Development of a horizontal axis wind turbine system for vertical rotor and transmission power in order to reduce downtime and maintenance cost

• Grant number: 16/21569-0
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: November 01, 2017
• End date: September 30, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: William Marcos Muniz Menezes
• Grantee: William Marcos Muniz Menezes
• Company: Eolic Future Tecnologia Ltda
• City: São José dos Campos
• Associated researchers: Hudson Alberto Bode ; Rita de Cássia Mendonça Sales Contini
• Associated scholarship(s): 18/01446-6 - Development of a horizontal axis wind turbine system for vertical rotor and transmission power in order to reduce downtime and maintenance cost, BP.TT

Abstract

Power generation from renewable sources is great global relevance of subject and wind energy has been highlighted because of tangible benefits related to low environmental impact, alignment regarding the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and speed of deployment, which led the increasing trend in the Brazilian energy matrix, from 0,027GW in 2005 to the current installed capacity of 10,0GW, with 400 wind farms in the country Wind turbines are complex systems and most are subject to weather conditions and very variable and severe operation, requiring a higher degree of maintenance (scheduled or unscheduled) to extend the life and provide safe and reliable energy. Also, due to downtime of the wind turbine, caused by specific component failures and the need for unscheduled maintenance, there is a loss of revenue for power generation. According to the literature, corrective (unscheduled) maintenance is 42.9% of operation and maintenance costs of the project and 47.9% preventive maintenance. In terms of costs, corrective (unscheduled) maintenance is $ 3.7 million more expensive than preventive. The gearbox is one of wind turbine components that presents more maintenance rate and by consequence more increases in the operating costs. According to the literature, for example, considering the investment the transmission box, rent cranes, work and lost revenue, the cost to replace a the transmission box in a wind turbine of 1.5 MW can cost more than US $ 250,000.00. In this scenario the Eolic Future aims to assess the technical feasibility of developing a wind turbine horizontal axis rotor and vertical power transmission through an innovative configuration of nacelle repositioning leading to the base of the tower. Innovation proposal points to three technical scientific challenges to be searched applying IPD methodology (Integrated Product Development) aimed at vertical integration of wind turbine power transmission. The proposed methodology provides for the use of the six stages of the IDP tool process model (Integrated Product Development) grouped into 4 research development stages. In step 1 is performed in conceptualizing the problem by discretization of the general problem. Following IDP tool, in step 2 is carried out the integration of sub-solutions by generating and evaluating alternative that can resolve the functions outlined in first step. Therefore, the generation of alternatives will be built Morphological letter highlighting the functions and solution, and analytical calculations to perform the initial sizing and selection of materials for each of the discretized and integrated parts to determine the solution. In the third stage, the team will be involved in checking whether the evaluated analytically sub-solutions are in fact the most assertive and converge in the general solution, using computer simulations and performing so the stages of improvement details and evaluation alternatives, based on IPD tool. Step 4 includes an overview of the use of IDP tool set in order to point out the limitations of the research, as well as indicate the possible solutions that can be addressed in Phase II of this project. During the execution of all the methodology, the research team will receive technical support from Centro de Competência em Manufatura, from Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica - ITA, aiming to validate the use of the IPD methodology and the results obtained at each stage of the research project, as well as assisting in computer simulation analysis. The expected result is to obtain a new product, considering a horizontal wind turbine with vertical power transmission, which will contribute to reducing costs for maintenance and downtime time, bringing positive economic impacts for the power generation system. (AU)