Offshore staff
SCHIEDAM, the Netherlands — Huisman has developed a system that allows crane operators to anticipate and respond to wind speeds, gusts and directions during the installation of turbine blades for offshore wind farms.
The Wind Gust Buster is designed to help technicians and lifting supervisors prepare for the installation of large objects at height by providing information on the incoming wind 360 degrees around the boom tip.
A LIDAR system on the boom tip performs measurement of the incoming wind by scanning the horizontal area. The crane’s automation system then processes the data for display to the crane operator and others (i.e., on the crane vessel’s bridge).
According to Huisman, a typical prediction window is five to eight minutes ahead of the wind gust coming in, which provides enough time for the “go or no-go” decision for mating a blade to a nacelle.
The system can be installed on new Huisman cranes or retrofitted to existing ones.
Sudden wind gusts acting on turbine blades can pose a safety risk to people in the wind turbine and an integrity risk to the blade and nacelle, the company explained. Wind Gust Buster improves the crane operator’s ability to mate the blade in a controlled manner, it claims, and lowers the risk of damage to components such as the blade’s stud bolts.
The system can measure approaching wind speed and direction up to 10 km distance and is said to ensure unobstructed measurement of wind speed as the sensor is placed on the top of the boom.
10.18.2023
