At the Novosibirsk Institute of Thermophysics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a technology for combating icing on wind power plants (WPPs) has been developed and patented. This reduces the rate of ice build-up on the blades by 10 times and significantly saves resources on wind turbine maintenance.
Currently, this problem is solved with hot air circulating inside the blade, but this solution leads to high energy consumption. In some cases, WPPs have to be stopped for de-icing, which is also disadvantageous.
According to IA "TASS", which refers to the patent of the Institute of Thermophysics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences available to the editors, the new technology involves the use of permeable elastic superhydrophobic materials for the surfaces of wind turbine blades.
It is proposed to supply air in short pulses to the inner side of the blades made of superhydrophobic materials, and to cover the blades themselves with small holes so that small ice formations are easily shed from the surface.
Also, the Novosibirsk developers added a pressure boosting device and a special electromagnetic valve to the blade design. Together, they create a pulsed air flow that prevents icing.
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