PFI-TT: Development of A New Class of Low-Power, Plasma-Based Wind Turbine Icing Protection Systems

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to address a multi-billion dollar-valued, renewable energy related problem via developing a new class of wind turbine icing protection systems (WTIPS). Wind turbine icing represents the most significant threat to turbine efficiency and structural integrity in cold climates. With total installed wind power capacity approaching 1,000 GW globally and 120 GW in USA alone, wind turbine icing is found to cause significant power loss and additional maintenance & operational costs, valued up to billions of dollars on the fast-growing wind energy market. One notable example to highlight the importance of wind turbine icing protection is the massive turbine shutdown after a severe storm blasted Texas in February 2021. This project is primarily intended to develop a novel WTIPS to ensure safer and more efficient operation of wind turbines in cold climates. The primary educational outcome of this program is to cultivate future entrepreneurial leaders that are capable of leading strong and diverse teams toward societal impact through commercialization. The program also includes various activities to ensure broad participation of female students and those from under-represented minority (URM) groups in the leadership development and entrepreneurial education.The proposed project aims to develop novel, plasma-based WTIPS that properly integrates Dielectric-Barrier-Discharge (DBD) plasma actuation and “state-of-the-art” hydro-/ice-phobic coatings for effective wind turbine icing protection. While DBD plasma actuators will be used to actively repel ice accretion in the critical regions (e.g., near blade leading edges), the hydro-/ice-phobic surfaces/coatings with ultra-low ice adhesion strength will be leveraged to efficiently prevent ice accretion and water runback over blade surfaces. A comprehensive icing tunnel testing campaign will be conducted to examine the anti-/de-icing performance of DBD plasma actuations under various icing conditions representative of wind turbine icing envelope. The mechanical durability of the hydro-/ice-phobic coatings to resist mechanical wearing due to “rain erosion” effects and performance degradation due to long-time exposure to UV light emission will also be evaluated systematically. In addition to conducting lab experiments, prototype development and field experiments are also planned to improve the technology readiness level (TRL) of the proposed plasma based WTIPS for accelerated technology commercialization. The success of this project would lead to a new class of low-power, plasma-based WTIPS to effectively repel ice accretion over turbine blade surfaces at much lower power costs (i.e., 80% in energy saving) than the current WTIPS designs.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.