19ENG08 WindEFCY: Traceable mechanical and electrical power measurement for efficiency determination of wind turbines

• Forschungsstelle: METAS
• Projektnummer: F-5213.30135

Schlüsselwörter (Englisch)

renewable energies, wind turbines, nacelles, power generation, traceable mechanical power measurements, traceable electrical power measurements, efficiency determination

Kurzbeschreibung (Englisch)

• EU decided on change to renewable energies;
• The European position as market leader has to be protected;
• The Reliability of nacelles and components has to be increased;
• The development of new technologies are strengthened by large test benches;
• The quality of the tests rely on precision of torque and electrical measurements;

The traceability of mechanical and electrical power measurements in nacelle test benches is necessary for efficiency determination

Projektziele (Englisch)

The objectives of the project were to provide traceability for mechanical and electrical power measurements for efficiency determination of wind turbines, by:

• Detailed assessment of available power and efficiency determination methods (WP1)
• Development & implementation of traceable mechanical power measurements with an uncertainty < 0.5 % based on the rotational speed and torque measurements up to 5 MN m (WP2)
• Development & implementation of traceable electrical power measurements (WP3)
• Development & application of traceable methods for the efficiency determination of devices on test benches including guidelines for traceable efficiency determination on test benches (WP4)
• Facilitation the take up of the technology and measurement infrastructure (WP5)

METAS was significantly involved in at least one activity within the following tasks:

3.1: Identify requirements for electrical power measurement
3.2: Traceability of electrical measure-ments in nacelle test benches (heavily delayed due to external delays and swapping of activities; no negative impact on project completion)
3.3: Commissioning of a reference power measurement system
3.4: Guide for traceable electrical power measurement
4.1: Development of an efficiency determination procedure for devices on test benches
4.2: Execution of an efficiency determination via the HSS of a test bench

Abstract (Englisch)

The work was carried out and the planned results were achieved in the promised quality with the planned effort.

The following technical milestones with METAS participation were included in the project:
D1: Summary report describing current state-of-the-art developments on efficiency determination methods for wind turbines and nacelles in the field and on test benches respectively, their traceability, and general methods for direct and indirect efficiency determination (led by RWTH);
D6: Good Practice Guide on the calibration procedure for traceable electrical power measurement at the generator, converter and the filter using a reference power measurement system (led by METAS);
D8: Good Practice Guide for trace-able efficiency determination of devices under test on nacelle test benches (lead responsibility PTB).

Umsetzung und Anwendungen (Englisch)

The impact of the project:

• Precise determination of efficiency of nacelles and single components (e.g. gear boxes)
• Very solid base for development and optimisation of technology
• Simplification of certification procedure for entire systems and components
• Traceability for torque, rotational speed, mechanical and electrical power and efficiency

Publikationen / Ergebnisse (Englisch)

[1]   P. Weidinger, Mech et al., Need for a traceable efficiency determination method of nacelles performed on test benches, IMEKO World Congress, Measurement: Sensors 18 (2021) 100159

[2]   Mech, Sampling Primary Power Standard from DC up to 9 kHz Using Commercial Off-The-Shelf Components, Energies 2021, 14, 2203

[3]   Mech, A phase reference for ADC delay characterisation, CPEM 2022

[4]   Z. Song, Mech et al., Traceable efficiency determination of a 2.75 MW nacelle on a test bench, FIIN 2023

[5]   Z. Song, Mech et al., P52 - Importance of Traceability for Determining the Efficiency of Wind Turbine Drive Trains on Test Benches, SMSI 2023