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It’s not often that wind turbines malfunction to the point of destruction. Recently it happened twice in the same week.

According to the Copenhagen Post, in late October in Esbjerg, Denmark, a defective axle caused a 120-foot turbine to throw off all of its blades with one slamming into a power transformer. This was followed by an incident Nov. 2 in southwestern Sweden when another turbine — this time one from Vestas — threw off a blade that landed on a hiking trail.

Two Vestas in the U.K. also reportedly failed within weeks of each other in late 2007 and two more apparently failed in Denmark in early 2008.

Since 2000, there have been only 27 incidents in Denmark of turbine blades coming loose. However, as the rate of construction increases dramatically for this source of clean power, the frequency of turbine inspections is also coming under scrutiny. Denmark recently passed a law this year requiring inspections to take place at least once a year; and the wind turbine industry in Sweden has now proposed setting up a commission to investigate incidents.

Note: Video above is from a turbine that malfunctioned in Denmark in early 2008. The turbine was not designed to spin this rapidly, and the rapid spinning indicates a probable brake failure.

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Zayas stands next to advanced blades being tested at Bushland, Texas.

I just learned that Jose Zayas, manager of the wind energy technology program at Sandia National Laboratories, will be leading a tutorial session on materials and wind energy applications at next year’s Materials Challenges in Alternative Energy 2010, aka Energy2010, slated for Feb. 21-25, 2010 in Cocoa Beach, Fla.

Zayas has been involved with a number of wind-related efforts. Recently, his group has been working with Purdue University to develop improved accelerometer systems for wind turbines blades that monitor blade motions and structural health. Such a system is important for alerting operators that blade modifications may be required to avoid damage. In a recent interview with U.S. News & World Report, Zayas said the Sandia-Purdue project was aimed at identifying the best types of sensors and the best blade locations.

He also served as project leader on the development of the Accurate Time Linked data Acquisition System (ATLAS II). This is a small, reliable, continuously operating system that capable of sampling a large number of signals at once to characterize the inflow, the operational state and the structural response of a wind turbine – using off-the-shelf components

“The system provides us with sufficient data to help us understand how our turbine blade designs perform in real-world conditions, allowing us to improve on the original design and our design codes,” says Zayas.

Atlas units can be placed at various locations on the turbine. Data streams from the different units are merged into a single data stream at the base of the turbine where the ATLAS II software compressed the data and stored them onto a local computer. Data can be monitored in real time via an internet connection.

In the USNWR story, Zayas said, “Wind is very random; it’s very active. You get gusts, you get all kinds of phenomena. Machines need to be designed to withstand all those variabilities.”

Energy2010 will focus on materials challenges and innovations in areas of solar energy, wind power, hydro, geothermal, biomass, nuclear and hydrogen, along with special sessions of advanced battery technologies. To learn more about the meeting and submitting papers, visit the Energy2010 web page.

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