HIGH TECH FOR TURBINES
Wind power makes up more than 11% of the European Union’s electricity. While many new wind turbines have been brought online — wind-energy production more than doubled in Europe from 2010 to 2017 — some have been operating nearly 24 hours a day for 18 years. It’s vital to identify problems in the blades as early as possible for operators and owners to keep costs down and the machines running.
Eye on the inside: The holy grail of maintenance is spotting small flaws in turbine blades before they become big, costly ones. Large repairs that require blade removals can become expensive, logistical nightmares. But finding flaws early isn’t easy — they often hide inside the blades themselves, invisible on the surface. One approach used by LM Wind Power, part of GE Renewable Energy, uses thermographic cameras to sense heat from the friction between the fiberglass layers that occurs when a flaw has developed deep inside a blade. The company is also currently developing acoustic sensors that use sound waves to detect flaws.
Read more about how GE monitors the inside of wind turbine blades here.
BATTERIES FOR THE GRID
Johanna Wellington has worked at GE’s Global Research Center since 2016, leading a team of engineers who are building the GE Reservoir: the most energy-dense storage solution ever conceived. The Reservoir will hold a climate-control system, various electronics and 26 metric tons of lithium-ion batteries with a total energy capacity of more than 4 megawatt-hours — enough energy to power 135 American homes for an entire day — all packed into a 20 by 8 square foot container.
Boost for renewables: The electrical output of wind farms and solar plants can’t be precisely controlled by power producers because it depends on the weather. As a result, utilities keep conventional plants idling to meet unexpected spikes in demand. By integrating the Reservoir into the grid, GE hopes to turn sporadic renewables into full-time renewables. Power that was once curtailed could be stored in the Reservoir during low demand and transmitted when demand peaks.
Read more about the past, present and future of energy storage here.
SPRAY-ON ANTENNAS
In the future, hospital gowns might be able to sense patients’ heart rates, stitches could monitor healing after surgery and shirts could keep an eye on blood pressure. But in order for the tech to come about, we will need lightweight, flexible and possibly even transparent sensors with antennas to transmit the information.
Future of communication: Antennas are crucial for transmitting and receiving radio signals between devices. In 2011, materials science researchers at Drexel University invented MXenes (pronounced “maksens”) by combining metals — like titanium, molybdenum and vanadium — with nitrogen or carbon atoms. The material is a few atoms thick, sturdy and good at conducting electricity, giving it a lot of potential applications in electronics. The same research lab recently discovered that by combining MXenes with water, they could “spray or print that ink on any surface, and when the water evaporates, what’s left behind is layers of MXene — an MXene antenna,” the researchers reported in the Conversation.
Read more about this research here.
— QUOTE OF THE DAY —
“Europe was one of the first regions that aggressively adopted wind energy. How you take care of the installed base is very important. Customers have the best wind locations, and they want to extend the life of their farms.”
— Anne McEntee, CEO of Digital Services at GE Renewable Energy
— VIDEO OF THE WEEK —
Quote: GE Reports. Images: LM Wind Power, GE Reports.
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