A newly developed system aims to make wind turbine blade installation safer with its ability to anticipate and react to approaching wind speeds, gusts, and direction.
Created by Huisman, a heavy construction equipment manufacturing company based in the Netherlands, the system, dubbed Wind Gust Buster, assists crane operators and lifting supervisors when installing large objects at considerable height with information on the incoming wind.
The system measures wind through a LiDAR — which stands for Light Detection and Ranging — system on the crane’s boom tip that scans the horizontal area. The data is post-processed by the crane’s automation system that can be viewed by the crane operator and others involved. According to Huisman, the prediction window of an incoming gust of 5-8 minutes, allowing sufficient time to decide on the installation of a blade.
The wind speed and direction can be detected up to 10 kilometers, or roughly 6.21 miles. Providing advancement of sudden wind speed changes to crew members is essential for safe installation of the turbine blade into the nacelle, Huisman stated. The company also noted the system can be retrofitted on existing Huisman cranes and installed on newly built ones. A sensor is placed on top of the boom to avoid unnecessary downtime by inaccurate wind speed measurement from sensor blockage.
Wind Energy Market
The technology comes as more wind projects are gaining support around the world. The United Kingdom government recently increased its support for onshore wind projects, overturning previous objections to wind turbine development. The Global Wind Energy Council also recently issued a report that touted the global wind energy market as poised for massive growth over the next several years, dependent on international cooperation from governments around the world.
Improving the safety of the installation of wind projects will help further boost the market, and the new system contributes to Huisman’s ambition to improve installation of offshore wind turbines, the company said.
“We are constantly looking for new developments to further improve safety in turbine installation operations,” Cees van Veluw, product director of cranes for Huisman, said in a statement. “Right now, sudden wind gusts acting on turbine blades can pose a safety risk to the people in the wind turbine, as well as an integrity risk to the blade and nacelle. While we all get used to checking the rain radar prior to taking a hike outside, we haven’t seen this used the same way in turbine installation before. The Wind Gust Buster improves the crane operator’s ability to mate the blade in a controlled manner and thus contributes to safety of the whole lifting operation. Furthermore, this can lead to less damage to components like the blade’s stud bolts, and thus can lead to a cost reduction and installation speed improvement.”
The introduction of the new system also comes after Huisman launched a solution for controlled installation of blades, the Travelling Load Stabilizing System, developed in cooperation with Siemens Gamesa. That system stabilizes wind turbine components during installation.
