Field verification program for small wind turbines

Windward Engineering, LLC

United States. Department of Energy. Golden Field Office.

关键词: Wind Turbines;    Computers;    Turbines;    Simulation;    Utah;   

DOI  :  10.2172/828233
RP-ID  :  DE-FC36-99GO10460
RP-ID  :  FC36-99GO10460
RP-ID  :  828233

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

In 1999 Windward Engineering (Windward) was awarded a Cooperative Agreement under the Field Verification Program with the Department of Energy (DOE) to install two Whisper H40 wind turbines, one at the NREL National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) and one at a test site near Spanish Fork, Utah. After installation, the turbine at the NWTC was to be operated, maintained, and monitored by NREL while the turbine in Spanish Fork was to be administered by Windward. Under this award DOE and Windward defined the primary objectives of the project as follows: (1) Determine and demonstrate the reliability and energy production of a furling wind turbine at a site where furling will be a very frequent event and extreme gusts can be expected during the duration of the tests. (2) Make engineering measurements and conduct limited computer modeling of the furling behavior to improve the industry understanding of the mechanics and nature of furling. We believe the project has achieved these objectives. The turbine has operated for approximately three and a half years. We have collected detailed engineering data approximately 75 percent of that time. Some of these data were used in an ADAMS model validation that highlighted the accuracies and inaccuracies of the computer modeling for a passively furling wind turbine. We also presented three papers at the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) Windpower conferences in 2001, 2002, and 2003. These papers addressed the following three topics: (a) general overview of the project [1], (b) furling operation during extreme wind events [2], and (c) extrapolation of extreme (design) loads [3]. We believe these papers have given new insight into the mechanics and nature of furling and have set the stage for future research. In this final report we will highlight some of the more interesting aspects of the project as well as summarize the data for the entire project. We will also present information on the installation of the turbines as well as the findings from the post-test inspection of the turbine.