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At least 1,099 records · Page 61

An Adaptive System for Load Relief and Accurate Control of Launch Vehicles

An adaptive load relief control system for a SATURN type vehicle which significantly reduces aerodynamically induced structural loads without incurring excessive velocity dispersions has been studied. This control system utilizes pendulous accelerometers to measure the angle between the total vehicle acceleration vector and the vehicle body. This measurement is used to fly the vehicle along the nominal trajectory to minimize velocity dispersions. However, if unusually high values of wind velocity are encountered, the system will cause the vehicle to turn into the wind to reduce the lateral structural loads. Results of an anal6g computer study show that the adaptive system can reduce aerodynam3cally induced peak structural loads as much as 50 percent under those encountered using conventional control techniques. relief is used only when required, velocity dispersions are held to a minimum.

ADAPTIVE CONTROL SYSTEM↗

Wind turbine blade fatigue tests: lessons learned and application to SHM system development

This paper presents experimental results of several structural health monitoring (SHM) methods applied to a 9-meter CX-100 wind turbine blade that underwent fatigue loading. The blade was instrumented with piezoelectric transducers, accelerometers, acoustic emission sensors, and foil strain gauges. It underwent harmonic excitation at its first natural frequency using a hydraulically actuated resonant excitation system. The blade was initially excited at 25% of its design load, and then with steadily increasing loads until it failed. Various data were collected between and during fatigue loading sessions. The data were measured over multiple frequency ranges using a variety of acquisition equipment, including off-the-shelf systems and specially designed hardware developed by the authors. Modal response, diffuse wave-field transfer functions, and ultrasonic guided wave methods were applied to assess the condition of the wind turbine blade. The piezoelectric sensors themselves were also monitored using a sensor diagnostics procedure. This paper summarizes experimental procedures and results, focusing particularly on fatigue crack detection, and concludes with considerations for implementing such damage identification systems, which will be used as a guideline for future SHM system development for operating wind turbine blades.

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Smart Novel Semi-Active Tuned Mass Damper for Fixed-Bottom and Floating Offshore Wind (Paper)

The intention of this paper is to present the results of a novel smart semi-active tuned mass damper (SA-TMD), which mitigates unwanted loads for both fixed-bottom and floating offshore wind systems. The paper will focus on the most challenging water depths for both fixed-bottom and floating systems. A close to 38m Monopile and 55m Tension Leg Platform (TLP) will be considered. A technical development and trade-off analysis will be presented comparing the new system with existing passive non-linear TMD (N-TMD) technology and semi-active. TheSATMD works passively and activates itself with low power source under unwanted dynamic loading in less than 60msec. It is composed of both variable stiffness and damping elements coupled to a central pendulum mass. The analysis has been done numerically in both FAST(NREL) and Orcaflex (Orcina), and integrated in the Wind Turbine system employing CAD/CAE. The results of this work will pave the way for experimental testing to complete the technology qualification process. The load reductions under extreme and fatigue cases reach up significant levels at tower base, consequently reducing LCOE for fixed-bottom to floating wind solutions. The nacelle acceleration is reduced substantially under severe random wind and sea states, reducing the risks of failure of electromechanical components and blades at the rotor nacelle assembly. The SA-TMD system isa new technology that has not been applied previously in wind solutions. Structural damping devices aim to increase offshore wind turbine system robustness and reliability, which eases multiple substructures installations and global stability.

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Baseline Design of a Hurricane-Resilient Wind Turbine (Poster)

Under U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored research FOA 415, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory led a team of research groups to produce a complete design of a large wind turbine system to be deployable in the western Gulf of Mexico region. As such, the turbine and its support structure would be subjected to hurricane-loading conditions. Among the goals of this research was the exploration of advanced and innovative configurations that would help decrease the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of the design, and the expansion of the basic IEC design load cases (DLCs) to include hurricane environmental conditions. The wind turbine chosen was a three-bladed, downwind, direct-drive, 10-MW rated machine. The rotor blade was optimized based on an IEC load suite analysis. The drivetrain and nacelle components were scaled up from a smaller sized turbine using industry best practices. The tubular steel tower was sized using ultimate load values derived from the rotor optimization analysis. The substructure is an innovative battered and raked jacket structure. The innovative turbine has also been modeled within an aero-servo-hydro-elastic tool, and future papers will discuss results of the dynamic response analysis for select DLCs. Although multiple design iterations could not be performed because of limited resources in this study, and are left to future research, the obtained data will offer a good indication of the expected LCOE for large offshore wind turbines to be deployed in subtropical U.S. waters, and the impact design innovations can have on this value.

