Physical De-Icing Techniques for Wind Turbine Blades

The review reflects physical solutions for de-icing, one of the main problems that impedes the efficient use of wind turbines for autonomous energy resources in cold regions. This topic is currently very relevant for ensuring the dynamic development of wind energy in the Arctic. The review discusses...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energies
Main Authors: Valery Okulov, Ivan Kabardin, Dmitry Mukhin, Konstantin Stepanov, Nastasia Okulova
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021
Subjects:
T
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/en14206750
https://doaj.org/article/bf53af4654494ebc8d1fdf80f1649063
Description
Summary:The review reflects physical solutions for de-icing, one of the main problems that impedes the efficient use of wind turbines for autonomous energy resources in cold regions. This topic is currently very relevant for ensuring the dynamic development of wind energy in the Arctic. The review discusses an effective anti-icing strategy for wind turbine blades, including various passive and active physical de-icing techniques using superhydrophobic coatings, thermal heaters, ultrasonic and vibration devices, operating control to determine the optimal methods and their combinations. After a brief description of the active methods, the energy consumption required for their realization is estimated. Passive methods do not involve extra costs, so the review focuses on the most promising solutions with superhydrophobic coatings. Among them, special attention is paid to plastic coatings with a lithographic method of applying micro and nanostructures. This review is of interest to researchers who develop new effective solutions for protection against icing, in particular, when choosing systems for protecting wind turbines.