Record-Size Rotor Blades Transported to Destination
Transporting the world's longest rotor blade, at 75 meters, is not only technically or logistically challenging but also an impressive feat of the truck's driver. The vehicle is 85 meters long, five meters wide and four meters high....
The world's longest rotor blade is loaded onto a special transport vehicle in the port of Esbjerg. Measuring 75 meters in length, the Siemens B75 rotor blade weighs about 25 tons, which is equal to the weight of four bull elephants. Loading required precision, ....
The Siemens B75 blade weighs about 25 tons– roughly equivalent to the weight of four bull elephants.
In the Danish harbor Esbjerg the rotor blades are lifted onto a special truck. Siemens' newest rotor blade is 75 meters long, making it the world's longest.
The world's biggest wind turbine rotor blades have reached their destination. They were transported from the Danish port of Esbjerg to Østerild for installation in the first prototype of a six-megawatt offshore wind power plant. Transportation of the three 75-meter-long rotor blades was a logistical masterwork. A special transporter carried each blade individually over a distance of 320 kilometers. The vehicle was 85 meters long, five meters wide, and four meters high, with an overall weight of 54 tons. The 680 hp heavy-duty transporter reached a maximum speed of 67 kilometers per hour. In order to make enough room for the transporter to get by, six lampposts and 11 traffic signs had to be taken down.
The trend is for wind turbines to be bigger and bigger in order to increase the amount of electricity they generate. Their output is determined by the area swept by their rotors, and because this increases roughly according to the square of the rotor diameter, longer and longer rotor blades are being developed. Of course this also means that wind turbines are growing heavier and are subject to greater loads. This in turn necessitates the development of the lightest, most robust rotor blades possible.
In 2000 Siemens made an important technical breakthrough with the development of the IntegralBlade process. The record-setting B75 rotor blades were produced using this process. At 75 meters, they are the world's largest fiberglass components manufactured as a single piece. The process involves engineers placing several layers of thin fiberglass matting and balsawood on top of each other in a mold. A temporary core is placed in the center of the blade, creating what will later become a hollow space. The mold is sealed with a cover and the interior is placed under a vacuum which draws in a certain amount of epoxy resin. Heat is then applied to the mold, and within 24 hours the contents are cured and have become a rotor blade. After the blade is cooled and the temporary core is removed, the blade undergoes a quality control inspection and is painted. Siemens is the only producer of wind turbines which have rotor blades that are created in one piece using a closed process. This process makes glued joints unnecessary. IntegralBlade rotors are extremely robust and weigh between 10 and 20 percent less than rotor blades manufactured using traditional techniques. Lighter blades mean that the wind turbines' foundations can be smaller, and that saves costs as well.
Reference Number: IN 2012.08.6e
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- Wind Turbine with Record-Breaking Rotors (IN 2012.07.6e)
- Elastic Rotor Blades Boost Power Output (IN 2011.11.5e)
- Efficient Use of Resources: Wind Swords - Fighting for a Longer Life (PoF Fall 2011)
- Accurate Forecasts Lead to Predictable Wind Power (IN 2011.11.2e)
- Wind Turbines :Catching the Wind (PoF Fall 2007)
