IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v115y2019ics1364032119305908.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The increasing importance of leading edge erosion and a review of existing protection solutions

Author

Listed:
  • Herring, Robbie
  • Dyer, Kirsten
  • Martin, Ffion
  • Ward, Carwyn

Abstract

The offshore wind industry's pursuit of greater blade lengths and higher tip speeds, as well as a move to new markets with monsoonal climates, has caused leading edge erosion to progress from an issue that only affects a small number of turbines in the most extreme environments to a major problem that affects entire wind farms. Leading edge erosion results in reduced turbine efficiency that requires expensive repairs and tip speeds to be limited to protect blade edges. A review of the existing protection solutions is presented. The production and application of both gelcoats and flexible coatings relies heavily on manual procedures, leaving the coatings vulnerable to defects that can act as initiation points for erosion. Leading edge tapes are manufactured autonomously in a controlled environment and are consequently relatively free of defects. When applied effectively, the tapes possess very good erosion resistance. However, poor application can result in the formation of air pockets and wrinkles that reduce the adhesion of the bond, resulting in the tape disbonding from the blade. Metallic erosion shields have been shown in accelerated rain erosion tests to possess a lifetime greater than that of an offshore wind turbine blade. However, differences in stiffness between the blade and the metallic shield introduces a risk of the shield detaching under loading and as a result, the reliance on the adhesive is high. Integrating a metallic erosion shield into the blade mould would remove an additional manufacturing process and alleviate any aerodynamic concerns caused by a profile step on the leading edge of the blade. A design that can account for the stiffness mismatch between an integrated metallic erosion shield and the blade may then reveal the solution to leading edge erosion.

