On the 3rd of July 2018, ASSIST hosted the third technical meeting of the Bladesave project. At that time, we were already in the middle of the project so, the focus was on the status of the project and deliverables. Currently, all the features from the software are delivered and we are in the testing and validation stage, this being an interactive process between TWI, EWT, Smart Fibres and ASSIST. During the meeting, all the partners discussed the status and the results of the testing and managed to establish the further actions points which need to be followed next.
After this, Jialin Tang gave a presentation to review the outcome of WP1 with the consortium. Next, the results obtained from the comparison test between conventional AE sensor and FBG AE sensors were presented by Jialin Tang and Lukasz Hutter followed by the data communication strategy explained by Alin Calinciuc.
Further, Lukasz Hutter introduced the final BladeSave system and revealed thatthere will be 18 sensors (6 sensors on each blade) installed on EWT’s wind turbine blades and a switching function which will be applied to simultaneously acquire data (switching is needed to monitor all sensors but only 2 can be monitored simultaneously – the switching time between each pair of sensor is to be decided). Also, Lukasz Hutter introduced the AE analysis software progress highlighting that, the data acquisition and waveform analysis have been completed and thatthe SF team are working to finalize the localization and damage characterization part (there will be a traffic light system introduced to indicate the severity of the damage – this need to be advised by TWI).
The example of output JSON file were discussed with Alin, this however required more clarification therefore,Lukasz Hutter explained to everyone that, in order to finalize the system design, it is important to confirm the strategy for the correlation between AE and strain data analysis. In addition, Stefan de Groot mentioned that the current strain data is monitoring the bending moment trend, and AE data analysis outcome (number of events) should be another indication of severe damage. Also, he have explained how to use the strain data to calculate the bending moment, an important parameter which can track the blade health monitoring.
This strategy will be applied to the BladeSave system the implementation of strain data analysis following to be discussed. So, there are two options, through turbine PLC or independently within the processing unit (EWT preferred the first option). Also, the vibration data will be used for learning purposes only as not clear usage has been decided. After this, Jialin Tang presented the key points of WP2.2.
Further, it was established that the system validation testing will be scheduled for the beginning of September and in October, will be carried out the system demonstrationLukasz Hutter and Stefan de Groot discussed the system integration plan highlighting that,there will be two installations to perform – strain system while blades on the ground and the rest when available (most likely at the end of September/ beginning of October). Therefore, it wasestablished that before the system demonstration, a paramilitary attenuation test will be carried out on the Renewable Advice facilities to confirm the sensor locations.
At the end of the day, Simona Schrammel presented the financial status. The consortium agreed to extend the WP1 until the middle of July, 2018, due to the technical work and report that taken longer than expected. In the end, we also decided to have the next consortium meeting hosted by the Renewable Advice on 4th of December, 2018.
