Wind turbines look clean and white when seen from afar, but up close they can be surprisingly grubby, as they\u2019re subject to air pollution just like any other outdoor structures.<\/p>\n
The problem with contamination accumulating on the turbine blades is that it reduces aerodynamic performance and can impair efficiency by an average of 5 per cent. <\/p>\n
However, cleaning off the grime is a bit more complicated than sending someone up a ladder with a bucket and a mop. This is where DCU<\/a> spin-out, AeroBeam, comes into the picture. <\/p>\n The company has developed a drone-deployed laser cleaning system that cleans the soiled area quickly and precisely with minimum turbine downtime. <\/p>\n Blade contamination builds up naturally over time (the lifespan of a turbine is about 25-30 years), but it can also happen very quickly if a turbine is subject to agricultural contamination or \u201cinvaded\u201d by nature. <\/p>\n [\u00a0\u2018A lot of renewable energy is being wasted\u2019: Electricity rules that favour Ireland-Britain power lines are criticisedOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n In one recorded case of insect infestation, for example, the energy output was reduced by 40 per cent over two weeks. <\/p>\n \u201cWith renewable energy so high up on the sustainability agenda, we need all the percentages we can get,\u201d explains AeroBeam co-founder Dr S\u00e9amus Cummins. <\/p>\n \u201cContamination lowers energy production, and therefore revenue. If it is not removed, it can contribute to wear and leading-edge erosion, which means bringing repairs forward. For utilities and wind operators this turns into unplanned maintenance, lost power generation, and downtime risk. <\/p>\n \u201cConventional cleaning is expensive and logistically awkward, involving rope access and specialist crews, and comes with an obvious safety risk,\u201d Cummins adds. <\/p>\n \u2018Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy means we can conduct a much deeper level of analysis and accurately determine the elemental composition of the contamination and treat it accordingly\u2019<\/p>\n \u2014 \u00a0AeroBeam co-founder Dr S\u00e9amus Cummins<\/p>\n \u201cWith manual or even robotic cleaning of blades, the turbine downtime is days, while with wash-based methods there\u2019s also the issue of consumables and wastewater handling. As a consequence, many sites clean less often than is economically optimal, and just accept the output loss.\u201d <\/p>\n AeroBeam\u2019s drone blade cleaning system is designed to remove contamination in a controlled, targeted way using a laser ablation cleaning head to strip surface deposits without water, chemicals, or physical contact. <\/p>\n The system also takes its cues from the results of blade inspections, meaning the drone can be selective about where and how much it cleans. It only focuses on the parts of the blade where the contamination is actually costing energy, rather than treating the whole surface. <\/p>\n \u201cLaser-induced breakdown spectroscopy means we can conduct a much deeper level of analysis and accurately determine the elemental composition of the contamination and treat it accordingly,\u201d says Cummins.<\/p>\n [\u00a0Debate: Should Ireland start getting ready to go nuclear?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n He says the company\u2019s timing is strong, as turbines are getting progressively bigger, which is making cleaning them even harder. <\/p>\n AeroBeam is aiming its technology at the wind power industry initially, but it has numerous other potential applications, from detecting rust on large structures to cleaning conventional buildings. <\/p>\n The idea for AeroBeam was sparked when Cummins, a laser physicist, was working on his PhD. <\/p>\n His research, which was funded by the ESB<\/a> and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI)<\/a>, could have remained just that: research sitting on a shelf. <\/p>\n However, with the blade contamination problem already known, the market clearly needed a better way of cleaning the blades \u2013 especially with the amount of wind power being generated set to grow exponentially. <\/p>\n Under the Government\u2019s climate action plan, Ireland is committed to 80 per cent renewable electricity by 2030, while wind is forecast to become a major source of global electricity by 2050. <\/p>\n With the encouragement of his physics professor, John Costello, and funding from the European Space Agency (ESA)<\/a>, Cummins began looking at practical ways to combine laser, imaging, spectroscopy and machine learning to provide a solution that would help wind operators clean more efficiently and recover lost energy yield. <\/p>\n