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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 901 records · Page 50
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Axial gap rotating electrical machine

Direct drive rotating electrical machines with axial air gaps are disclosed. In these machines, a rotor ring and stator ring define an axial air gap between them. Sets of gap-maintaining rolling supports bear between the rotor ring and the stator ring at their peripheries to maintain the axial air gap. Also disclosed are wind turbines using these generators, and structures and methods for mounting direct drive rotating electrical generators to the hubs of wind turbines. In particular, the rotor ring of the generator may be carried directly by the hub of a wind turbine to rotate relative to a shaft without being mounted directly to the shaft.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Aeroelastically coupled blades for vertical axis wind turbines

Various technologies described herein pertain to a vertical axis wind turbine blade configured to rotate about a rotation axis. The vertical axis wind turbine blade includes at least an attachment segment, a rear swept segment, and optionally, a forward swept segment. The attachment segment is contiguous with the forward swept segment, and the forward swept segment is contiguous with the rear swept segment. The attachment segment includes a first portion of a centroid axis, the forward swept segment includes a second portion of the centroid axis, and the rear swept segment includes a third portion of the centroid axis. The second portion of the centroid axis is angularly displaced ahead of the first portion of the centroid axis and the third portion of the centroid axis is angularly displaced behind the first portion of the centroid axis in the direction of rotation about the rotation axis.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Reduction of radar cross-section of a wind turbine

The various technologies presented herein relate to formation of a wind turbine blade having a reduced radar signature in comparison with a turbine blade fabricated using conventional techniques. Various techniques and materials are presented to facilitate reduction in radar signature of a wind turbine blade, where such techniques and materials are amenable for incorporation into existing manufacturing techniques without degradation in mechanical or physical performance of the blade or major alteration of the blade profile.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Rotor blade assembly having internal loading features

Rotor blade assemblies and wind turbines are provided. A rotor blade assembly includes a rotor blade having exterior surfaces defining a pressure side, a suction side, a leading edge and a trailing edge each extending between a tip and a root, the rotor blade defining a span and a chord, the exterior surfaces defining an interior of the rotor blade. The rotor blade assembly further includes a loading assembly, the loading assembly including a weight disposed within the interior and movable generally along the span of the rotor blade, the weight connected to a rotor blade component such that movement of the weight towards the tip causes application of a force to the rotor blade component by the weight. Centrifugal force due to rotation of the rotor blade biases the weight towards the tip.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Superconducting electrical machine with double re-entrant ends for minimizing heat leak

A superconducting electrical machine includes at least one re-entrant end including at least two segments. The at least two segments are continuous. At least one re-entrant end may be included in a stator of the superconducting electrical machine, the stator being disposed substantially coannular with a longitudinal axis. At least one re-entrant end may also be included in a rotor of the superconducting electrical machine, the rotor being configured to rotate about a longitudinal axis. A first segment is substantially perpendicular to a plane parallel to the longitudinal axis, and a second segment is coannular with the longitudinal axis. Heat distal from rotor windings and/or stator windings encounters a thermal resistance provided by the at least two segments as the heat travels towards the rotor windings and/or stator windings.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2019

CGI for Impedance Characterization of Inverter-Coupled Generation

This presentation provides an overview of impedance characterization of inverter-coupled generation using the 7 MVA/13.2 kV grid simulator (controllable grid interface) at the National Wind Technology Center of NREL. The presentation shows how sequence impedance responses of multi-megawatt inverters and wind turbines are measured using the grid simulator. Applications of the measured impedance responses for the evaluation of dynamic interactions and high-fidelity model validation are demonstrated. The presentation also shows application of large-signal impedance theory for the prediction of harmonics generated by subsynchronous resonance (SSR) of DFIG-based Type-III wind turbines with series-compensated transmission lines. Finally, a new method for impedance-based characterization of power system frequency response is presented to enable real-time estimation of system inertia and primary frequency response (PFR), and to support control design for frequency support by inverter-coupled generation.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

High-resolution simulations of downslope flow over complex terrain using WRF-IBM

In this work, the onset and evolution of downslope flows during the evening transition on a mountain slope is examined using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The case study is focused on Granite Mountain, Utah, which was the site of the Mountain Terrain Atmospheric Modeling and Observations (MATERHORN) project. Here, due to the steep topography of Granite Mountain, an immersed boundary method (IBM) is employed. IBM was implemented into the WRF model by Lundquist et al (2010, 2012) and removes the restrictions on terrain slope that are associated with WRF’s traditional terrain following vertical coordinate system.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Methodology for Fast Iterations of Blade Designs Using Thermoplastic Composite Materials: Preprint

