Lord Corporation has announced successful testing of a damper design for their strategic partner Wasatch Wind, Wind Tower Systems Division.
Based on proprietary, patented technology used in helicopter rotor damping applications, the damper design for this application had the challenging requirement of a 20-year life with zero maintenance, huge temperature swings, massive loads as well as very small deflections. Lord modelled a wide range of possible flow paths for the fluid damper as it wears in operation. Testing completed to date demonstrates the ability of the damper to provide bi-directional damping in the frequency range of interest, 0.25 to 0.45 Hz. Wasatch Wind has conservatively modelled their tower system with energy dissipation lower than the levels Lord is targeting. Wasatch Wind's patent-pending tower delivers a step-function reduction in the cost of wind generation. The installed tower cost reduction of approximately 20 to 35 per cent, combined with the linear height/cost scalability, deliver an overall turbine cost of energy (COE) reduction of five to 12 per cent.
