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

这项小型企业技术转让（STTR）第一阶段项目的更广泛影响是开发一种技术，通过海上风电提供低成本能源，并打开当前技术无法进入的新市场，例如，人口较少，本地维护的小型涡轮机，传统浮子不经济的深水地区，以及缺乏深水港口的地区。如果成功，全球影响可能有潜力抑制碳排放规模达到千兆吨二氧化碳（CO2）当量/年。拟议中的技术是一种浮动式风力涡轮机，它可以将传统浮动式风力涡轮机的重量减轻80%，并且可以在当地制造更多的部件，从而创造国内企业和就业机会。新提出的架构将进行测试，以确保它在海洋环境中存活并良好运行。关键的第一步是采用国家可再生能源实验室（NREL）世界级的风浪软件来模拟系统的不寻常运动并证明其可行性。最终目标是将一种颠覆性的海上风力涡轮机商业化，这种涡轮机在美国开发并在全球部署，可以在市场上超过目前所有的设计，估计很快将达到每年1000亿美元。该项目旨在为第一种海上风力涡轮机提供知识基础，这种涡轮机重量最小，可以在波浪上行驶，可以扩展到现有技术无法到达的区域，并且增加了安装/维护的移动性。这样的浮动结构以前从未被设计过，这个项目可能会对湍流、随机波浪、洋流、转子弹性和角动量、动态桨距和发电机控制的复杂叠加所产生的载荷和运动的几个问题提供深刻的见解。该STTR提案旨在解决一个关键的技术风险：适应NREL的模拟器OpenFAST，以表征系统在波浪、风和电流负载的复杂环境中运行的独特运动，以及由此产生的对负载和电力生产的影响。拟议的系统背离了长期以来依赖于限制系统运动的设计原则的行业惯例。模拟器的结果可用于改进系统设计，然后证明其动态行为符合认证所需的设计负载情况。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.