Ice-Control project of Verbund has shown potential savings
In the course of the research project „Ice-Control“ the wind farm Ellern, as a pilot plant, was equipped with an eologix system. The research objective was the development of an icing forecast. Dr Thomas Burchhart, Digitalisation and Innovation Manager at VERBUND Green Power GmbH, provides insight into the results.
Wind farm: Ellern, Germany
Wind turbine type: Enercon E-126
About Verbund
VERBUND currently operates 153 wind turbines with 421 MW. The aim is to significantly increase the megawatt capacity over the next 10 years. Ice detection will continue to be important at VERBUND as more and more wind farms will also be operated in mountainous areas due to safety considerations. According to Dr. Burchhart, in the future it will be increasingly important to prevent icing with the help of heaters before it occurs instead of just detecting the ice.
Products
Ice-Control project has shown potential savings
In the course of the research project „Ice-Control“ the wind farm Ellern, as a pilot plant, was equipped with an eologix system. The research objective was the development of an icing forecast. The result: Potential savings of up to 50% downtimes are possible.
A central parameter in the research was the rotor blade surface temperature. Therefore the eologix ice detection system was the best choice. Other factors, that were ideal for meeting the requirements of the project were
- the direct measurement at the blade surface
- rotor blade surface temperature measurement at each sensor
- and measuring the thickness of the ice at different levels (1-5)
Potential savings of up to 50% in downtimes
In 2016, VERBUND; initiated the research project „Ice Control“ with the aim of developing an icing forecast for wind power plants. The measuring of the temperature was a key factor in this project. The eologix system measures the temperature directly on the rotor blade surface and was therefore the right partner for the project.
Prior to this, only a power curve based ice detection system was used. The temperature was a central measurement for the verification and operation of the rotor blade heating. Dr. Burchhart explains the decision for the eologix solutions as follows: “There is no other system that can perform a combined measurement of surface temperatures and ice layer thickness on the rotor blade.”
The cooperation between eologix and VERBUND started in 2015, as eologix won the VERBUND start-up pitch. During the Ice-Control project three winter seasons have been evaluated. The result of the evaluation is a saving potential of downtimes between 30 and 50% in comparison to the actual operation mode of the wind turbine. This clearly proves the added value of meteorological icing forecast and the sensor solution from eologix has great potential, which we will be further examined in the future, describes Dr. Burchhart the results of the 3-year study.
“Each company has to decide for itself whether to measure based on vibrations or directly on the rotor blade surface. However, it is nice that eologix carries out a precise measurement and also measuresthe thickness of the ice layer accurately.”
Dr. Thomas Burchhart l Digitalisation and Innovation Manager
VERBUND Green Power GmbH, Austria
In the next step, the eologix system will be compared with another system and installed on an additional wind turbine. The further research will focus on the ideal time for activating the blade heating based on real-time data acquisition. The results of this further research will be used as a basis for further decisions for further operational optimization and for future cold climate locations at VERBUND.
VERBUND currently operates 153 wind turbines with 421 MW. The aim is to significantly increase the megawatt capacity over the next 10 years. Ice detection will continue to be important at VERBUND as more and more wind farms will also be operated in mountainous areas due to safety considerations. According to Dr. Burchhart, in the future it will be increasingly important to prevent icing with the help of heaters before it occurs instead of just detecting the ice.
According to Dr. Burchhart, blade-based ice detection is inevitable. “Each company has to decide for itself whether to measure based on vibrations or directly on the rotor blade surface. However, it is nice that eologix carries out a precise measurement and also measures the thickness of the ice layer accurately.”- this is how Dr. Burchhart describes the greatest benefit of the eologix system, in addition to temperature measurement.