Suggested Citation

  • Herring, Robbie & Dyer, Kirsten & Martin, Ffion & Ward, Carwyn, 2019. "The increasing importance of leading edge erosion and a review of existing protection solutions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:115:y:2019:i:c:s1364032119305908
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2019.109382
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032119305908
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2019.109382?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sagol, Ece & Reggio, Marcelo & Ilinca, Adrian, 2013. "Issues concerning roughness on wind turbine blades," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 514-525.
    2. Slot, H.M. & Gelinck, E.R.M. & Rentrop, C. & van der Heide, E., 2015. "Leading edge erosion of coated wind turbine blades: Review of coating life models," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 837-848.
    3. Willis, D.J. & Niezrecki, C. & Kuchma, D. & Hines, E. & Arwade, S.R. & Barthelmie, R.J. & DiPaola, M. & Drane, P.J. & Hansen, C.J. & Inalpolat, M. & Mack, J.H. & Myers, A.T. & Rotea, M., 2018. "Wind energy research: State-of-the-art and future research directions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 133-154.
    4. Han, Woobeom & Kim, Jonghwa & Kim, Bumsuk, 2018. "Effects of contamination and erosion at the leading edge of blade tip airfoils on the annual energy production of wind turbines," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 817-823.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Amrit Shankar Verma & Sandro Di Noi & Zhengru Ren & Zhiyu Jiang & Julie J. E. Teuwen, 2021. "Minimum Leading Edge Protection Application Length to Combat Rain-Induced Erosion of Wind Turbine Blades," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-26, March.
    2. Sara C. Pryor & Rebecca J. Barthelmie & Jeremy Cadence & Ebba Dellwik & Charlotte B. Hasager & Stephan T. Kral & Joachim Reuder & Marianne Rodgers & Marijn Veraart, 2022. "Atmospheric Drivers of Wind Turbine Blade Leading Edge Erosion: Review and Recommendations for Future Research," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-41, November.
    3. Xiaohang Wang & Zhenbo Tang & Na Yan & Guojun Zhu, 2022. "Effect of Different Types of Erosion on the Aerodynamic Performance of Wind Turbine Airfoils," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-13, September.
    4. Francesco Papi & Lorenzo Cappugi & Simone Salvadori & Mauro Carnevale & Alessandro Bianchini, 2020. "Uncertainty Quantification of the Effects of Blade Damage on the Actual Energy Production of Modern Wind Turbines," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-18, July.
    5. Verma, Amrit Shankar & Yan, Jiquan & Hu, Weifei & Jiang, Zhiyu & Shi, Wei & Teuwen, Julie J.E., 2023. "A review of impact loads on composite wind turbine blades: Impact threats and classification," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    6. Papi, Francesco & Balduzzi, Francesco & Ferrara, Giovanni & Bianchini, Alessandro, 2021. "Uncertainty quantification on the effects of rain-induced erosion on annual energy production and performance of a Multi-MW wind turbine," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(P1), pages 701-715.
    7. Hasager, C. & Vejen, F. & Bech, J.I. & Skrzypiński, W.R. & Tilg, A.-M. & Nielsen, M., 2020. "Assessment of the rain and wind climate with focus on wind turbine blade leading edge erosion rate and expected lifetime in Danish Seas," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 91-102.
    8. Gregory Duthé & Imad Abdallah & Sarah Barber & Eleni Chatzi, 2021. "Modeling and Monitoring Erosion of the Leading Edge of Wind Turbine Blades," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-33, November.
    9. Wu, Yunna & Liu, Fangtong & Wu, Junhao & He, Jiaming & Xu, Minjia & Zhou, Jianli, 2022. "Barrier identification and analysis framework to the development of offshore wind-to-hydrogen projects," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PB).
    10. Charlotte Bay Hasager & Flemming Vejen & Witold Robert Skrzypiński & Anna-Maria Tilg, 2021. "Rain Erosion Load and Its Effect on Leading-Edge Lifetime and Potential of Erosion-Safe Mode at Wind Turbines in the North Sea and Baltic Sea," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-24, April.
    11. Sergio Campobasso, M. & Castorrini, Alessio & Ortolani, Andrea & Minisci, Edmondo, 2023. "Probabilistic analysis of wind turbine performance degradation due to blade erosion accounting for uncertainty of damage geometry," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    12. Mishnaevsky, Leon & Hasager, Charlotte Bay & Bak, Christian & Tilg, Anna-Maria & Bech, Jakob I. & Doagou Rad, Saeed & Fæster, Søren, 2021. "Leading edge erosion of wind turbine blades: Understanding, prevention and protection," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 953-969.
    13. Koodly Ravishankara, Akshay & Özdemir, Huseyin & van der Weide, Edwin, 2021. "Analysis of leading edge erosion effects on turbulent flow over airfoils," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 765-779.
    14. Bech, Jakob Ilsted & Johansen, Nicolai Frost-Jensen & Madsen, Martin Bonde & Hannesdóttir, Ásta & Hasager, Charlotte Bay, 2022. "Experimental study on the effect of drop size in rain erosion test and on lifetime prediction of wind turbine blades," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 776-789.
    15. López, Javier Contreras & Kolios, Athanasios & Wang, Lin & Chiachio, Manuel, 2023. "A wind turbine blade leading edge rain erosion computational framework," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 131-141.
    16. Jeanie A. Aird & Rebecca J. Barthelmie & Sara C. Pryor, 2023. "Automated Quantification of Wind Turbine Blade Leading Edge Erosion from Field Images," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-23, March.
