Leosphere has announced its Wind Iris TC (Turbine Control). This new Lidar sensor provides real-time characterisation of wind up to 200 metres in front of the rotor. The Wind Iris TC platform, used in China’s Goldwind’s E-Farm technology, is the output of Leosphere’s Avent Lidar Technology program. The Wind Iris TC Lidar measures all incoming wind conditions, including rotor averaged wind speed, wind direction, shear and turbulence, at multiple distances before it reaches the turbine rotor.
This provides the turbine control system with the rotor coverage and preview time required to establish and implement appropriate control actions before the wind reaches the rotor. In addition, integrating the Lidar into the turbine platform also enables optimised operation of the wind turbine over the entire lifetime of the investment by improving the alignment, gaining additional turbine availability, extending turbine life and reducing maintenance costs. Whether installed as part of turbine construction or as a retrofit as an element in a turbine life-extension project, Lidar assisted turbine control technology has the potential to redefine wind turbine design limits by reducing loads, mitigating extreme events and increasing energy capture. The system uses four beams and ten simultaneous measurements at a frequency of 4Hz across the 200m range to capture events several seconds before they reach the rotor plane and track them as they evolve.
