Composite Developments in the Renewable Energy Sector

Transcription

1 Composite Developments in the Renewable Energy Sector ACCIS Conference 2011 Paul Harper

2 Overview Future market growth of renewable energy: Marine Wind Solar Key technological challenges for composites Current Projects within ACCIS Future Opportunities

3 Marine Energy Approximately 3.4MW of marine energy currently installed in UK waters Wave Hub

4 Marine Energy Approximately 3.4MW of marine energy currently installed in UK waters EMEC Expected to grow to 60MW by 2014 EMEC (wave and tidal) and Wave Hub (wave only) provide key test centres for new devices Bristol and the South West are at the forefront of marine energy development, hosting a range of leading companies and support organisations Wave Hub Orkney Islands Tidal Flow

5 Composite Challenges Devices subject to extreme static and fatigue loads, requiring minimum lifetimes of years with minimal maintenance. This demands: Load EMEC 1. New resins and adhesives with high fatigue performance and resistance to seawater degradation 2. Design and analysis methods for thick carbon/glass fibre blade sections, where delamination is a primary failure concern Ply drops around root joint susceptible to delamination Wave Hub Time

6 Current ACCIS Projects ACCIS researchers (Stephen Hallett, Jonathan Belnoue, Paul Harper) currently working with a range of industrial partners to address these challenges Two TSB funded projects, NEW-MMEETT ( ) and BMAX ( ) Wave Hub Blade design and manufacture Composites for marine applications Materials characterisation Numerical failure analysis Work is co-funded by the Technology Strategy Board's Collaborative Research and Development programme, following an open competition. The Technology Strategy Board is an executive body established by the Government to drive innovation. It promotes and invests in research, development and the exploitation of science, technology and new ideas for the benefit of business - increasing sustainable economic growth in the UK and improving quality of life (

7 Current ACCIS Projects Development of numerical models to enhance design process and reduce physical test requirement 1. Model of Blade Structure Used to analyse global stress distribution and identify critical areas for detailed failure analysis 2. Detailed Component Models Interface elements placed between plies along potential failure planes Models able to simulate damage progression under static and fatigue loads Example: Ply drop feature in carbon fibre spar cap

8 Future Opportunities Initial work on ply drops now being extended to include bond-line failure at root joint (TSB funded BMAX project) Coupled with further work to develop improved resins and adhesives Significant potential for complementary projects in relation to: Root joint design (potential for application in wind industry?) Manufacturing Quality Assurance and Non-Destructive Testing Manufacturing processes for increased production rates The AEL tidal blade root International patent application: PCT/GB2009/ Composite spar laminate composite plies Adhesive bond interface elements Metallic root fittings

9 Installed Capacity (GW) Wind Energy Growth in European Wind Energy Capacity ( ) 2020 European installed wind energy capacity set to double over next 8 years Increasing contribution from offshore wind, particularly for UK Offshore Onshore

10 Composite Challenges Demand for increased offshore turbine size and longer blades requires: 1. Structural optimisation methods that provide required strength and stiffness with minimum weight 2. Increased manufacturing automation to achieve required production rates, whilst maintaining tight quality control 3. Improved structural health monitoring and damage prognosis to minimise maintenance 4. Control surfaces to improve performance, alleviate dynamic loads and extend life 33 m Ø Major partnership with Vestas Blades seeking to address these challenges 1993 A380 Airbus 127 m Ø 127m Ø MW 164m Ø Vestas V MW Prototype due for construction in 2012/13 > 160m Ø 2012

11 Current ACCIS Projects Structural Optimisation, exploring novel design concepts to produce longer blades with minimum mass (Alberto Pirrera, Neil Buckney, Paul Weaver) Empirical Data for Blade Weight against Blade Length Trendline for blades < 40m Structural Optimisation Topological and parametric optimisation techniques being explored

12 Current ACCIS Projects Understanding, characterising and modelling manufacturing induced distortions in large wind turbine blades (Yusuf Mahadik, Kevin Potter)

13 Current ACCIS Projects Morphing for blade load alleviation using simple, lightweight, low drag structures (Paul Weaver, Stephen Daynes) Actuation & Control: Experimental Aerodynamics: C A M B E R T W I S T B R A K E Aeroelastic Modelling:

14 Future Opportunities New project being initiated (Paul Harper, Ges Rosenberg) with Vestas Spare Parts & Repair investigating scope for reducing environmental impact of wind turbines by: Extending life beyond nominal year design lifetime Designing for end of life re-use/disposal Potential exists for a range of complementary projects within ACCIS: Development of blade health-check to assess damage and enable life extension Can undamaged components/laminates be re-used? Alternative resins/fibres and potential for recycling

15 Solar Energy Global Annual Installation of Photovoltaics ( ) Huge growth in PV installations since 2007 with Europe dominating market Alternatives to conventional silicon PV needed to sustain future growth Policy driven scenario Business as usual scenario

16 Current ACCIS Projects Work currently in progress to develop novel solar energy device using thermionic converters Device relies on nanodiamond composite materials to convert concentrated solar power to electricity: Nanodiamond particles coated onto flat sheets of glass Stable up to 1100 deg. C and can generate useful current at temperatures below 400 deg. C Nanodiamond surface 980,000 funding grant from energy company E.ON and project team involves 6 people, led by Neil Fox Complements range of other work on nanomaterials within the University s Centre for Nanoscience and Quantum Information (NSQI)

17 Ongoing Activities ( ) Prototype testing using Deger sun tracking platform and dish concentrator Range of key parameters to be investigated for prototype optimisation: Efficiency Operating Temperature Current Density Cost per watt Deger sun tracking platform International Research Initiative Demountable prototype Packaged prototype

18 Summary Future expansion of renewable energy poses significant challenges for composites and ACCIS is ideally placed to play a leading role in new developments: Strong partnerships with leading companies in renewable energy sector Existing research strengths well matched to needs of industry Wide variety of ACCIS projects currently in progress spanning marine, wind and solar applications These directly complement our Aerospace research activities and strong potential exists for further knowledge transfer between projects Vast range of future opportunities and we are keen to both develop our existing collaborations and forge new partnerships

19 Thank You & Questions? Contact: