ESE-817 Wind Energy (MSESE 2K13)

Wind Turbine Towers

Report Prepared by
UMER BIN SARWAR,
FAISAL MAHMOOD
UMAIR SALEEM
MOHSIN AYUB
MUHAMMAD UMER NAEEM

Submitted to:
Engr Rashid Wazir
Introduction
It is the largest part of the wind turbine. It provides the necessary height to catch the higher wind
speed. It supports the Nacelle and the rotor. The cables passing through the tower carry
electricity from the generator to the electrical network.

Types of Wind Turbine Towers

There are 5 main types of wind turbine towers designs

1. Lattice tower
2. Tubular steel tower
3. Tubular concrete
4. Three-legged tower
5. Guyed tower
A combination of any two of these designs maybe used to make a “Hybrid Tower”
Lattice Towers
A lattice tower or truss tower is a freestanding framework tower. They can be of two main types:
1. Wooden lattice towers
2. Steel lattice towers

They can be used as electricity transmission towers especially for voltages above 100 kilovolts,
as a radio tower (a self-radiating tower or as a carrier for aerials) or as an observation tower.
Benefits include less material for construction (almost half the material required for tubular
towers) this makes them cheaper and lighter. The open truss structure provides less significant
aerodynamic resistance. One of the reason lattice towers went out of style was that they attracted
birds, who had a higher chance of getting killed by the rotor. GE’s New “Space Frame” Wind
Turbine Tower by cladding the lattice avoids this problem. (139 m tall)

GE’s New “Space Frame” Wind Turbine Tower (139 m tall)

Lattice towers have a multi-sided lattice configuration that allows for a much wider base than the
familiar tube-style turbine towers, which adds rigidity and stability. This enables the tower to
gain height over its conventional counterparts while reducing the added cost of materials. Due to
the wider area the legs of the lattice tower are spread the load is more distributed.

Disadvantages of Lattice Towers

1. Poor aesthetics and visually unacceptable to some people

2. They are not maintenance friendly
3. In subzero temperature environments the workers are exposed to cold winds
4. These towers do not have any lockable doors and their access is easy for anyone.
Tubular Steel Towers
Most large wind turbines are delivered with tubular steel towers, which are manufactured in
sections of 20-30 meters with flanges at either end, and bolted together on the site. The towers
are conical (i.e. with their diameter increasing towards the base) in order to increase their
strength and to save materials at the same time. Complete tower can be fabricated within 2-3
days. Due to circular diameter they offer optimum bending resistance in all directions. On most
of the larger towers of this type there is a ladder in the inside of the tube so that a worker can
climb the tower to do repairs and maintenance on the turbine.

There are three steps for setting up a tubular steel tower.

1) Manufacturing
2) Transportation
3) Construction

The tubular tower has many advantages over the lattice tower. The enclosed area of the tubular
tower cavity provides a covered, protected area for climbing to access the wind turbine in bad
weather conditions. It provides a covered area that can house many electrical components. In a
cold climate, wind wet area. Additionally, it is more maintenance friendly. It does not rely on
many bolted-connections which need to be torque and checked periodically. Aesthetically, it is
more appealing than the lattice tower. The current limitation of the tubular section size is 4.3 m
in diameter

Tubular Concrete Towers

A concrete based section is less expensive and has several advantages. For one, it can be cast and
assembled on site thereby avoiding transportation costs. Ferro-concrete tubular tower: This
types of concrete towers have are made of steel reinforcement bars. These type of towers are
cheaper but much heavier in weight than other towers

There are two types of Ferro-Concrete towers:

a) In-situ concrete tower:
There constructed on site (in-situ), so they are free from transportation and fitting problems.
b) Pre-cast concrete towers:
Individual tubular section is pre-cast at pre-casting plant. These sections are transported to site
and then placed over the foundation.
Advantages of Tubular Concrete Towers
1) Concrete as material of construction is durable, it can be tailor-made to meet specific
requirements.
2) Concrete plays an important role if the wind towers are located in remote areas or in areas
with aggressive environment like that of a marine environment
3) It insures reliability and require less maintenance
4) Durability of concrete against marine conditions makes off-shore wind farms a reality
5) Through the use of admixture and special reinforcements, not just the strength of concrete
can be improved but also its resistance to corrosion.
6) Depending upon the site conditions both in-situ and pre-cast construction methods are
suitable for wind tower construction

Hybrid Tower
Hybrid towers are constructed by the combination of two or more techniques. By combining two
or more techniques the logistics and transportation cost of constructing a wind turbine tower
decreases. Hybrid towers are more stable structure wise. The combination of techniques provides
extra strength to the structure which can be considered as positive point keeping in view the
environment where the tower has to be installed.

The main techniques used by manufacturer in in constructing a hybrid tower are as follows
1) NORDEX
They uses concrete structure and tubular towers as a hybrid technique.
2) NREL
NREL uses lattice, tubular and guyed tower techniques. This increase the cost but reduces base
of the tower.

NREL HYBRID NORDEX HYBRID GUYED AND TILT HYBRID

The pros and cons of hybrid towers are shown in the following table

PROS
Increase structure stability
Decrease in logistics cost
CONS
Construction cost increases due to different
techniques being used
Not so much popular for on shore wind turbines

Three Legged Tower

Three legged self-support towers have a triangular base pattern design which incorporates
triangular angular elements. The three legged tower is also known as a Type E tower. They have
a tripod structure. They can be considered as a hybrid between a lattice tower and a guyed tower.
The design of the Type E tower is specifically optimized for medium and heavy loads. The Type
E tower is ideal for standard cellular sites. The Type E tower is specifically designed for heights
in the range of 20m to 70m. The tower is supplied in sections which are assembled at the cellular
site.

The sections of a Type E tower can be easily transported in a standard 20’ ISO container. The
tower has a modular design so that engineers can interchange the modules of the tower to make it
more suitable for a particular cellular site design. The tower is made of steel, which is further
exposed to anti-rust treatment. The construction of a Type E tower follows a simple principle
which is: as the height of the tower or load increases, the material in the lower section of the
tower is also increased to make the tower more strong and stable. A type E tower can be fitted
with different accessories. All these accessories and equipment can be installed at any height and
at any orientation as per the client’s requirements.

There are several uses of three legged supporting towers. Some of the uses are:

1) GSM/CDMA Equipment
2) Wind Turbines
3) Radars
4) Video Surveillance Equipment
Guyed Tower
A guyed tower is one which is held in place with guy wires. The tower itself is often just along
steel pole which is 30 to 100 feet tall. There are usually three or four guy lines made of steel
cable which run from the top of the tower to guy anchors on the ground which hold the tower in
place. The anchors are usually set into a concrete base in the ground or held in place with augers
that have been drilled into the ground. Many small wind turbines use guy wires for this reason;
however the maintenance costs for the guy wires add more costs to the operation, thus should be
avoided if possible. Additionally, the guy wires require a larger footprint and additional
foundations. Therefore, it may present a problem with land accessibility and usage which may
not be suitable in farm areas. This type of tower is more prone to vandalism, thus compromising
overall safety.

Guyed towers are often the least expensive type of wind tower and are often an excellent choice
for a small residential scale wind turbine. The one thing you have to consider is that a guyed
tower needs considerable space because the guy wires extend well beyond the base of the tower.
Use of guy wires may bring down the initial cost of the tower as it would require less tower
material.