| Project Detail |
Floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) are currently designed to be large and heavy to replicate more familiar onshore wind turbine dynamics, maintain stability, and survive storms. However, this approach fundamentally limits how inexpensive FOWTs can ever become. Radically new designs that do not require a massive floating platform—applying the control co-design (CCD) approach of substituting mass by control systems—are needed. CCD methodologies integrate all relevant engineering disciplines at the start of the design process, with feedback control and dynamic interaction principles as the primary drivers of the design. To design innovative, economically competitive FOWTs, researchers must overcome several significant technical barriers: insufficient current knowledge of how FOWT subsystem dynamics interact; insufficient computer tools for dynamic simulation; and a dearth of experimental data. ATLANTIS will address these technical barriers while exploring radically new FOWT design concepts that minimize mass and maximize productive rotor area to provide economical offshore wind power. Project Innovation + Advantages: WS Atkins will focus on generating experimental data that can be used to validate computer programs and new technologies developed for FOWT applications. The team will conduct experiments of 15-MW (megawatt) wind turbine scale models in world-class test facilities to assess the behavior of conventional and unconventional FOWT structures with advanced solutions. The WS Atkins team will make their data accessible to ATLANTIS project members and the public to facilitate benchmarking of new designs, accurate calibration of computer tools, and a FOWT database for future research. Potential Impact: ATLANTIS projects will aim to develop new and potentially disruptive innovations in FOWT technology to enable a greater market share of offshore wind energy, ultimately strengthening and diversifying the array of domestic energy sources available to Americans. |
