Wind Turbine Blades Monitor

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Track Code 2015-006 Short Description Two approaches to an inexpensive, early-detection turbine blade structural health monitoring system utilizing acoustics and microphone sensors. Tags wind energy, acoustic, audio, Speaker, microphone, detection, damage, blade, wind turbine Posted Date Jan 11, 2016 10:54 AM Background   Wind energy has been, and continues to be, a rapidly developing source of energy in the United States. Yet, wind turbines are underused throughout the country due to the high costs associated with cracks and damages to the turbine blades during operation. These damages begin on a smaller scale and eventually deteriorate to the point where complete replacement of part or the entire blade is necessary. Early detection repair of these damages can eliminate the need of total replacement and drastically lower the costs of the wind turbine operation. However, there are currently no turbine blade structural health monitoring systems that can detect cracks or damage over large areas of the blade. A method of monitoring the structural health of the entire turbine blade without effecting the cost or efficiency of the turbine is needed. Technology   UMass Lowell researchers have developed two novel techniques to detect cracks or damage to wind turbine blades using microphones to sense the change in acoustics that occurs when blade damage occurs. The first technique involves an in situ passive approach to detection with microphone sensors installed within the blade cavity. Damage to the blade will generate a differential noise component, or aerodynamic energy, that the microphone will detect. The second technique utilizes an active approach involving an audio speaker mounted inside of the blade cavity with a microphone sensor installed outside of the cavity. The internal audio speakers excite the acoustics within the blade while the external microphone senses the acoustic energy. The audio frequency emitted by the speakers is adjustable to be distinguished from the turbine aerodynamic and background noise. The acoustic energy exhibited and sensed by the microphone will be different if there are any cracks or damage in the blade during operation. The signals from the microphone can be transmitted wirelessly to the remote stations for constant monitoring. Competitive Advantages   Installed microphones allow for fast detection of damage to the blades. Reduces the need for complete replacement of turbine blades by detecting the damage before it becomes significant. Microphone and audio speaker equipment for damage detection is inexpensive. Detection equipment does not affect the efficiency of wind turbines. Applications   Utility wind turbines to detect cracks or damage to the blades during operation. Market Potential   The need for methods for the structural health monitoring of turbine blades will rapidly increase as the installation wind turbines continues to grow as a major source of energy across the United States. Markets and Markets reports that the global machine condition monitoring market is projected to reach $2.45 billion by 2020 at a CAGR of 7.6% between 2015 and 2020.