The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Sandia National Laboratories and Texas Tech University recently commissioned the DOE/Sandia Scaled Wind Farm Technology (SWiFT) facility at the Reese Technology Center in Lubbock, Texas. The SWiFT is the first public facility of its kind to use multiple wind turbines to measure how wind turbines interact with one another…
ABB and Baldor wind turbine technology recognized at new SWiFT facility in Texas
The Department of Energy (DOE), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), National Wind Institute of Texas Tech University (NWI/TTU), and Group NIRE (NIRE) formally commissioned the SWiFT (Scaled Wind Farm Technology) test facility on July 9th in Lubbock, Texas. ABB was invited to attend the special event, and was recognized as among the companies that provided key…
Sandia’s CREW to profile the nation’s wind fleet
The engineers at Sandia National Labs are collecting SCADA data from some 900 wind turbines and plan on slicing and dicing it to better understand how the national fleet is performing now and where to focus future improvement activities. At the NREL’s recent Gearbox Reliability Collaborative, Sandia’s Alistair Ogilvie spoke on the value of wind-plant…
Thinking differently to hit 10 MW, and blades to get smarter
Sandia National Labs is a beehive of turbine activity. The last issue of this magazine reported on an array of test turbines going up in Texas and a concept 100m blade. Here we report on the Lab’s work on a possible 10 MW vertical-axis turbine and active blade-control surfaces. Knocking on the 10-MW door Although…
National lab plans turbine array, reports on 100m blade, and more
Engineers at the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque provided a sort of state-of-the-research report at its recent Sandia Wind Turbine Blade Workshop with detailed presentations on a turbine array to study wake induced turbulence, the design for a 100-m blade, and more. The Lab is working on a range of wind-industry projects, several of which…
Materials and design methods look for the 100-m blade
Craig Collier President Collier Research Corp. hypersizer.com Tom Ashwill Technical Leader Wind Energy Technology Department, Sandia National Laboratories windpower.sandia.gov/ Commercial wind-turbine blades have historically relied on fiberglass as a primary material. In 2010, a Sandia National Laboratories’ report estimated annual U.S. industry usage for utility-grade turbine blades at over 70,000 metric tons. As designers build…
National Labs and OEMs Have Lots of Ideas, Suggestions for Suppliers
The recent Wind Power Explained conference, presented at the Design and Manufacture Expo in Chicago, presented a full day of discussions to attendees on topics from the Department of Energy, NREL, Sandia Labs, GE Energy, Northern Wind, and Clipper Windpower. Here’s a sampling: “The DOE recognizes the challenge in making wind energy a reliable and…
Full day wind session at Design & Manufacturing Midwest
In collaboration with Canon Communications, Windpower Engineering (www.windpowerengineering.com) and Design World (www.designworldonline.com) will be primary media sponsors for a one-day session titled, “Wind Power Explained – Design and Component Integration.” The session will be colocated at the Design and Manufacturing Midwest show and scheduled for Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center,…
Blade sensors could let turbines adapt faster
Researchers have developed a technique that lets sensors monitor forces exerted on wind turbine blades, a step toward improving their efficiency by letting them adjust to rapidly changing wind conditions. The research by engineers at Purdue University and Sandia National Laboratories is part of an effort to develop a smarter wind turbine. “The goal is…