Ice Throw from Wind Turbines

In cold climates there is a perception that ice fragments could be thrown from rotating large wind turbines and create a hazard. While turbines should be shut down in icing conditions several authorities now require calculation of the risk associated with this potential hazard, in terms of numbers of ice fragment strikes per unit area per year in areas surrounding a proposed wind farm. As service providers to the wind energy industry, Zephyr North wish to have an accurate, reliable model to provide this information. The goal of this project is to learn more about ice throw and develop an improved model to calculate the trajectories of ice fragments that could conceivably be thrown from turbine blades under given wind speed conditions. These calculations coupled with site specific turbine and wind statistics, could then be used to map out the risk in areas surrounding a wind farm.

Faculty Supervisor:

Peter A Taylor

Student:

Sumita Biswas

Partner:

Zephyr North Canada Ltd.

Discipline:

Resources and environmental management

Sector:

Alternative energy

University:

York University