Icing Can Cost Wind Turbines Up to 80% of Power Production
March 10, 2021 by Robert
Wind turbine blades can collect ice nearly a foot thick (30 cm) on the three-foot-wide tips of their blades. Did you realize those blades are 3-ft (about one-meter) wide?
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Researchers led by Iowa State’s Hui Hu studied wind-turbine icing in the field to learn in real-life terms how and where ice accumulates on rotating blades.
Researchers studied icing on this wind farm in eastern China. Photo courtesy of Hui Hu/Iowa State University
Wind turbine blades spinning through cold, wet conditions can collect ice nearly one-foot thick on the three-foot-wide tips of their blades, the researchers found.
That amount of ice affects blade aerodynamics and disrupts the balance of the entire turbine. Unfortunately, that loss of balance can disrupt energy production by up to 80 percent, the study showed.
https://www.iceagenow.info/icing-can-cost-wind-turbines-up-to-80-of-power-production/