A  Look  at    Wind  Turbine  Blades  

Presented  by  Gary  Kanaby  

Topics  

•  New  Blade  Issues  •  Blades  in  Service  -­‐  Inspec<on  &  Repair  •  Service  Plan  •  A  Blade  of  the  Future  

Small  Blades  Were  Very  Successful    

9  meter  blades  

•  Accelerated  produc<on  due  to  market  demand    

•  Are  the  PTC’s  expiring?  •  No  <me  for  long  field  tes<ng  

•  No  <me  for  long  fa<gue  test  

•  Scaling  up  is  not  easy  

Causes of New Wind Blade Problems  

Scaling  Up  Is  Not  Easy  

•  Spar  Bonds    -­‐Harder  to  control  for  large  blades  •  Dry  Spots  -­‐  Infusion  not  complete  •  Wrinkles  -­‐  Glass  moves  when  vacuum  is  induced  

All  Process  Issues    

Solu<ons  to  New  Blade  Issues  •  Stringent  cer<fica<on  process  •  Extended  tes<ng  •  Blades  can  be  infused  in  one  piece  elimina<ng  the  bonding  process  

•  Blades  can  be  built  out  of  smaller  subcomponents  

•  Build  a  two-­‐piece  blade  that  can  be  shipped  more  easily  

•  Portable  blade  factory-­‐blades  built  at  the  site  

Common  Blade  Problems  

•  Transporta<on  &  construc<on  •  Lightning  •  Leading  edge  erosion  •  Debonding  (at  spar  or  trailing  &  leading  edges)  

Transporta<on  Damage  

Blades  are  built  far  from  the  sites  Factory                  Truck                  Ship                    Truck                  Site  

Lightning  Damage  

Leading  Edge  Erosion  

Trailing  Edge  Debonding  

Insufficient  Bonding  Paste………    

….Or  Bond  Line  too  Thick  

For  Exis<ng  Wind  Turbines  ...                                                          A  Service  Plan!                              

Objec<ves:  

•  Increase  availability  •  Minimize  down<me    •  Reduce/eliminate  large  repairs  and  replacements  

•  Increase  produc<vity  

Process •  Service  is  scheduled  during  off  peak  seasons  •  Technicians  arrive  to  Inspect  Blades  •  Ini<al  mee<ng  to  determine  suspect  turbines  •  Report  of  damage  found  

•  Repair  before  problem  is  compounded  •  Documenta<on    

Choosing  the  Blades  to  Inspect  

•  Blades  reported  noisy  •  Blades  observed  with  suspicious  marks/cracks  

•  Low  produc<on  machines  

•  Turbines  suspected  of  lightning  hits  •  Random  sampling  

Ge`ng  to  the  problem……..  

Another  Way  to  Go  Up-­‐Tower  

Inspection Techniques

•  Visual  inspec<on  •  Tap  test    •  Thermographic  camera  •  Ultrasound  •  Infrared  imaging  of  interior  •  Photography  •  Lightning  system  con<nuity  check  

•  Inspec<on  documents  produced  

             Thermographic  Camera  

Thermographic  Images  

Ultrasound  Transducer  

Ultrasound  Inspec<on  Image  

Infrared  Imaging  of  Blade  Interior  

Lightning  System  Tes<ng  

Digital  Low  Resistance  Ohmmeter  

Test  each  receptor  

Lightning  Strike!  

Grinding  &  Prepara<on  for  Lamina<on  

Surface  Prepared  for  Lamina<on  

Laminated  

Completed  Before  Sunset  

Wind  Energy  Services  Company  -­‐  WES  

Gary  Kanaby  

GKanaby@moldedfiberglass.com  

www.windenergyservicesusa.com