engine control problem

A power turbine governor was designed for a recent-technology turboshaft engine coupled to a modern, articulated rotor system using Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) and Kalman Filter (KF) techniques. A linear, state-space model of the engine and rotor system was derived for six engine power settings from flight idle to maximum continuous. An integrator was appended to the fuel flow input to reduce the steady-state governor error to zero. Feedback gains were calculated for the system states at each power setting using the LQR technique. The main rotor tip speed state is not measurable, so a Kalman Filter of the rotor was used to estimate this state. The crossover of the system was increased to 10 rad/s compared to 2 rad/sec for a current governor. Initial computer simulations with a nonlinear engine model indicate a significant decrease in power turbine speed variation with the LQR governor compared to a conventional governor.

Pfeil, W. H.↗

CFD analysis on control of secondary losses in STME LOX turbines with endwall fences

The rotor blade in the newly designed LOX turbine for the future Space Transportation Main Engine (STME) has a severe flow turning angle, nearly 160 degrees. The estimated secondary loss in the rotor alone accounts for nearly 50 percent of the total loss over the entire stage. To reduce such a loss, one of the potential methods is to use fences attached on the turbine endwall (hub). As a prelude to examining the effects of endwall fence with actual STME turbine configuration, the present study focuses on similar issues with a different, but more generic, geometry - a rectangular duct with a 160-degree bend. The duct cross-section has a 2-to-1 aspect ratio and the radii of curvature for the inner and outer wall are 0.25 and 1.25 times the duct width, respectively. The present emphasis lies in examining the effects of various fence-length extending along the streamwise direction. The flowfield is numerically simulated using the FDNS code developed earlier by Wang and Chen. The FDNS code is a pressure based, finite-difference, Navier-Stokes equations solver.

Chyu, Mingking K.↗

Full-scale engine demonstration of an advanced sensor failure detection, isolation and accommodation algorithm: Preliminary results

The objective of the advanced detection, isolation, and accommodation (ADIA) program is to improve the overall demonstrated reliability of digital electronic control systems for turbine engines. For this purpose, algorithms were developed which detect, isolate, and accommodate sensor failures using analytical redundancy. Preliminary results of a full scale engine demonstration of the ADIA algorithm are presented. Minimum detectable levels of sensor failures for an F100 turbofan engine control system are determined and compared to those obtained during a previous evaluation of this algorithm using a real-time hybrid computer simulation of the engine.

Merrill, Walter C.↗