MAXIMIZING BLADE LIFE

UWIG Wind Turbine Operations and Maintenance Users Group Meeting Sara Agalliu LM Wind Power April 11, 2012

The extended family

LM Feature Pre-bending
Increased blade-to-tower clearance Reduced need for blade stiffness and hence blade weight Increased swept area Increased energy production

Lighter blades Larger swept area Clearance to the tower

Further pre-bending advantages The rotor COG is pushed less forward Less bending of main shaft Improved material utilization driving Cost of Energy

Prebend glas blade. Carbon blade.

Lighter blades Larger swept area Clearance to the tower
3

Loaded blade with same tower clearance

LM Feature Lightning Protection Systems

Blades of Tomorrow

Design Life versus Operational Life

Static testing

Fatigue testing

Failure Rate
LM has sold approx. 20,000 LM 37.3 P2 blades

As of today,121 have failed

approx 0.6%

Most other LM blades is likely to have lower failure rate

Smaller blade types are designed more conservatively Bigger blades are used in less extreme sites

Why do blades fail?

Cold weather

Mountain ridge => turbulence

Limited bonding => manufacturing deviation

Lightning strike into shell

Handling

Transport

2 Tower Nacelle

1
3 Storage - Flood Turbine operation
9

Getting 20+ years

Inspections Repairs Preventative Maintenance Updating blades with additional features

Inspection of blades

Rotor blades are wear parts

Inspections of blades

Development of damage
Handling damage Same damage 2 months later

Transport damage

Safety Factors

Repair of a defect will never be as strong as a reference blade without defects (reduction factors) Reduction factors are based on test and experience

Safety factors must always be above 1.0 after repair

Structural Damages

Preventative maintenance pays off

Field measured mechanical loads
Restored Clean & Smooth Profile

Total power return 3-8% per year

Turbine power output in MW
Original Dirty & Rough Profile

Wind speed in m/s

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LEADING EDGE PROTECTION (LEP) Rain erosion test

No LEP

0 min 30 min 60 min 90 min 240 min 270 min 300 min

LE Tape

LE coating

LM Diverter Strips

Boosting your performance

Cost efficient up-tower options to increase AEP exist
Vortex generator flow visualization Clean surface Vortex generators

Boost package streamlines & pressure contour plots

Flow is separating without vortex generators Vortex generators maintain attached flow

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KNOW YOUR BLADES...

QUESTIONS

Together we capture the wind to power a cleaner world

The LM Wind Power vision