fos4X has published the validation results for its blade ice detection system. In preparation for pending installation in series turbines, a set of validation tests was conducted in the winter of 2014/2015 together with several turbine manufacturers.
The tests examined cases of icing in a range of different operating modes on 14 different types of turbines located in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Canada. The fiber optics system with vibration sensors inside the rotors measures ice build-up more accurately than the ice measurement systems installed on the wind turbine’s nacelle. In each of these cases, the turbine’s period of operation before and after ice-related shutdown could have been extended using fos4Blade IceDetection. On the basis of the conducted testing, the fos4X experts have calculated an average yield increase of more than 40 MWh per MW of generated wind turbine output. In September 2014, the fos4Blade IceDetection fiber-optic vibration measurement system was certified by Germanischer Lloyd (DNV GL SE) and it furthermore complies with the IEC-61400-13 standard for vibration measurement on wind turbines.