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Wind gust models derived from field data

Wind data measured during a field experiment were used to verify the analytical model of wind gusts. Good coincidence was observed; the only discrepancy occurred for the azimuth error in the front and back winds, where the simulated errors were smaller than the measured ones. This happened because of the assumption of the spatial coherence of the wind gust model, which generated a symmetric antenna load and, in consequence, a low azimuth servo error. This result indicates a need for upgrading the wind gust model to a spatially incoherent one that will reflect the real gusts in a more accurate manner. In order to design a controller with wind disturbance rejection properties, the wind disturbance should be known at the input to the antenna rate loop model. The second task, therefore, consists of developing a digital filter that simulates the wind gusts at the antenna rate input. This filter matches the spectrum of the measured servo errors. In this scenario, the wind gusts are generated by introducing white noise to the filter input.

Gawronski, W.↗

Comparison of API & IEC Standards for Offshore Wind Turbine Applications in the U.S. Atlantic Ocean: Phase II - March 9, 2009 - September 9, 2009

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) contracted MMI Engineering to conduct Phase II of the Joint Industry Project on Comparison of two design standards for offshore wind turbines (OWTs) in the United States Outer Continental Shelf waters. The two standards were the American Petroleum Institute (API) RP – 2A Recommended Practice for Planning, Designing, and Constructing Fixed Offshore Platforms and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61400-3 Design Requirements for Offshore Wind Turbines. In Phase I, two structure types (a monopile and a tripod) were studied at two sites – offshore Texas at 24-m water depth and offshore Massachusetts at 15-m water depth. This study provided insights into the loads imposed on the structures caused by wind and ocean forces, and also provided insights into the strength (capacity) of the structures subject to these loads. The resulting reliability (annual failure probability for ultimate strength) for the two structures at the two sites were generally governed by turbine and blade resonance avoidance for designing the structure, and not by ultimate strength needs to resist extreme loads. The conclusions drawn from Phase I were based on these limited numbers of case studies. This limitation prompted the need to conduct this second phase to study two new designs, the monopile and a jacket (space frame) substructure, at the same site where ultimate strength would likely also influence design and resonance avoidance. The site selected for Phase II was the offshore Massachusetts site, but with a water depth of 25 m (instead of 15 m as in Phase I). This selection permitted the use of the same meteorological and oceanographic (metocean) parameters, with the breaking wave criteria altered as a result of the increased water depth.

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Validation of Numerical Models of the Offshore Wind Turbine From the Alpha Ventus Wind Farm Against Full-Scale Measurements Within OC5 Phase III

The main objective of the Offshore Code Comparison Collaboration Continuation, with Correlation (OC5) project is validation of aero-hydro-servo-elastic simulation tools for offshore wind turbines (OWTs) through comparison of simulated results to the response data of physical systems. Phase III of the OC5 project validates OWT models against the measurements recorded on a Senvion 5M wind turbine supported by the OWEC Quattropod from the alpha ventus offshore wind farm. The following operating conditions of the wind turbine were chosen for the validation: (1) Idling below the cut-in wind speed; (2) Rotor-nacelle assembly (RNA) rotation maneuver below the cut-in wind speed; (3) Power production below and above the rated wind speed; and (4) Shutdown. A number of validation load cases were defined based on these operating conditions. The following measurements were used for validation: (1) Strains and accelerations recorded on the support structure; (2) Pitch, yaw, and azimuth angles, generator speed, and electrical power recorded from the RNA. Strains were not directly available from the majority of the OWT simulation tools. Therefore, strains were calculated based on out-of-plane bending moments, axial forces, and cross-sectional properties of the structural members. Also, a number of issues arose during the validation: (1) The need for a thorough quality check of sensor measurements; (2) The sensitivity of the turbine loads to the controller and airfoil properties, which were only approximated in the modeling approach; (3) The importance of estimating and applying an appropriate damping value for the structure; and (4) The importance of wind characteristics beyond turbulence on the loads. The simulation results and measurements were compared in terms of time series, discrete Fourier transforms, power spectral densities, probability density functions of strains and accelerometers. A good match was achieved between the measurements and models set up by OC5 Phase III participants.

