Certification Testing of Two Small Wind Turbines
Certification Testing of Two Small Wind Turbines
Certification Testing of Two Small Wind Turbines
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Regional Test Center<br />
Spanish Fork, Utah<br />
David Laino<br />
Dean Davis
Regional Test Centers<br />
◦ DOE/NREL subsidized testing <strong>of</strong> small turbines<br />
◦ Self-sustaining, independent certification test centers
RTC Test Units
Test to AWEA 9.1 standard<br />
◦ Power Performance (IEC 61400-12-1)<br />
◦ Duration (IEC 61400-2)<br />
◦ Safety & Function (IEC 61400-2)<br />
◦ Acoustic (IEC 61400-11)<br />
Results<br />
◦ Endurance<br />
<br />
All four tests completed<br />
◦ <strong>Wind</strong>spire<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Power Performance<br />
Duration<br />
Safety & Function<br />
Acoustic (cancelled)
Tower Height 8.87m (29ft)<br />
Hub Height 11.92m (39ft)<br />
Swept Area 7.43m 2 (80ft 2 )<br />
Rated Power 1.2 kW<br />
Generator<br />
PMG<br />
Inverter<br />
Synchronous<br />
Output<br />
120V, 1, 60Hz<br />
Rotor Speed 140-408 RPM
Energy Produced, kWh<br />
<strong>Wind</strong>spire <strong>Testing</strong> Timeline<br />
2,500<br />
2,000<br />
Site Calibration<br />
2/24/11 - 3/10/11<br />
Duration Test<br />
6/27/11 - 12/26/11<br />
1,500<br />
Power Performance Test<br />
10/21/11 - 10/28/11<br />
Safety & Function Test<br />
6/28/11 - 1/28/12<br />
1,000<br />
Unit Inoperable<br />
1/29/12 - 2/21/13<br />
500<br />
0<br />
Installation &<br />
Commissioning<br />
3/23/11<br />
<strong>Testing</strong> Begins<br />
6/28/11<br />
2011 Feb May Aug Nov<br />
<strong>Wind</strong>spire Energy<br />
Bankruptcy<br />
1/6/12<br />
Test unit ceases<br />
operating<br />
1/29/12<br />
Feb<br />
2012<br />
May Aug Nov<br />
Decommissioning /<br />
<strong>Testing</strong> Terminated<br />
2/22/13<br />
Feb<br />
2013<br />
2013
Electric Power (watts)<br />
Low cut-out<br />
wind speed<br />
1800<br />
1600<br />
1400<br />
1200<br />
1000<br />
Scatter plot <strong>of</strong> measured power output (Database A)<br />
Measured Data, NOT density corrected<br />
Minimum<br />
Maximum<br />
Std. dev<br />
Mean<br />
800<br />
600<br />
400<br />
200<br />
0<br />
<strong>Wind</strong><br />
Speed<br />
(m/s)<br />
Database A<br />
AEPextrapolated<br />
(kWh)<br />
Database B<br />
AEPextrapolated<br />
(kWh)<br />
4 748 750<br />
5 1,646 1,686<br />
6 2,673 2,897<br />
7 3,555 4,219<br />
8 4,153 5,510<br />
9 4,463 6,678<br />
10 4,545 7,662<br />
11 4,472 8,433<br />
-200<br />
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18<br />
Hub Height 1-minute Average <strong>Wind</strong> Speed (m/s)<br />
Effects on AEP Estimates
Operational Time Fraction >> 90%<br />
Generator Air-gap closed<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Shavings collected in inverter<br />
Root cause not determined
Tower Height 27.4m (90ft)<br />
Hub Height 27.6m (91ft)<br />
Swept Area 31.87m 2 (343ft 2 )<br />
Rated Power 5.4 kW<br />
Generator Induction<br />
Inverter Synchronous<br />
Output<br />
120/240V, 1, 60Hz<br />
Rotor Speed 166.4-171 RPM
Energy Produced, kWh<br />
S-343 <strong>Testing</strong> Timeline<br />
30,000<br />
25,000<br />
Site Calibration<br />
2/2/11 - 2/20/11<br />
20,000<br />
Duration Test<br />
Power Performance Test<br />
10/19/11 - 10/27/11<br />
7/25/11 - 9/14/12<br />
15,000<br />
Safety & Function Test<br />
7/25/11 - 10/16/12<br />
10,000<br />
Acoustic Test<br />
9/30/12 - 3/13/13<br />
5,000<br />
Installation &<br />
Commissioning<br />
2/24/11<br />
<strong>Testing</strong> Begins<br />
7/11/11<br />
<strong>Testing</strong> Completed<br />
