Publications

Abstract not provided.

Abstract not provided.

Abstract not provided.

Abstract not provided.

Abstract not provided.

Abstract not provided.

Wind-energy researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have developed a new, light-weight, modular data acquisition system capable of acquiring long-term, continuous, multi-channel time-series data from operating wind-turbines. New hardware features have been added to this system to make it more flexible and permit programming via telemetry. User-friendly Windows-based software has been developed for programming the hardware and acquiring, storing, analyzing, and archiving the data. This paper briefly reviews the major components of the system, summarizes the recent hardware enhancements and operating experiences, and discusses the features and capabilities of the software programs that have been developed.

Wind energy researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have developed a small, lightweight, time- synchronized, robust data acquisition system to acquire long-term time-series data on a wind turbine rotor. A commercial data acquisition module is utilized to acquire data simultaneously from multip!e strain-gauge, analog, and digital channels. Acquisition of rotor data at precisely the same times as acquisition of ground data is ensured by slaving the acquisition clocks on the rotor- based data unit and ground-based units to the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system with commercial GPS receiver units and custom-built and programmed programmable logic devices. The acquisition clocks will remain synchronized within two microseconds indefinitely. Field tests have confirmed that synchronization can be maintained at rotation rates in excess of 350 rpm, Commercial spread-spectrum radio modems are used to transfer the rotor data to a ground- based computer concurrently with data acquisition, permitting continuous acquisition of data over a period of several hours, days or even weeks.

Wind-energy researchers at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC), representing Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), are developing a new, light-weight, modular data acquisition unit capable of acquiring long-term, continuous time-series data from small and/or dynamic wind-turbine rotors. The unit utilizes commercial data acquisition hardware, spread-spectrum radio modems, and Global Positioning System receivers, and a custom-built programmable logic device. A prototype of the system is now operational, and initial field deployment is expected this summer. This paper describes the major subsystems comprising the unit, summarizes the current status of the system, and presents the current plans for near-term development of hardware and software.

Wind-energy researchers at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are developing a new, light-weight, modular system capable of acquiring long-term, continuous time-series data from current-generation small or large, dynamic wind-turbine rotors. Meetings with wind-turbine research personnel at NREL and SNL resulted in a list of the major requirements that the system must meet. Initial attempts to locate a commercial system that could meet all of these requirements were not successful, but some commercially available data acquisition and radio/modem subsystems that met many of the requirements were identified. A time synchronization subsystem and a programmable logic device subsystem to integrate the functions of the data acquisition, the radio/modem, and the time synchronization subsystems and to communicate with the user have been developed at SNL. This paper presents the data system requirements, describes the four major subsystems comprising the system, summarizes the current status of the system, and presents the current plans for near-term development of hardware and software.

Vertical-axis wind turbine technology is not well understood, even though the earliest wind machines rotated about a vertical axis. The operating environment of a vertical-axis wind turbine is quite complex, but detailed analysis capabilities have been developed and verified over the last 30 years. Although vertical-axis technology has not been widely commercialized, it exhibits both advantages and disadvantages compared to horizontal-axis technology, and in some applications, it appears to offer significant advantages.

A non-contact, high-resolution laser ranging device has been incorporated into an instrument for accurately mapping the surface of WECS airfoils in the field. Preliminary scans of composite materials and bug debris show that the system has adequate resolution to accurately map bug debris and other surface contamination. This system, just recently delivered and now being debugged and optimized, will be used to characterize blade surface contamination on wind turbines. The technology used in this system appears to hold promise for application to many other measurements tasks, including a system for quickly and very accurately determining the profile of turbine blade molds and blades.

The DOE/Sandia 34-m diameter Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) utilizes a step-tapered, multiple-airfoil section blade. One of the airfoil sections is a natural laminar flow profile, the SAND 0018/50, designed specifically for use on VAWTs. The turbine has now been fully operational for more than a year, and extensive turbine aerodynamic performance data have been obtained. This paper reviews the design and fabrication of the rotor blade, with emphasis on the SAND 0018/50 airfoil, and compares the performance measurements to date with the performance predictions. Possible sources of the discrepancies between measured and predicted performance are identified, and plans for additional aerodynamic testing on the turbine are briefly discussed.