Author: Francesco Miceli
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Can a rotor be smart? Passive optimization systems
The spectacular growth of the dimension of the wind turbine has led to the introduction of several interesting technical solutions. Different type of towers (concrete, hybrid, lattice, self-erecting, etc.) and new technical solutions for the foundations appeared in the last decade, trying to have the lowest possible cost of energy. The rotor of the turbine…
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Second life: the destiny of turbine foundations after decommissioning
I have discussed in another article the challenges associated with the disposal of the blades when a wind farm is decommissioned or repowered. But what happen to the foundations? The destiny of a foundation will depends on local regulations, on the environmental requirements that are normally given with building permits and on the wish of…
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Good vibrations: wind induced resonance and turbines oscillations
Have you ever wondered why sometimes the wind turbines (and other similar tall structure) sometime vibrate? Under some conditions the wind blowing on the tower create vortices. These vortices appears regularly on both sides of the tower, creating low pressure zones first on one side and then in the other. For these reason the tower…
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A mind map for BoP
Yesterday while I was traveling to meet my family in Italy I started thinking at how a mind map for the BoP would look like. Luckily the train had a free internet connection and I have found a bunch of website helping you to create a mind map online (for this particular exercise I have…
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Vortex bladeless wind turbines
I have always seen the wind induced vortexes as a problem – they create vibrations in the tower, that in some cases can start to resonate with the eigenfrequencies (the natural frequencies of the structure) and in the most extreme cases even collapse. The existence of such vibrations is one of the reasons why it looks…
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How many of us are there? Wind energy sector employees
It is no secret that the wind business is going through a turbulent period, with several players in the sectors experiencing a tough time. I was wondering how many people are currently employed in Wind and I have found this interesting report from IRENA (the International Renewable Energy Agency). I have discovered several interesting things:…
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Wind turbine tower as a water battery: the Gaildorf Wind-Water Project
Did you ever think at the amount of empty, unused space in the bottom of a wind turbine? Any idea how to use it? Well, the folks at Max Bögl (a German conglomerate active in several sectors) have decided that it could be a good idea to fill it with water (about 40.000 m3 per turbine,…
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Order out of chaos: Risk Breakdown Structure
There is a good number of techniques that can be used to identify risks. Some are techniques focused looking at past (every Tender Manager should be able to create a list of issues he had experienced in past projects), other tools are focused on the present (spending a few hours reviewing your current assumptions should…
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Risk metalanguage: how to make a proper Risk Register
One of the key deliverables in project risk management is the risk register. The idea is that after risk identification, qualitative and quantitative analysis, and planning of risk response the tender manger (or project manager) should end having a list with all the risk identified at that point in time. I assume that the content…
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Rock slingers for a quicker trench sanding & backfill
This morning I found by chance this very interesting website (well, it is interesting if you like wind farm constructions…). Basically it is an Australian company using “rock slingers” (that is, conveyors belts connected to a dumper) to backfill trenches mounted on small vehicles (2.5 meters wide). The equipment is made by CAS, an American…