Validation of robotic inspection and maintenance of offshore wind turbine blades

英国在海上风电装机容量方面处于世界领先地位，需要将装机容量从目前的9千兆瓦增加到至少75千兆瓦，才能在2050年达到英国的净零目标。这将把风力发电场推向更远的海域，进入更深的水域，并在更极端的条件下运行。海上风电行业运营和维护的关键问题是人员安全和派遣专业技术人员执行个别任务所涉及的成本。海上风力涡轮机在北海等恶劣环境中运行。风力涡轮机叶片的尖端速度可以超过200英里每小时，空气中的微粒，如雨水和灰尘，会磨损叶片前缘的表面，这种现象被称为前缘侵蚀。这随后改变了叶片的气动形状，降低了其效率，并使其面临进一步和更严重的损坏，从而缩短了其使用寿命。此外，叶片需要定期检查，以确保防雷系统和排水孔等安全关键功能正常运行，并识别和处理任何其他损坏。海上风电领域的叶片维护是一项昂贵且具有挑战性的工作，需要高技能的绳索访问技术人员团队进行这些修复。正在进行的新冠肺炎疫情进一步突显了维护海上风力涡轮机和其他关键基础设施的挑战，人员无法近距离工作。BladeBUG已成功验证了这一概念，并开发了其检查、维护和修复机器人的工作原型。在该项目中，该团队将继续与ORE Catapult合作，以验证BladeBUG机器人系统，该系统专为在潜在客户面前对风力涡轮机叶片进行大量此类详细检查和重复维修而设计。远程执行这些任务的能力将增加熟练的绳索接入技术人员对叶片进行专业维修或更大规模升级所花费的时间。最终的结果将是在同一时期内修复更多的叶片，以及提高所有涡轮机的修复质量。风力发电场的发电量将会增加，涡轮机所有者的收入也会增加，二氧化碳减排的环境效益也会增加。

The UK leads the world in installed offshore wind capacity, and will need to increase from 9GW today to at least 75GW to reach the UK's net zero target by 2050\. This will push wind farms further offshore, entering deeper waters and operating in more extreme conditions. Key issues for operations and maintenance in the offshore wind sector are the safety of personnel and the costs involved in sending specialised technicians to perform individual tasks.Offshore wind turbines operate in harsh environments such as the North Sea. The tip speeds of wind turbine blades can exceed 200mph, allowing particulates in the air such as rain and dust to wear away the surface of a blade's leading edge, in a phenomenon known as leading edge erosion. This subsequently alters the blade's aerodynamic shape, reducing its efficiency and exposing it to further and more serious damage, thereby reducing its working life. In addition, the blades require periodic inspections to ensure safety critical features such as the lightning protection system and drain holes are functioning correctly and any other damage is identified and treated.Maintaining blades in the offshore wind sector is an expensive and challenging job where teams of highly-skilled rope access technicians are required to carry out these repairs.The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the challenges of maintaining offshore wind turbines and other critical infrastructure with restrictions of personnel working in close proximity.BladeBUG has successfully proven the concept and developed a working prototype of their inspection, maintenance and repair robot. In this project, the team will continue its work with the ORE Catapult to validate the BladeBUG robotic system designed specifically to carry out a number of these detailed inspections and repetitive repairs of wind turbine blades in front of potential customers.The ability to perform these tasks remotely will increase the time spent by skilled rope access technicians on specialist repairs or larger upgrades to blades. The net result will allow both the repair of a greater number of blades over the same period, as well as an increased quality of repair across all turbines. The electrical output of windfarms will increase and therefore so will revenues to turbine owners and the environmental benefit in CO2 savings.