Prize awarded to Deutsche WindGuard Engineering and BIMAQ

- Poster about thermographic rotor blade measurement wins award at EWEA Conference in Barcelona

Barcelona/Bremerhaven - At this year’s EWEA annual conference, Deutsche WindGuard & BIMAQ (Bremen Institute for Metrology, Automation and Quality Science) were awarded a prize for their poster on thermographic rotor blade measurement. Deutsche WindGuard already used the procedure in a number of onsite measurements for customers. The measurement process was refined in cooperation with BIMAQ. By using a high-speed, high-definition thermography camera, it is possible to measure and thereby visualize even the slightest difference in temperature on the surface of a rotor blade on an operating wind turbine. Different flow regimes (laminar or turbulent) affect the performance of an airfoil, but also the heat transfer between the rotor blade surface and the air, making the blade area with laminar flow warmer. A premature laminar/turbulent transition can be an indication of damages, erosion or contamination, which can have a negative effect on the aerodynamic qualities of the blade. Furthermore, the effectiveness of aerodynamic add-ons on the blade can be assessed while the wind turbine is in operation.

The measurement procedure was displayed at the annual conference of the European Wind Energy Association in Barcelona last week and was received with great interest. The winning poster was one of the 6 chosen out of 300 participants, because of its high innovative capacity and market potential. “The great advantage of using thermography is that it requires no preparation of the blades. All tests can be run from ground-level while the turbine is operating”, says Nicholas Balaresque, Managing Director of Deutsche WindGuard Engineering, “You do not need to call in an expensive working platform or use rope access. There is no need to stop the turbine, which would involve additional costs. With hub heights and rotor diameters getting higher and higher, measurement procedures like this become more and more important in the future.”


About Deutsche WindGuard
The WindGuard Group is one of the leading consulting companies in the German wind energy industry. Headquartered in Varel, Germany, with more than 130 employees, it is a fast growing international company providing a broad range of engineering services in all areas of wind energy utilization, from site assessment issues to the complete surveying of wind turbines for on- and offshore.
Deutsche WindGuard Engineering is the specialist department for research & development on the aerodynamic optimization of wind turbines in the WindGuard Group. The large scale wind tunnel in Bremerhaven offers extensive possibilities for acoustic and aerodynamic measurements on rotor blade profiles at wind speeds up to 100m/s.


Barcelona/Bremerhaven, 17 March 2014


Publication and Reprint free of charge; please send a voucher copy to
Deutsche WindGuard Engineering GmbH.


Attention editorial offices: For further questions please contact Mrs.
Cornelia von Zengen, Deutsche WindGuard Engineering GmbH.

Press
Cornelia von Zengen
Tel: + 49 (0) 4451 / 9515-240
Email: c.vonzengen@windguard.de


Nicholas Balaresque
Tel: + 49 (0) 471/ 95 20 96 -12
Email: n.balaresque@windguard.de



Deutsche WindGuard Engineering GmbH
Überseering 7
27580 Varel
Germany
Internet: http://www.windguard.de

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