Posters
Come meet the poster presenters to ask them questions and discuss their work
We would like to invite you to come and see the posters at our upcoming conference. The posters will showcase a diverse range of research topics, and will give delegates an opportunity to engage with the authors and learn more about their work. Whether you are a seasoned researcher or simply curious about the latest developments in your field, we believe that the posters will offer something of interest to everyone. So please join us at the conference and take advantage of this opportunity to learn and engage with your peers in industry and the academic community.
On 9 April at 17:15, we’ll also hold the main poster session and distinguish the 7 best posters of this year’s edition with our traditional Poster Awards Ceremony. Join us at the poster area to cheer and meet the laureates, and enjoy some drinks with all poster presenters!
We look forward to seeing you there!
PO162: Large scale loop thermosyphons for fully passive cooling of wind turbines
Devin Pellicone, Engineering Manager, Product Development, Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc
Abstract
Many on-shore wind turbines use a mechanical gear box between the input shaft and the generator to control rotor speeds and generator frequencies. This design has many benefits but one of the drawbacks is the need to cool the transmission fluid. A traditional gear oil cooler design would use an internal pump built into the transmission to circulate the transmission fluid directly to a radiator where outside air can be used to cool the oil. In a wind turbine application this would involve placing a heat exchanger outside of the nacelle where it would be cooled by the same wind powering the turbine. The use of "free air" in this arrangement is attractive, however, due to potential environmental impacts in the event of an oil leak, the transmission fluid must be contained within the nacelle. The innovative solution discussed in this paper uses a 75 kWth Loop Thermosyphon (LTS) to passively transfer the heat from the transmission fluid to a "free" air-cooled condenser on top of the nacelle. This design eliminates the need for a second transmission fluid pump, and a pump on the glycol water loop and retains the gear oil containment within the nacelle. This enhancement reduces capital costs, decreases parasitic loads, improves reliability, and reduces maintenance. All of which are significant to the end customer. This paper will discuss the theory of operation for a Loop Thermosyphon in this application and present the results of laboratory testing on a full-scale prototype illustrating the ability to dissipate over 75kW of thermal energy with zero energy consumption for the cooling system.
No recording available for this poster.