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Review of Wind Turbine Wake Models and Future Directions (Presentation)

This presentation gives a brief overview to wind turbine wake modeling, ranging from models used in the 1980s up to the present. The presentation shows the strengths and weaknesses of various models and discusses the needs of the wind energy industry and research sectors. Both power production and loads analysis are discussed.

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Distributed Wind and Impacts of FERC Order No. 2222 Implementation

In September of 2020, FERC issued Order No. 2222, directing ISOs to adjust their long-standing tariffs and participation models to enable the operation of distributed energy resource (DER) aggregators in wholesale energy markets. The rule sought to bring wholesale markets under its jurisdiction up to speed with existing expansion of DERs across the United States and to capture the potential benefits that these technologies can provide. This report describes the implementation of FERC Order No. 2222 and the compliance plans that have been submitted so far, attempt to understand the potential impact the rule may have on distributed wind, and provide opportunities for future work to analyze and encourage deployment under these policy conditions. There is an information gap for the type of market interactions distributed wind may have or how it could be best deployed in DER aggregations under future market conditions. There is significant potential for profitable deployment of distributed wind in states that are served by ISOs and covered under Order No. 2222. Distributed wind and other DERs provide local energy that does not need to travel those distances and avoids the losses typically associated with long-distance energy transmission. Deployment of distributed wind can benefit communities that exist away from large load centers by providing local, clean, and affordable energy. Aggregating DERs that include distributed wind could provide these benefits across multiple far-ranging communities if they have access to participate in wholesale markets. A new baseline valuation of distributed wind in areas covered by Order No. 2222 is required to accurately gauge where it is profitable and how it can compete or complement existing or future DER deployment, including as part of an aggregate.

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Comparing Capacity Credit Calculations for Wind: A Case Study in Texas

The degree to which wind energy can contribute to the capacity needed to meet resource adequacy requirements, also known as capacity credit (CC), varies regionally with wind resource and correlation to net load. CC is an important metric widely used for resource planning and resource adequacy assessments. However, there are multiple methods for computing and estimating CC, depending on specific needs, access to data, and computational burden. It is unclear the extent to which the CC computation method may influence the result. To address this, we use a probabilistic resource adequacy tool and multiple approximation methods to systematically assess the CC of wind for near-term wind deployment under a case study in Texas. We find that proper consideration of transmission constraints is important; some approximation methods may overestimate the CC of wind due to a lack of consideration of transmission constraints, while other approximation methods may underestimate the CC by not capturing the ability of wind to be shipped to neighboring regions. In this case study, we find that several approximation methods do come close to the CC calculated by more robust probabilistic methods. However, the best approximation method may vary on a case-by-case basis, depending on system-specific considerations.

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Hydro power flexibility for power systems with variable renewable energy sources: an IEA Task 25 collaboration: Hydro power flexibility for power systems

Hydro power is one of the most flexible sources of electricity production. Power systems with considerable amounts of flexible hydro power potentially offer easier integration of variable generation, e.g., wind and solar. However, there exist operational constraints to ensure mid-/long-term security of supply while keeping river flows and reservoirs levels within permitted limits. In order to properly assess the effective available hydro power flexibility and its value for storage, a detailed assessment of hydro power is essential. Due to the inherent uncertainty of the weather-dependent hydrological cycle, regulation constraints on the hydro system, and uncertainty of internal load as well as variable generation (wind and solar), this assessment is complex. Hence, it requires proper modeling of all the underlying interactions between hydro power and the power system, with a large share of other variable renewables. A summary of existing experience of wind integration in hydro-dominated power systems clearly points to strict simulation methodologies. Recommendations include requirements for techno-economic models to correctly assess strategies for hydro power and pumped storage dispatch. These models are based not only on seasonal water inflow variations but also on variable generation, and all these are in time horizons from very short term up to multiple years, depending on the studied system. Another important recommendation is to include a geographically detailed description of hydro power systems, rivers' flows, and reservoirs as well as grid topology and congestion.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

Development and Analysis of a Swept Blade Aeroelastic Model for a Small Wind Turbine (Presentation)

As part of the U.S. Department-of-Energy-funded Competitiveness Improvement Project, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) developed new capabilities for aeroelastic modeling of precurved and preswept blades for small wind turbines. This presentation covers the quest for optimized rotors, computer-aided engineering tools, a case study, and summary of the results.

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