Belgium: OWI-Lab Test Facility Expects Inauguration in September

The 27th of September a new application lab will be inaugurated in the port of Antwerp: the Offshore Wind Infrastructure Application Lab (OWI-Lab). Although we already have had an official launch of the OWI-Lab in January, the inauguration in September will focus on the test facility for wind turbine component testing.

Other activities and services like performing measurements on offshore wind turbines, and setting up dedicated R&D projects throughout the whole industrial value chain have already been carried out since 2011. The application lab and it’s research partner VUB even got awarded in March by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) with the best scientific poster award regarding one of its measurement campaigns at one of their Belgian wind farms.

Since February this year, a dedicated test facility in the Port of Antwerp is being erected which will house a large climatic chamber for wind turbine component testing. Both mechanical, hydraulic and electrical wind turbine components like gearboxes, generators, yaw-systems and transformers up to 150 ton can be tested in a temperature range from -60°C to +60°C. Also new drivetrain concepts like for example hydraulic gearboxes could be tested in their facility. The climate chamber itself is almost ready, and commissioning of the machine will be carried out in august. At this moment preparation is being carried out by the team for installing a metal support structure and the connection of the 300KVA machine to the grid. Next an office for test engineers should be installed on site, and an investment in other tools like data-acquisition, PC’s, gantry crane, sensors, working tools and safety gear for entering the chamber at -60°C needs to be done in order to be fully operational at the end of september.

Typical testing activities will include design verification testing , component validation, prototype testing and extreme event performance testing like ‘cold start tests’. Besides the large climate chamber itself, OWI-Lab will provide all the required auxiliary tools to perform dedicated R&D tests like electrical power supplies up to 2MVA, and a induction drive to give speed to rotary parts in the range of 0-2000 rpm, data-acquisition and support for handling large and heavy components.

Main purpose of the test infrastructure is to identify failures in the early stage of the design process, and to reduce the number of unscheduled failures in the field by testing in extreme conditions. Most offshore wind turbines should be capable of operating at a temperature range from -20°C to +40°C. In some low temperature regions (arctic offshore wind farms for example which are currently planned in the north of Finland and Norway) these turbines even have to withstand -30°C.

For onshore turbines the requirement can be -40°C if you look at remote locations (for example Mongolia). Therefore also components used in onshore wind energy will be tested in Antwerp. Testing the reliability of these components at extreme temperatures is a must in order to make sure these turbines stay operating in all conditions and to eliminate expensive repair works. Also for certification manufactures and OEM’s are obliged to perform different tests.

The first planned tests in the climate chamber will focus on gearbox cold start testing. If wind turbines operate and produce energy, they work in a steady-state condition in terms of temperatures and lubricants. This avoids differential thermal expansion and guarantees adequate lubricant viscosities and proper lubrication of core components of the turbine. However, wind turbines are not turning continuously, based on wind conditions and/or maintenance. In case of start up of a turbine after idling in cold conditions, the rotating elements in the gearbox can be at risk because of insufficient lubrication and/or differential thermal expansion.

Not only temperature is a key parameter to validate machine prototypes. Also insights in behavior of machine parameters like loads, torques and oil pressures on different locations are valuable input for design engineers, simulations and component R&D. In order to validate the simulation models, testing will always be crucial. Not only datasets in the test facility are important for the optimization of components, also in field measurements should feed R&D in order to make robust and reliable turbine components.

Looking at testing facilities you could see a lot of initiatives starting up in order to support the wind energy industry. Knowledge centres like Fraunhofer, Risø, Narec, Clemson, Lorc, etc… are planning large test facilities to support component manufacturers and OEM’s in optimizing their product. Testing and R&D, either on component or system level is becoming very important in this industry, and OWI-Lab will be one of the facilitators to support the companies active in the sector.

[mappress]

Offshore WIND staff, June 21, 2012; Image: owi-lab