NEES at CU Boulder personnel visit the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

September 18, 2008

The Chief Engineer of the National Wind Technology Center (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Department of Energy) hosted a meeting with himself and several engineers for members of the NEES at CU Boulder team including the site PI, facility manager, instrumentation engineer, and IT manager.

The NEES team was given a tour of the NREL facility primarily focusing on the different ways that windmill components are tested. These certifications allow different models of windmills to be deployed in the United States that comply with certain safety and other requirements. In the picture at left Victor Saouma (NEES site PI) and Thomas Bowen (NEES lab manager) are seen examining a windmill blade going through simulated aerodynamic loading testing. A video showing the testing can be seen here.

After a tour the two teams sat down and discussed how the NEES at CU site and hybrid testing methods could work hand-in-hand with the NREL windmill testing. One immediate scenario discovered was in testing windmill bearings, in particular a main bearing that supports the drive shaft. NREL currently has non-hybrid testing of this component but that testing lacks a combination of the forces applied to the bearing as well as the forces exerted by the bearing in response. A hybrid simulation would model the windmill's blades and propeller on one side and the windmill's tower, generator, and gearbox on the other side with the bearing being tested in the laboratory.