Polytech’s new calibration technology takes IPC and turbine operations to a new level

As the turbines grow in size, the longer wind turbine blades experience increased loads and load differences along the blades. Wind turbine manufacturers therefore turn to IPC, a system that uses data from a load monitoring system to pitch the blades individually, to further reduce loads and optimize the energy production. Calibration of the load monitoring system, however, is typically done manually, which makes it a time consuming and expensive task to perform.

Until now.

With ABMC the turbine can start operating at full capacity much faster.

Actively measuring loads on the blades can be done using either electric- or fiber optic sensors. Electric sensors are more prone and sensitive to lightning strikes. Fiber optic sensors therefore offer a safer and more robust solution during the lifetime of the turbine.

Whatever technology is used, the measured signal is transmitted to the turbine controller and is used to pitch the blade individually.

Before final turbine commissioning, the load monitoring system needs to be calibrated for the specific turbine. This is normally a manual process, where the turbine installation team/engineers collect the data from the measurement device, perform a series of offsite calculations, and finally upload the calibration parameters.

With up-to-date systems such as the one from Polytech, you can now perform an easier and more time- and cost-effective calibration without human interaction or physical visits to the site – a technology we call ABMC or Autonomous Bending Moment Calibration.

In addition to initial calibration, the AMBC also allows continuous calibrations to ensure that the full accuracy is kept throughout the turbine lifetime.

Considering the market trends and growth, we need to drive the industry towards a standardized solution for load monitoring. This would allow the sector to scale up fast and to continuously develop the established platforms while supporting more remote features to drive initial and running costs down.

To hear more about load monitoring or our ABMC solution, get in touch with our Sales team.