PROJECTS

We have worked on a variety of projects ranging from the evaluation of retrofitting wind turbine systems with new blades, towers and control systems, to the testing of full systems and complete design and fabrication of a small wind turbine. We specialize in quickly evaluating the impact of prospective design changes using our computer codes vastly reducing the cost and risk associated with evaluating such concepts on prototypes in the field.

The Endurance

Our main project for the past 2 years has been the development of a residential, grid-connected wind turbine as part of a Department of Energy (DOE) contract to evaluate a small turbine over-speed protection system. We are currently installing the prototype at our test site and expect to install a second at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) later this year.

The Endurance presents a unique approach to small wind power for the grid-connected home, aiming to drastically reduce the cost of employing small wind for home power generation.

More Endurance information here.

The Whisper H40

Other projects we have worked on include installation and field testing of two Southwest Windpower Whisper H40 wind turbines (one at our test site and one at the NWTC). As of April 2005, the Whisper H40 in Spanish Fork had sent 4,782 kWh onto the electrical grid with 6,354 kWh total produced.  The efficiency of the rectifier, batteries, and inverter was measured to be 75.3%.  Installed on February 26, 2000, the H40 had been up for 1868 days and averaged 2.56 kWh/day. It has since been removed following the end of the project.

In addition to the testing, we created a computer model of the turbine to gain a better understanding of the complex nature of furling, often used for power and speed regulation in small wind turbines. Our ability to model this complex behavior has been beneficial to our clients who employ furling.

The Synergy Machines

Two other small turbines we tested and did some design work on are the Synergy SK (5 kW) and SLG (30 kW) turbines. These turbines have the unique feature of tilting up to regulate rotor speed and power. Though this approach is unorthodox, we were still able to model these turbines using our powerful computer codes.

Tower Dynamics

One of our clients asked us to help them analyze a new composite tower system for use with 1.5 MW wind turbines. Our expertise using the ADAMS code for wind turbine analysis helped them optimize the design to address the unique challenges they faced. Click the image below to see a video of the tower dynamics from an ADAMS simulation. The view is looking down from above the turbine model.

(AVI Video: 260 kB, 4 sec.)

Here is another video showing mode excitation of a full system in simulated turbulence:
AVI Video: 648 kB, 10 sec.

Adaptive Blades

When the idea of employing passive twist-coupled blades for load alleviation in utility scale wind turbine blades was first proposed, new tools were required to investigate the technology. We were at the forefront of this effort, expanding the capability of existing codes to capture the response of adaptive blades in order to understand their impact on system performance. Our efforts have helped both government researchers and turbine manufacturers better understand this promising new technology to further reduce costs and improve reliability of wind turbines in the future.

Exhaustive Design Studies

Our computer modeling capabilities allow us to evaluate numerous design aspects under a wide range of wind conditions in a short period of time. One project in which we participated (dubbed WindPACT) investigated various wind turbine designs from 750 kW to 5 MW. We investigated each of 34 design configurations in a vast array of simulated wind conditions, totalling over 11,000 full-system simulations. Our participation in this program was the direct result of our ability to quickly develop and evaluate wind turbine models for our client.