 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
New wind turbine blade technology created
West Lafayette, Ind. (UPI) May 6, 2009 Purdue University and Sandia National Laboratory scientists say they've developed a technology designed to improve the efficiency of wind turbine blades. The researchers said the technology uses sensors and computational software to constantly monitor forces exerted on wind turbine blades. "The ultimate goal is to feed information from sensors into an active control system that precisely adjusts components to optimize efficiency," said Purdue doctoral student Jonathan White, who is leading the research with Professor Douglas Adams. They said their system also could help improve wind turbine reliability by providing critical real-time information to the control system to prevent catastrophic wind turbine damage from high winds. "Wind energy is playing an increasing role in providing electrical power," Adams said. "The United States is now the largest harvester of wind energy in the world. The question is, what can be done to wind turbines to make them more efficient, more cost-effective and more reliable?" The scientists said the sensors could be instrumental in future turbine blades that have "control surfaces" and simple flaps, such as those on an airplane's wings, to change the aerodynamic characteristics of the blades for better control. Because the flaps would be changed in real time to respond to changing winds, constant sensor data would be critical. The study was detailed in a paper presented this week in Chicago during the Windpower 2009 Conference and Exhibition. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Wind Energy News at Wind Daily
China triples wind power capacity goal: report
Beijing (AFP) May 4, 2009China has more than tripled its target for wind power capacity to 100 gigawatts by 2020, likely making it the world's fastest growing market for wind energy technology, state press said Monday. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook