See

discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301614414

Floating offshore wind turbines with spar-type

support

Poster · July 2013

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.34353.99686

CITATIONS READS

0 10

2 authors:

Van-Nguyen Dinh Biswajit Basu

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin
22 PUBLICATIONS 117 CITATIONS 193 PUBLICATIONS 1,891 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

INDICATE View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Van-Nguyen Dinh on 24 April 2016.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES WITH SPAR-TYPE SUPPORT
Van-Nguyen Dinh1, Biswajit Basu2
1,2 Dept. of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Abstract: An overview on offshore wind energy and floating offshore wind turbines including property and applicability of the barge, tension-leg, and spar
floating platforms is presented. The spar-floating offshore wind turbines (S-FOWT) have advantages in deep waters as their center of mass is lowered, their
ballast-stabilization enables cost reduction and the small water plane area results in less effects of waves. The responses obtained from the modelling of an
OC3 5MW S-FOWT under simulated random sea state and operational wind condition show that the S-FOWT is stable. The hydrodynamic nonlinearities
excitate low frequency range more than the wave frequency range. Significant effects of waves on nacelle sway and considerable spar roll are observed.

1. NEED FOR OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY 2. POTENTIAL OF OFFSHORE WIND POWER

• Global warming (greenhouse gas emissions) + increasing demand in energy Good offshore wind power potential in near-shore deep-water zones in
• Wind: most reliable and practical, annual increase rate of 25-30%, supply up many countries, such as the USA, western coast of South America,
to 12% of global demand for electricity by 2050. Spain, Norway, China, Japan, India and the eastern coast of Australia.
• Onshore wind turbines: nearly their limits + visual constraints + noise impacts
• Offshore wind turbines: greatly-reduced visual impacts + less turbulence +
lower noise constraints allowing higher rotor speeds.
• Offshore wind power plants can produce up to 50% more electricity than
onshore, due to higher and steadier wind speeds.
• FOWT: possibly larger (5-10 MW) minimizes power generation cost.

3. FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES

Spar (S-FOWT)
• Small water line area:
Buoyancy far below free
surface, Stability relies on
buoyancy/weight distribution
• Little volume close to free
surface –small wave forces
• Catenary mooring: Low cost
and easy to install.
• Inexpensive platform
geometry
• Installation need special
procedures
• Advantageous in natural
period, anchors, operation
and maintenance;
Challenging in weight and
mooring [4].
• Not suited for shallow water.
TLP- FOWT
• Small water line area:
Buoyancy far below free
surface, Stability relies on
positive mooring tension
• Little volume close to free
surface: small wave forces
• Vertical moorings: Positive
tension needed, Expensive
anchors, Weight sensitive.
• Complexity of platform
depends upon design,
• Advantageous in natural
period, couple motions,
operation & maintenance;
Challenging in anchors &
construction [4]
• Not suited for shallow
water.
Europe offshore wind
Barge (B-FOWT) Global potential for offshore wind power [2] speed at 80 m & averaged
over year 2000 [3]
• Large water plane area:
Buoyancy and stability
• Large volume close to free • Floaters supporting multiple turbines: high current and wave loads
surface: Large wave forces and their turbines suffer wake effects → Single wind turbine floater
• Conventional mooring
lines: Easy to install; Large
motions → large forces.
• Simpler, inexpensive
platform.
• Deck convenient for
operation.
• Advantageous in weight,
anchors; Challenging in
natural period, operation &
maintenance [4]
• Easy to install, shallow
water capability, suitable to
calm sea. S-FOWT TLP-FOWT B-FOWT

5. SIMULATION OF OCEAN RANDOM WAVES

4. MODELLING OF THE SPAR-TYPE (S-FOWT)
Random sea state = superimposing a number of
S-FOWT: most suitable concept for deep-water areas [1]. linear regular waves with different heights,
frequencies and phase angles [5].
• Lowered CM is very effective to suppress the pitch and roll motions.
Case: wind speed 12 m/s, significant wave height Hsw=3
• Ballast-stabilization → cost reduction by using cheap & heavy materials m, wave peak period Tpw=10 s, water depth H = 320 m.
• Small water plane area → less effects of waves
• Spar deep-draft reduces the heave excitation forces

Wake Low-level
turbulence jet

Turbulent
wind

6. RESPONSES OF THE OC3 5MW S-FOWT

λw Tidal
hw surge MWL
Nacelle, Edgewise, S-FOWT
Extreme Buoyancy Nacelle,
Nacelle,
wave Currents Ship & ice
CB Edgewise,
impacts
Restoring Fixed-
& tides S-FOWT
torque base WT
Waves Gravity CM

Gravity
Buoyancy
Spar Roll, S-FOWT
Scour Soil mechanics Spar Roll,
S-FOWT

Equations of
Motion of S-
M(t)q (
ɺɺ(t) + C(t) + C drag
)
(t) qɺ (t) + K(t)q(t) =
• Low frequency
in nacelle sway.
• Considerable
FOWT [5] Q gravity(t) + Q wind(t) + Q buoyancy + Q drag(t) + Q fluid(t) spar roll.

7. CONCLUSIONS:
• Responses show that the S-FOWT is stable under wind and waves loads.
• Hydrodynamic nonlinearities cause excitation of the natural frequencies in
the low frequency range more than in the wave frequency range.
• Significant effects of waves on nacelle sway. Considerable spar roll.
ACKNOWLEGEMENT: This research is carried out under the EU FP7 funding for the
Marie Curie ITN project SYSWIND. The authors are grateful for the support.
REFERENCES:
[1] V.N. Dinh, B. Basu (2013), On the modeling of spar-type floating offshore wind turbines, Key Eng Mat
[2] X. Lu, M.B. McElroy, J. Kiviluoma (2009), Global potential for wind-generated electricity, PNAS,
106(27), 10933–10938.
[3] C.Z. Archer, M.L. Jacobson (2005), Evaluation of global wind power, J Geophys Res, 110.
[4] D. Matha, J.M. Jonkman (2009), A quantitative comparison of the responses of three floating
platforms, European Offshore Wind 2009 Conference and Exhibition, Sweden.
[5] V.N. Dinh, B. Basu, S.R.K. Nielsen, Impact of spar-nacelle-blade coupling on the edgewise response
of floating offshore wind turbines, Coupled System Dynamics (submitted).
Email: 1nguyendv@tcd.ie; 2basub@tcd.ie