SBIR Phase II: Optimization of Tapered Spiral Welding for Wind Turbine Towers

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目解决了降低风能成本的两个障碍：劳动密集型施工过程，以及公路或铁路运输对涡轮机组件的尺寸限制。前一个问题推高了制造成本，降低了美国与廉价劳动力国家的竞争力，而后者迫使塔设计欠优化，并阻止涡轮机变得更大，并在更高的轮毂高度上利用更快，更快的风。该项目通过将螺旋焊接-一种众所周知的管道和打桩制造系统-应用于风塔生产来解决这两个问题。螺旋焊接是高度自动化的，只需要相当于手工工艺的10%的劳动力。它还将多种操作结合到一台机器中，可以在现场操作，消除了运输成本和障碍。该项目的创新是改造现有的螺旋焊机-只能生产直的，恒定壁厚的管道-生产锥形，可变壁厚塔。新的材料几何形状和机器参数的自动控制是将标准系统转换为针对涡轮机塔生产的优化系统的关键。通过现场螺旋焊接涡轮机塔架，可以显著降低风能成本。该项目将在技术、商业和环境等多个领域产生更广泛的影响/商业潜力。该系统的主要贡献是增加了美国电力对风能的使用，这是由于降低了能源成本和增加了具有成本效益的风力发电站的数量。降低高塔的成本可以增加风力涡轮机的高度和尺寸，使它们能够达到更高的风速并进行优化。随着这些尺寸的增加和优化，风能成本可能降低12%（对于120米高的塔）或更多。此外，风能具有成本效益的美国陆地面积可以在120米的轮毂高度上翻一番。涡轮机塔架的螺旋焊接也为美国提供了就业机会，并提高了美国与海外生产商的竞争力。由于现场生产本质上是本地的，因此在安装风力涡轮机的社区创造了制造业就业机会。此外，这种方法使当地生产的主要成本优势超过进口生产的塔太大，无法从港口运输到风电场。这使得国内制造业不仅可以竞争，而且可以在2011年价值约10亿美元的国内塔市场中占据主导地位。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project addresses two roadblocks to reducing the cost of wind energy: the labor-intensive construction process, and size limitations imposed by road or rail transport for turbine components. The former issue drives up manufacturing costs and reduces US competitiveness with countries with inexpensive labor, while the latter forces sub-optimized tower designs and prevents turbines from growing larger and taking advantage of faster, steadier winds at higher hub heights. This project addresses both of these problems by adapting spiral welding - a well-understood system for pipe and piling manufacturing - to wind tower production. Spiral welding is highly automated, requiring as little as 10% of the labor of the equivalent manual process. It also combines multiple operations into a single machine that can be operated on-site, eliminating transport costs and barriers. This project's innovation is to adapt existing spiral welders -that can manufacture only straight,constant wall-thickness pipe - to producing tapered, variable wall thickness towers. A novel material geometry and automated control of machine parameters are the keys to transforming the standard system to one optimized for turbine tower production. With on-site spiral welding of turbine towers, significant reductions in cost of wind energy are possible.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be felt in many areas: technical,commercial and environmental. The system's major contribution is an increase in the use of wind energy for US electricity, enabled by both reduction in energy cost and increase in the number of cost-effective wind sites. Reducing the cost of tall towers enables increases in the height and size of wind turbines, allowing them to reach and be optimized for steadier, higher speed winds. With these increase in size and optimization, decreases in cost of wind energy of 12% (for 120m tall towers) or more are possible. In addition, the US land area for which wind energy is cost effective can be doubled at 120m hub heights. Spiral-welding of turbine towers also provides US jobs and increases American competitiveness with overseas producers. Because on-site production is inherently local, manufacturing jobs are created in the communities where wind turbines are installed. Also, this method gives local production a major cost advantage over imports by producing towers that are too large to transport from port to wind farm. This allows domestic manufacturing to not only compete, but dominate in a domestic tower market worth roughly $1B in 2011.