Insuring a place for fluid power in wind-power technology is the latest example of the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power’s (CCEFP) reach toward realizing two of its goals: Reducing our nation’s energy usage and increasing the ways in which fluid power can improve quality of life. Wide scale use of wind as a power source is rich with potential, but because generating wind energy requires power and weight levels much higher than typical fluid power applications (500 kW to 5 MW), CCEFP related research and teaching are vital in efforts to fully exploit this opportunity.
New research and teaching initiatives prove the point. Though centered at the University of Minnesota (UMN), headquarters of the seven-university network, three recently launched research projects stretch beyond campus by involving additional university, government, and industry partners in Center-specific as well as associated research. An $8 million grant to UMN from the Department of Energy for wind power research has led to the formation of an industry consortium which will help accelerate the study. Central to the project will be the experiments on an instrumented 2.5 MW Clipper Liberty wind turbine at the University of Minnesota facility at UMORE Park in Rosemount, Minnesota.
On another research front, the Center’s Co-Direct Perry Li has been awarded a $2 million National Science Foundation grant to study energy storage for wind power. Other partners on the grant include two former Center researchers, Eric Loth of the University of Virginia and Jim Van de Ven of Worchester Polytechnic Institute, and Lightsail Energy, an energy storage company in Oakland, California. What’s more, CCEFP Director Kim Stelson received a seed grant to study hydrostatic drives for wind transmissions and is now actively seeking industry partners to form a consortium. Teaching next generations of engineers about the possibilities for fluid power is central to the Center’s work, too. As one of many new classes now offered with this emphasis, a graduate-level course dedicated to the study of wind power has been introduced at the University of Minnesota. It will likely serve as a model for similar courses in other universities.
“We recognize the promising future of wind power in energy transmission, and that potential provides the CCEFP with another key platform for leading research and education in fluid power,” says Stelson. “Highlights of some of the most important work underway in this area will be shared at a special session at IFPE 2011, March 22 to 26 in Las Vegas. Fluid Power for Wind Applications will be presented during the 52nd National Conference on Fluid Power, scheduled for March 23 to 25. Anyone with an interest in the future of fluid power should be sure to attend!”
Center-sponsored fluid power research in other areas will also be featured as a part of the Conference, where more than forty of the Center’s faculty and students will take their place among a total of 120+ presenters. The Center will also hold its 5th Annual Meeting in conjunction with IFPE. CCEFP industry supporters are encouraged to participate in the meeting scheduled for March 22 in an area immediately adjacent to the IFPE show floor. Posters describing the Center’s research will be presented by Center students following the Annual Meeting. Further information on these events is available
International Fluid Power Exposition
Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power
Filed Under: Hydraulics, News