Tidal energy is still in the early research and development phases, therefore the ability to quickly manufacture and evaluate prototype blades with new blade designs and materials is critical. This paper investigates using a Stratasys three-dimensional printer to rapidly prototype scale-model turbine blades by printing the blade tooling and using vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) to manufacture blades. This work outlines a methodology for cost effectively designing and manufacturing model-scale tidal turbine blades to be used in testing campaigns, and for evaluating new thermoplastic composite materials for tidal energy applications. Demonstration blades were designed in ANSYS and manufactured using an infusible thermoplastic resin system called Elium(R). The development of scale-model thermoplastic blades enables research into their fatigue performance in realistic conditions at a cost-effective scale, and manufacturing using 3-D printed tooling enables fast and low-cost blade design iterations.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Detecting faults in wind turbines

A wind turbine generator fault detection method is described. The method includes acquiring current data from a wind turbine generator during operation, determining frequency demodulated signals and amplitude demodulated signals by frequency demodulating and amplitude demodulating the current data, resampling the frequency and amplitude demodulated signals corresponding to the current data, monitoring a frequency spectra of the resampled frequency and amplitude demodulated signals corresponding to the current data to identify one or more excitations in the frequency spectra. In response to identifying one or more excitations in the frequency spectra at one or more of the variable fault characteristic frequencies, the method includes generating and transmitting an alert that indicates that a wind turbine generator fault is detected.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Structural Testing at the NWTC Helps Improve Blade Design and Increase System Reliability

Since 1990, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) has tested more than 150 wind turbine blades. NWTC researchers can test full-scale and subcomponent articles, conduct data analyses, and provide engineering expertise on best design practices. Structural testing of wind turbine blades enables designers, manufacturers, and owners to validate designs and assess structural performance to specific load conditions. Rigorous structural testing can reveal design and manufacturing problems at an early stage of development that can lead to overall improvements in design and increase system reliability.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Hybrid Energy Systems: Opportunities for Coordinated Research

This chapter presents a baseline assessment of DOE’s current portfolio related to hybrid systems that produce electricity as their only output (Track 1), within the context of the key challenges facing these systems. Of particular importance is that this chapter is focused on understanding what makes a hybrid different from two standalone technologies, both in terms of the research being performed and the challenges that ongoing and planned research will seek to overcome. The purpose of summarizing and describing current research areas is to identify opportunities DOE could consider supporting in the near term. DOE encompasses several offices, each of which has unique objectives and is financially constrained. Additionally, the emergence of low-cost hybrid resources presents an array of new opportunities for the electricity sector, including better managing and allocating risk, improving operating performance, reducing system costs, and enhancing reliability and resilience. Realizing these opportunities will require overcoming barriers to the deployment of hybrids through targeted R&D which multiple DOE offices can invest in and benefit from.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Methods for thermal welding of wind turbine blades

Disclosed herein are methods, devices, and systems for manufacturing wind turbine blades which in some instances require using new blade joint designs. The blade joint designs described herein may allow for contact in places where welds will be made, which allows for existing manufacturing tolerances to be used while still enabling the use of thermal welding for wind turbine blades.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Utility Perspective on Protection Challenges with High IBR Penetration [Slides]

Utilities have seen rapid increase in Solar, Wind, and Battery Energy Storage Resources that interconnect to their electric system through Inverters. Inverter-Based Resources (IBRs) have fault current characteristics that are unlike the fault current response of traditional rotating-machine-based generators, which is well known and repeatable. IBR’s non-traditional fault current behavior is due to the IBR control scheme, which is configured to provide a clean AC output but also protect the inverter’s sensitive power electronics devices from damage, one source of which is overcurrent. This results in low fault current magnitude, low or no negative sequence current injection, the variability of sequence component currents, the variability of voltage with respect to current angles, and the lack of inertia. The control scheme also results in a fault current response that can vary between manufactures and between models of the same manufacturer. High penetration of IBRs can adversely affect the protection schemes applied in areas with high penetration of IBRs. With the proliferation of IBRs, utilities are finding out that conventional protection schemes are not adequately equipped to protect the electric systems. This is mainly because the existing protection elements and practices have been designed based on the fault current response of conventional rotating machines. In several cases, the available literature does not provide any clear solution for the issues when the protection scheme does not operate properly near IBRs. This report identifies various protection challenges due to IBRs that industry is facing, from the utility perspective. Instead of facing on one issue, this report looks broadly on all the challenges that system protection has experienced with high penetration of IBRs. Based on the IBR response from various utilities during real fault events and gathering perspective from different utility SMEs via questionnaire, the report summarizes on gathered data and internal experiences.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