Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Nanowings (NANOmetric bio-inspired coating for wind turbine WINGS ice protection)
Período documentado: 2023-01-01 hasta 2023-12-31
The project aims to develop a nanocoating with anti-icing properties for application on wind turbine blades, aiming to ensure consistent electricity production from this technology. While winter should be an optimal period for wind power generation, low temperatures lead to ice formation on turbine blades. Light ice accumulation causes blade slowdowns due to reduced aerodynamic surface, diminishing blade efficiency and overall power output. In more severe cases, extensive ice buildup necessitates plant shutdowns, resulting in significant production losses and potential power outages for communities. Additionally, the formation of icicles on blades poses risks of detachment during blade movement, potentially causing damage to park structures or maintenance personnel.
Ensuring smooth wind farm operation is vital for society, given its role in carbon emissions reduction.
The project's objective is to develop a Nanocoating capable of preventing ice formation on blades without relying on expensive conventional methods.
Ensuring smooth wind farm operation is vital for society, given its role in carbon emissions reduction.
The project's objective is to develop a Nanocoating capable of preventing ice formation on blades without relying on expensive conventional methods.
During the first year of the project, the primary objectives were to analyse and enhance a version of the nanocoating with anti-icing properties for application on wind turbine blades. DTU, in collaboration with Linari, focused on devising a new solution to develop the desired nanocoating. However, experimental trials revealed the initial concept of utilizing a portable electrospinning device, later adapted to a drone, along with a nanocoating heating system to enhance blade adhesion, was unfeasible. This was due to limitations with the electrospinning technique for nanocoating creation and safety concerns regarding drone usage, particularly exceeding weight restrictions due to required solution tanks. Instead, a nanocoating was synthesized and tested on
2 laboratory-prepared tape, employing a machine designed and constructed for on-site nanocoating application, featuring a final heating system to boost adhesion onto blades.
Furthermore, conventional nanocoating was assessed on ice detection sensors, yielding unsatisfactory results due to sensor material vulnerability to temperatures exceeding 70°C. Efforts are underway to identify materials with superior thermal resistance, with findings anticipated in the subsequent phase.
Another milestone was the application of the nanocoating onto turbine blades at the Valdihuelo wind farm in Spain from Enel Green Power – Endesa. This objective necessitated scaled nanocoating production at Linari's facilities. Utilizing the developed machinery for application, portions of the blades adjacent to installed ice-detection sensors were successfully coated by the end of September 2023, preceding the winter season. Concurrently, the V2 iteration of the nanocoating was formulated for implementation in the upcoming year.
The project's original concept aimed at in-flight electrospinning of the nanocoating, initially through a manually operated portable system and later via drone deployment. However, research insights prompted a deviation from this trajectory, favouring a tape-based coating method produced in Linari laboratory, followed by semi-automated application onto blades performed by operators with proper elevation systems instead of drone. The on-site electrospinning was eliminated for low productivity, while the use of drone was considered to complex during the first filed application experience both for regulatory prospective and because the maintenance operators has to manually clean the blade before nanocoating application and, in the same time, they can easily apply the nanocoating with properly design application tool.
2 laboratory-prepared tape, employing a machine designed and constructed for on-site nanocoating application, featuring a final heating system to boost adhesion onto blades.
Furthermore, conventional nanocoating was assessed on ice detection sensors, yielding unsatisfactory results due to sensor material vulnerability to temperatures exceeding 70°C. Efforts are underway to identify materials with superior thermal resistance, with findings anticipated in the subsequent phase.
Another milestone was the application of the nanocoating onto turbine blades at the Valdihuelo wind farm in Spain from Enel Green Power – Endesa. This objective necessitated scaled nanocoating production at Linari's facilities. Utilizing the developed machinery for application, portions of the blades adjacent to installed ice-detection sensors were successfully coated by the end of September 2023, preceding the winter season. Concurrently, the V2 iteration of the nanocoating was formulated for implementation in the upcoming year.
The project's original concept aimed at in-flight electrospinning of the nanocoating, initially through a manually operated portable system and later via drone deployment. However, research insights prompted a deviation from this trajectory, favouring a tape-based coating method produced in Linari laboratory, followed by semi-automated application onto blades performed by operators with proper elevation systems instead of drone. The on-site electrospinning was eliminated for low productivity, while the use of drone was considered to complex during the first filed application experience both for regulatory prospective and because the maintenance operators has to manually clean the blade before nanocoating application and, in the same time, they can easily apply the nanocoating with properly design application tool.
The project is proceeding as planned and the development of the new nanocoating is underway which has given encouraging results for the continuation of the project, also reviewing the details of the semi-manual applicator that can be used by operators with an exoskeleton to facilitate the application. The social impact of this solution is that the type of application does not require high physical resistance. The economic impact of achieving the goal is to reduce the cost of the current techniques used for anti-ice, to eliminate the power losses currently induced by ice formation and at an environmental level to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the use of fossil fuels with a consequent decrease in global warming. The marketing of the product includes electricity suppliers; operators of maintenance and cleaning of wind turbines; manufacturers of wind turbines; turbine operators and owners with their own O&M divisions. The production of the electrospinning equipment and construction of the semi-automatic application device will have a knock-on impact on the other stakeholders that will be identified in the sectors of mechanics, supplies of chemical products that will be transformed for the production of nanofibers and coatings.