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Six-degrees-of-freedom simulation model for future multi-megawatt airborne wind energy systems

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  • Eijkelhof, Dylan
  • Schmehl, Roland

Abstract

Currently developed airborne wind energy systems have reached sizes of up to several hundred kilowatts. This paper presents the high-level design and a six-degrees-of-freedom model of a future fixed-wing airborne wind energy system operated in pumping cycles. This framework is intended to be used as an open-source reference system. The fixed-wing aircraft has a span of 42.5 m and produces a nominal electrical power of 3 MW. The ground station is modelled as a winch with a rotational degree of freedom describing the reel-in and reel-out motion, constant drum diameter and drive train inertia. A quasi-static approach is used to model the relatively stiff tether. The tether is discretised by 16 segments with variable length to account for reeling. A tracking controller ensures the kite's flight path during the autonomous pumping cycle operation. The controller alternates between crosswind figure-of-eight manoeuvres while reeling out and gliding on an arc-shaped path towards the ground station during retraction. The operational and controller parameters are determined using a CMA-ES evolution algorithm to maximise the average cycle power of a specific kite design at different wind speeds and given operational constraints. The algorithm identifies optimised flight paths for a range of wind speeds up to 30 m s−1 leading to a power curve with a cut-in wind speed of 10 m s−1 at operating altitude.

Suggested Citation

  • Eijkelhof, Dylan & Schmehl, Roland, 2022. "Six-degrees-of-freedom simulation model for future multi-megawatt airborne wind energy systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 137-150.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:196:y:2022:i:c:p:137-150
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2022.06.094
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Licitra, G. & Koenemann, J. & Bürger, A. & Williams, P. & Ruiterkamp, R. & Diehl, M., 2019. "Performance assessment of a rigid wing Airborne Wind Energy pumping system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 569-585.
    2. Malz, E.C. & Verendel, V. & Gros, S., 2020. "Computing the power profiles for an Airborne Wind Energy system based on large-scale wind data," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 766-778.
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    Cited by:

    1. Arciuolo, Thomas F. & Faezipour, Miad, 2022. "Yellowstone Caldera Volcanic Power Generation Facility: A new engineering approach for harvesting emission-free green volcanic energy on a national scale," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 415-425.
    2. Dylan Eijkelhof & Gabriel Buendía & Roland Schmehl, 2023. "Low- and High-Fidelity Aerodynamic Simulations of Box Wing Kites for Airborne Wind Energy Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-19, March.
    3. Jochem De Schutter & Rachel Leuthold & Thilo Bronnenmeyer & Elena Malz & Sebastien Gros & Moritz Diehl, 2023. "AWEbox : An Optimal Control Framework for Single- and Multi-Aircraft Airborne Wind Energy Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-32, February.
    4. Rishikesh Joshi & Michiel Kruijff & Roland Schmehl, 2023. "Value-Driven System Design of Utility-Scale Airborne Wind Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-19, February.
    5. Niels Pynaert & Thomas Haas & Jolan Wauters & Guillaume Crevecoeur & Joris Degroote, 2023. "Wing Deformation of an Airborne Wind Energy System in Crosswind Flight Using High-Fidelity Fluid–Structure Interaction," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-16, January.

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