Posters

Abstract

Both adding and removing wind turbine blades have been, and will continue to be, a challenging operation. Whether onshore or offshore, as part of the installation operations or for maintenance, there are many pervasive difficulties. The increasing size of wind turbines naturally results in larger motion amplitudes during installation, leading to more difficult blade landing operations. For installed turbines, the removal of a blade for maintenance purposes results in the loss of precious production time, adding to the cost of cranes, crews, and vessels; Consequently, improving the blade removal and re-attachment process is key to reducing maintenance costs. For both installation and maintenance, unlocking higher environmental limits will further drive down costs. The process of landing a blade in a turbine hub is dominated by complex physical effects [1]. Yet, it is carried out manually, resulting in several key challenges: firstly, a complete, instantaneous understanding of the complex physical behaviour of the systems involved is beyond the capabilities of non-trained technicians. This means that experienced human operators are essential, in particular as interactions within this adverse environment are restricted to only radios and hand signs. Lastly, the process currently remains mostly manual, with real-time camera support only having become available in latest generation lifting tools. More advanced sensors and software support, comparable to a "park assist" in modern cars, are still lacking for this vital operation. In this concept paper, we explore the technical challenges that have to be tackled to develop partially or fully autonomous blade landing technology for installation and maintenance operations. We systematically dissect the blade installation process, and the associated engineering challenges, into key domains and develop a roadmap to overcome these issues.