    17. Mishnaevsky, Leon & Tempelis, Antonios & Kuthe, Nikesh & Mahajan, Puneet, 2023. "Recent developments in the protection of wind turbine blades against leading edge erosion: Materials solutions and predictive modelling," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    18. Verma, Amrit Shankar & Jiang, Zhiyu & Caboni, Marco & Verhoef, Hans & van der Mijle Meijer, Harald & Castro, Saullo G.P. & Teuwen, Julie J.E., 2021. "A probabilistic rainfall model to estimate the leading-edge lifetime of wind turbine blade coating system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 1435-1455.
    19. Anne P. M. Velenturf, 2021. "A Framework and Baseline for the Integration of a Sustainable Circular Economy in Offshore Wind," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-41, September.
    20. Alessio Castorrini & Paolo Venturini & Aldo Bonfiglioli, 2022. "Generation of Surface Maps of Erosion Resistance for Wind Turbine Blades under Rain Flows," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-14, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pugh, K. & Nash, J.W. & Reaburn, G. & Stack, M.M., 2021. "On analytical tools for assessing the raindrop erosion of wind turbine blades," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    2. Dollinger, Christoph & Balaresque, Nicholas & Gaudern, Nicholas & Gleichauf, Daniel & Sorg, Michael & Fischer, Andreas, 2019. "IR thermographic flow visualization for the quantification of boundary layer flow disturbances due to the leading edge condition," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 709-721.
    3. Hasager, C. & Vejen, F. & Bech, J.I. & Skrzypiński, W.R. & Tilg, A.-M. & Nielsen, M., 2020. "Assessment of the rain and wind climate with focus on wind turbine blade leading edge erosion rate and expected lifetime in Danish Seas," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 91-102.
    4. Mishnaevsky, Leon & Hasager, Charlotte Bay & Bak, Christian & Tilg, Anna-Maria & Bech, Jakob I. & Doagou Rad, Saeed & Fæster, Søren, 2021. "Leading edge erosion of wind turbine blades: Understanding, prevention and protection," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 953-969.
    5. Eleni Douvi & Dimitra Douvi, 2023. "Aerodynamic Characteristics of Wind Turbines Operating under Hazard Environmental Conditions: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-43, November.
    6. Yang, Muchen & Xiao, Zhixiang, 2019. "Distributed roughness induced transition on wind-turbine airfoils simulated by four-equation k-ω-γ-Ar transition model," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 1166-1177.
    7. López, Javier Contreras & Kolios, Athanasios & Wang, Lin & Chiachio, Manuel, 2023. "A wind turbine blade leading edge rain erosion computational framework," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 131-141.
    8. Verma, Amrit Shankar & Jiang, Zhiyu & Caboni, Marco & Verhoef, Hans & van der Mijle Meijer, Harald & Castro, Saullo G.P. & Teuwen, Julie J.E., 2021. "A probabilistic rainfall model to estimate the leading-edge lifetime of wind turbine blade coating system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 1435-1455.
    9. Charlotte Bay Hasager & Flemming Vejen & Witold Robert Skrzypiński & Anna-Maria Tilg, 2021. "Rain Erosion Load and Its Effect on Leading-Edge Lifetime and Potential of Erosion-Safe Mode at Wind Turbines in the North Sea and Baltic Sea," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-24, April.
    10. de Oliveira Nogueira, Tiago & Palacio, Gilderlânio Barbosa Alves & Braga, Fabrício Damasceno & Maia, Pedro Paulo Nunes & de Moura, Elineudo Pinho & de Andrade, Carla Freitas & Rocha, Paulo Alexandre C, 2022. "Imbalance classification in a scaled-down wind turbine using radial basis function kernel and support vector machines," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(PC).
    11. Verma, Amrit Shankar & Yan, Jiquan & Hu, Weifei & Jiang, Zhiyu & Shi, Wei & Teuwen, Julie J.E., 2023. "A review of impact loads on composite wind turbine blades: Impact threats and classification," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    12. Jeanie A. Aird & Rebecca J. Barthelmie & Sara C. Pryor, 2023. "Automated Quantification of Wind Turbine Blade Leading Edge Erosion from Field Images," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-23, March.
    13. d'Amore-Domenech, Rafael & Leo, Teresa J. & Pollet, Bruno G., 2021. "Bulk power transmission at sea: Life cycle cost comparison of electricity and hydrogen as energy vectors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    14. Francisco Haces-Fernandez, 2020. "GoWInD: Wind Energy Spatiotemporal Assessment and Characterization of End-of-Life Activities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-20, November.
    15. Mito, Mohamed T. & Ma, Xianghong & Albuflasa, Hanan & Davies, Philip A., 2019. "Reverse osmosis (RO) membrane desalination driven by wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) energy: State of the art and challenges for large-scale implementation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 669-685.
    16. Deshun Li & Ting He & Qing Wang, 2023. "Experimental Research on the Effect of Particle Parameters on Dynamic Stall Characteristics of the Wind Turbine Airfoil," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-15, February.
    17. Fang, Jianhao & Hu, Weifei & Liu, Zhenyu & Chen, Weiyi & Tan, Jianrong & Jiang, Zhiyu & Verma, Amrit Shankar, 2022. "Wind turbine rotor speed design optimization considering rain erosion based on deep reinforcement learning," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    18. Albert H. Schrotenboer & Evrim Ursavas & Iris F. A. Vis, 2019. "A Branch-and-Price-and-Cut Algorithm for Resource-Constrained Pickup and Delivery Problems," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(4), pages 1001-1022, July.
    19. Jijian Lian & Yue Zhao & Chong Lian & Haijun Wang & Xiaofeng Dong & Qi Jiang & Huan Zhou & Junni Jiang, 2018. "Application of an Eddy Current-Tuned Mass Damper to Vibration Mitigation of Offshore Wind Turbines," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-18, November.
    20. Liu, Wenyi, 2016. "Design and kinetic analysis of wind turbine blade-hub-tower coupled system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 547-557.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:115:y:2019:i:c:s1364032119305908. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.