Description du projet
De nouveaux outils pour la gestion des ressources éoliennes
Le défi pressant de l’Europe concernant la consommation excessive d’énergie exige une gestion durable des ressources. Bien que l’énergie éolienne constitue une source renouvelable de premier plan, la durée de vie et la gestion des parcs d’éoliennes posent des problèmes importants. Les outils existants ont pris du retard par rapport aux progrès de la technologie éolienne, si bien que l’inspection visuelle et l’évaluation hors ligne demeurent toujours la norme. Dans cette optique, le projet WINDMIL, financé par l’UE, propose un cadre intelligent de surveillance, d’inspection et d’évaluation du cycle de vie des technologies éoliennes. Plus précisément, il entend établir une approche globale en combinant une technologie de capteurs abordable, une modélisation numérique de pointe et des outils de traitement des données. En fusionnant les informations relatives à la réponse structurelle, en simulant les facteurs influents et en faisant appel à un cadre stochastique, WINDMIL entend fournir une «combinaison de protection» révolutionnaire composée de capteurs matériels et d’un logiciel modulaire.
Objectif
The excessive energy consumption that Europe is faced with, calls for sustainable resource management and policy-making. Amongst renewable sources of the global energy pool, wind energy holds the lead. Nonetheless, wind turbine (WT) facilities are conjoined with a number of shortcomings relating to their short life-span and the lack of efficient management schemes. With a number of WTs currently reaching their design span, stakeholders and policy makers are convinced of the necessity for reliable life-cycle assessment methodologies. However, existing tools have not yet caught up with the maturity of the WT technology, leaving visual inspection and offline non-destructive evaluation methods as the norm.
This proposal aims to establish a smart framework for the monitoring, inspection and life-cycle assessment of WTs, able to guide WT operators in the management of these assets from cradle-to-grave. Our project is founded on a minimal intervention principle, coupling easily deployed and affordable sensor technology with state-of-the-art numerical modeling and data processing tools. An integrated approach is proposed comprising: (i) a new monitoring paradigm for WTs relying on fusion of structural response information, (ii) simulation of influential, yet little explored, factors affecting structural response, such as structure-foundation-soil interaction and fatigue (ii) a stochastic framework for detecting anomalies in both a short- (damage) and long-term (deterioration) scale.
Our end goal is to deliver a “protection-suit” for WTs comprising a hardware (sensor) solution and a modular readily implementable software package, titled ETH-WINDMIL. The suggested kit aims to completely redefine the status quo in current Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition systems. This pursuit is well founded on background work of the PI within the area of structural monitoring, with a focus in translating the value of information into quantifiable terms and engineering practice.
Champ scientifique
- engineering and technologycivil engineeringstructural engineering
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energywind power
- engineering and technologymechanical engineering
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdata sciencedata processing
Programme(s)
Thème(s)
Régime de financement
ERC-STG - Starting GrantInstitution d’accueil
8092 Zuerich
Suisse