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DeICE-UT: Anti and De-icing turbine blades

TWI has contributed its materials expertise to a two-year collaborative research project to develop a novel method of tackling ice build-up on wind turbine blades.

Ice build-up poses a number of problems for wind turbines:

  • Performance losses of up to 20 per cent due to reduced efficiency caused by changes to blade surface geometry from ice build-up.
  • Increased wear in the structural components (blades, connectors, nacelle, and tower) and mechanical components (axles, couplers, gearbox, and generator), which have shown an increase of 30 per cent in total tower displacements due to imbalanced ice loading.
  • Ultimate cessation of wind turbine operation.
  • Falling ice: a 13-year study showed 880 such incidents in Germany alone.
Figure 1 Prototype UGW and LFV controller system developed during the project
Figure 1 Prototype UGW and LFV controller system developed during the project

The DeICE-UT project overcomes the limitations of existing wind turbine blade de-icing systems through an innovative dual de-icing system combining high-power ultrasonic guided waves (UGW) with low-frequency vibrations (LFV). The synergistic effects of these two technologies both prevent ice accumulation and remove already formed ice. Guided wave ultrasound was chosen because it is capable of producing the power levels required for the system to be effective.

The system uses low-cost components that require relatively low levels of energy and have the potential to achieve both anti-icing and de-icing at temperatures down to -20°C.

Laboratory and wind tunnel tests

Having identified the main parameters required, the consortium also designed and built the UGW and LFV control system.

The system was designed to operate at temperatures down to -20°C and tested as low as -30°C. The completed prototype system was assessed both in the laboratory and in a wind tunnel as part of the capability validation process.

To demonstrate the newly developed technology and the performance of the system, the DeICE-UT team carried out a campaign of tests in an environmental testing chamber at HORIBA MIRA (formerly the Motor Industry Research Association). For this purpose they prepared two types of test piece: a section of a full-scale wind turbine blade (to validate the LFV) and a small-scale mock-up (to validate the leading-edge UGW). During this test campaign the researchers were able to check the performance of the system for different types of ice formation, confirming the effectiveness of these two technologies and the capabilities of the DeICE-UT system.

The next step

The DeICE-UT consortium will continue to develop the prototype system to detect the ice build-up level and automatically change the operating frequency of the UGW and LFV accordingly.

Find out more

For more information please visit www.deice-ut.eu or email contactus@twi.co.uk.

Figure 2 Ice formation on mock-up blade – prototype system validations, HORIBA MIRA climatic chamber
Figure 2 Ice formation on mock-up blade – prototype system validations, HORIBA MIRA climatic chamber
Avatar Yoann Lage Project Leader – Condition and Structural Monitoring

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