The first wireless wind turbine blade sensor for automatic, real-time condition-based monitoring

Project Information

EOLOGIX

Grant agreement ID: 874102

DOI

10.3030/874102

Project closed

EC signature date 28 August 2019

Start date 1 September 2019

End date 31 August 2021

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 1 619 825,00

EU contribution

€ 1 133 877,50

Coordinated by

EOLOGIX SENSOR TECHNOLOGY FLEXCO
Austria

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - EOLOGIX (The first wireless wind turbine blade sensor for automatic, real-time condition-based monitoring)

Reporting period: 2020-09-01 to 2021-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Maintenance costs are one of the largest problems in the wind energy market, adding to up to 40% of total wind turbine costs. Blades take the lion’s share of this, with 20-30% of all maintenance costs.
Our solution is an on-blade sensor system to combine 3 features: blade crack detection, pitch angle measurements and blade icing detection. Monitoring all these features will save wind turbine owners up to €2.9 M across the turbine lifetime.
Generating more green energy from both new and retrofitted wind turbines, thus reducing the emission of greenhouse gases and reducing other pollution from conventional energy production is the main benefit for society from our product. Also, smaller maintenance (i.e. earlier detection of small defects) can reduce the environmental impact e.g. in comparison to the exchange of an entire blade set after a major damage. Within the course of the project, eologix has successfully entered the path and made the first significant steps from the supplier of a single product to a complete solution provider.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Since the beginning of the project, eologix has integrated new components into the main platform component, the "sensor" which is mounted to the blade surface at various locations. Firmwarehas been developed for sensor, receiver and base station. AI algorithms have been implemented and evaluated. Case studies and beta versions have been installed and evaluated together with our partners. Certification of the new platform as a condition monitoring system has been done. A new dashboard has been implemented to give our customers access to the test results. Various methods of dissemination have been used to let the market know about the new solution available.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

First systems are sold to end customers. eologix:align provides the first on-line condition monitoring system of pitch misalignment independent from turbine data, thus suited for any kind of wind turbine. Synchronized inertial measurements at any point of the blade surface will even allow for more applications in production optimization than assumed before. The results from eolACC will lead to a comprehensive blade monitoring solution for any kind of detectable damage in a rotor blade by means of a single sensor system, thus being cost-effective as such but also due to avoiding damages which limit the lifetime of the turbine or cause avoidable O&M downtimes and costs.

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