The Interception Efficiency of Tip Receptor as Lightning Protection System for Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer Wind Turbine Blade
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30537/f8z29m82Keywords:
wind turbine blade, glass fiber reinforced polymer, finite element method, lateral distance, lightning attachment, Tip receptor lightning protection systemAbstract
This paper analyzes the comparison of results for the lightning discharge properties of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) wind turbine blade (WTB) for a WTB. The WTB is modeled using 3D electrostatic simulation to examine the lightning discharge properties through a finite element method (FEM). The simulation results are than compared with the experimental test results obtained by using a high voltage strike. Experiment work was performed by using high voltage strike attachment tests according to the IEC 61400-24 ‘Lightning Protection of Wind Turbines’ standard to study the lightning attachment characteristics of GFRP composite material WTB with tip receptor as lightning protection system (LPS). A standard switching waveforms of 250/2500 µs were used in high voltage strike attachment tests. Both positive and negative polarity-switching impulses were applied to the plane/rod electrode under different air gap and lateral distances (LDs) with different blade orientation to analyze the effect of switching impulse polarity, blade orientation, LD with tip receptor as LPS on the lightning attachment manner to the WTB. It was determined from experiments results that discharge attachment paths under positive and negative lightning strikes (LSs) were dissimilar, and the positive discharges were difficult to intercept by lightning protection system used in WTB to protect it from direct LSs. The results show that orientation of wind turbine blade has significant effect on the lighting attachment manner to the WTB, lightning attachment efficiency of the LPS significantly decreases when WTB position moves from vertical position to horizontal position. The effect of blade position, LD and LPS on lightning strike on the WTB are also evaluated in this paper. The comparative analysis show that orientation of the turbine blade and type of protection mechanism adopted have significant impact on the performance of a sustainable WTB in case of a lighting strike on the turbine. The similarity of the experimental and simulation-based results can improve the performance of the lightning interception mechanisms for the LPS in case of the GFRP type WTBs.
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