STTR Phase I: Validation of a Floating Wind Turbine Platform Optimized for Low Cost and Extensive Deployment

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The broader impact of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is to develop a technology that delivers low cost of energy from offshore wind and unlocks new markets inaccessible to current technology, e.g., small populations with smaller, locally-maintained turbines, deep water locations where conventional floaters are not economical, and regions lacking deep ports. If successful, the global impact may have the potential to suppress carbon emissions at the scale of gigaton carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent/year. The proposed technology is a floating wind turbine that may reduce 80% of the weight of a conventional floating turbine and makes it possible to fabricate more components locally, with domestic businesses and jobs. The newly proposed architecture will be tested to ensure it survives and operates well in the ocean environment. The crucial first step is to adapt the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) world-class wind-wave software to simulate the unusual motions of the system and demonstrate its viability. The end goal is the commercialization of a disruptive offshore wind turbine, developed in the U.S. and deployed globally, that can outcompete all of today’s designs, in a market estimated to soon reach ~$100 billion/year.This project seeks provide the intellectual foundation that leads to a first-of-its-kind class of offshore wind turbines that have minimal weight, that rides on top of the waves, taht expands deployability into regions inaccessible with current technology, and that increases mobility for installation / maintenance. Such a floating structure has never before been designed and this project may provide deep insight into several questions about the loading and motions that arise from a complex superposition of turbulent wind, random waves, ocean current, rotor elasticity and angular momentum, and dynamic blade pitch and generator control. This STTR proposal seeks to address a critical technical risk: adaptation of NREL’s simulator OpenFAST to characterize the unique motions of the system operating in a complex environment of loading from wave, wind and current and the resulting impacts on loading and power production. The proposed system departs from long-standing industry conventions that have relied on the design principle of limiting system motions. The results of the simulator may be used to refine the system design and then demonstrate that it's dynamic behavior complies with the design load cases required for certification.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.