Technical support of modern wind turbines and development trend of wind energy utilization
Technical support for modern wind turbines
Wind turbine technology gained new opportunities at the end of the 20th century after years of hiatus. Many other fields of technology are actively developed to apply wind turbines and urge their regeneration; technologies in other fields are actively applied to the new generation of wind turbines, such as materials science, computer technology, aerodynamics, analytical design and methods, testing and monitoring, power electronics, etc. Materials science has brought new composite blades and alloys of metal parts; computer science has advanced the development of design, analysis, measurement, and control techniques; and aerodynamic design methods originally developed for the aviation industry have now been applied to wind turbines. Analytical design and methodologies have now developed into a new design phase that knows more clearly than ever how to design new wind turbines. The testing and monitoring approach utilizes a large number of commercially available sensors, data acquisition and analysis equipment to give designers a better understanding of the actual performance of new wind turbines. Power electronics are widely used in wind turbines, power electronics can make the wind turbine more smoothly connected to the grid, ensure that the wind turbine can run at variable speed, generate more energy, reduce fatigue damage, and facilitate the operation of the power company, and promote the operation of the wind turbine in a small isolated grid , which is capable of converting energy in energy storage devices.
Development trend
Wind turbines have come a long way over the past 35 years, they have become more reliable, economical, and quieter, but the period of innovation cannot be said to be over, and it is still possible to operate at lower wind speeds to reduce energy costs. Wind turbines are commercially viable in isolated communities. The utilization of offshore wind energy has just started. Offshore wind energy has great potential, but there are still many difficulties to be overcome. When wind energy takes a larger share of the global electricity supply, it will again encounter its problems of intermittency, transmission and energy storage.
Designers are under constant pressure to improve the cost of wind turbines for all applications, and to improve the engineering methods required for analysis, design, and high-volume manufacturing. There is still potential to develop new materials to extend turbine life, with increased consideration for specific application needs. To sum up, the development and progress of wind energy have opportunities and challenges in multidisciplinary fields, especially in mechanical, electrical, materials, aviation, control, marine, civil engineering and computer science.