3/13/13<br />
0<br />
2011 Feb May Aug Nov<br />
Feb<br />
2012<br />
May Aug Nov<br />
Feb<br />
2013<br />
2013
Electrical Power (Watts)<br />
<strong>Wind</strong><br />
Speed<br />
(m/s)<br />
Power & C P<br />
Curves<br />
AEPmeasured<br />
(kWh)<br />
AEPextrapolated<br />
(kWh)<br />
4 4,078 4,078<br />
5 8,910 8,913<br />
6 14,123 14,176<br />
7 18,718 19,008<br />
8 22,118 22,991<br />
9 24,198 26,030<br />
10 25,126 28,179<br />
11 25,178 29,543<br />
7000<br />
6000<br />
5000<br />
4000<br />
3000<br />
2000<br />
1000<br />
0<br />
-1000<br />
Power curve normalized to Sea Level air density 1.225 kg/m 3<br />
and Coefficinet <strong>of</strong> Power (Database A)<br />
Power<br />
Cp<br />
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18<br />
AEP Estimates<br />
Hub Height <strong>Wind</strong> Speed (m/s)<br />
40%<br />
35%<br />
30%<br />
25%<br />
20%<br />
15%<br />
10%<br />
5%<br />
0%<br />
C P
<strong>Wind</strong> Speed Bin<br />
Operational Time Fraction = 92.7%<br />
All wind speed bin requirements met<br />
> 15 m/s<br />
25<br />
237<br />
Minimum Requirement<br />
S-343 Test Unit<br />
1.8 x Vavg<br />
(13.5 m/s)<br />
25<br />
649<br />
1.2 x Vavg<br />
(9 m/s)<br />
> cut-in<br />
(~4 m/s)<br />
250<br />
2,594<br />
2,500<br />
0<br />
1000<br />
2000<br />
Hours<br />
3000<br />
4000<br />
4,659<br />
5000
Tower wiring installation error<br />
Control panel SSR failures
Sound Pressure Level [dBA]<br />
Difficult to get required separation from background<br />
sound levels<br />
60<br />
58<br />
56<br />
54<br />
52<br />
50<br />
48<br />
46<br />
44<br />
42<br />
40<br />
Data sets with snow<br />
on the ground (RED)<br />
Turbine & Background<br />
Background<br />
38<br />
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16<br />
Standardized <strong>Wind</strong> Speed, Vs [m/s]
Site Size<br />
◦ Limited area presents unique challenges<br />
◦ Current site layout avoids interference<br />
Site Calibration<br />
◦ Required for two reasons<br />
• Railroad cut bordering site exceeds maximum allowable slope<br />
• 20MW wind farm 1.5km upwind <strong>of</strong> test site = obstruction<br />
◦ Take advantage <strong>of</strong> highly unidirectional winds<br />
Standards<br />
◦ Putting them all into practice is a new undertaking<br />
◦ Rely on NREL expertise for guidance
Acoustic Test<br />
◦ Most challenging test<br />
• Many background noise sources near site<br />
◦ Most challenging data processing<br />
• Complicated spreadsheets<br />
◦ Difficult to achieve required separation from background with:<br />
• Quiet turbine<br />
• Any extra background noise<br />
Duration Test<br />
◦ Determining the end <strong>of</strong> test period<br />
Power Performance<br />
◦ Effect <strong>of</strong> low cut-out wind speed on AEP
NREL Assistance Invaluable<br />
◦ Post-processing spreadsheets<br />
• Would be time-intensive to develop<br />
• Variability inevitable due to interpretation<br />
<strong>Testing</strong> Effort and Time Requirements<br />
◦ Steep learning curve<br />
◦ Should be greatly reduced after first time<br />
Uncertainty Analysis<br />
◦ Challenging to understand<br />
◦ Not always intuitive
RTC Test <strong>of</strong> <strong>Two</strong> <strong>Turbines</strong>:<br />
◦ Labor: ~$120k<br />
◦ Sensor/DAQ/S<strong>of</strong>tware: ~$24k<br />
◦ Met tower/wire/misc: ~$6k<br />
◦ GRAND TOTAL: ~$150k<br />
Estimate per turbine: $75k<br />
Opportunities for savings<br />
◦ Initial expenses (computers, s<strong>of</strong>tware)<br />
◦ Learning curve costs<br />
Bottom line: Expensive
www.windwardengineering.com
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