Wind turbine blades - EASA approved deicing by AS350 and AS355

[CharlieOneSix]

Now I hate the damn things - two 100m high monstrosities are at this very moment thumping away here every time a blade passes its tower and I'm 1.09 miles from the nearest one - but I found this on the Windpower Monthly website and thought it would be of interest. Could there be a big market now that onshore turbines approved in Scotland have reached 152 metres high? The out of production turbine in the photo is only about 50 metres high to blade tip.

Dirt and ice free — Aerial rotor-blade maintenance



As wind power moves into more remote locations, often on higher ground and in colder climates, the requirement for de-icing and cleaning of rotor blades continues to grow, as does the need for simple ways to achieve this. The Simplex Aerospace Model 510 system, which has been certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency for installation and operation on Airbus AS350 and AS355 helicopters, is claimed to provide a number of advantages over conventional cleaning methods.

Its system's 800-litre water tank increases the available operating time between refills, and the nozzled boom extends past the rotor tips to provide extended washing distance. According to Simplex, wind turbine operators are reporting up to eight times increased productivity with this system over ground-based cleaning techniques.

[GoodGrief]

Let's see, if I get this right.
The system weighs in at about 350kg and requires an operator, let's give him 90kg.
A clean can take up to 1,5 hours.

The lighter 355N I have weighs in at 1570kg.
A full tank has 800kg of water.

1570+90+90+350+800 = 2900kg
That's -300kg worth of fuel...

If I get her ready for the job I can load 48 liters of water.
So, a 355 is only good for the small turbine jobs requiring max 0.5 hours, for which I could load 200kg of water.

What am I missing ?

[NutLoose]

It might sound daft, but why can they not have some form of free sliding collar with built in brushes that can move up and down the blade with gravity once every few months, when done an electromagnetic lock could hold it at the blade root.

[Spunk]

Wind Turbine

When I first heard about this method a couple of years ago I thought it was a brillant job for a helicopter. And then I asked myself "Do they use clean water or do they ad some kind of chemical stuff?"
I came to the conclusion that plain water won't do the job. So it's just a question of time until the greenies find out that some helicopter pilot just dumped a couple of hundred of liters of an undefined chemical liquid.

[[email protected]]

Wait until the first incident/accident since the hover references are awful on those big blades - a uniform white mass of plastic! There was a move to put coloured dots or stripes on the blades to try and give some texture but I don't know if that happened. 400' in the free air hover with a white blade against a grey sky (and probably raining) just isn't fun!

[Gordy]

Good grief:

What am I missing ?

This work is done all the time on this side of the pond but cleaning power line insulators. It is typically done with a B3 Astar or 407 that has support trucks that go with it carrying more wash solution and fuel.

[spencer17]

@Spunk: Does it really matter whether the chemicals are spilled by ground based cleaning gear or helicopters ?

@[email protected]: It's no fun, even in decent weather. I had to hover along side the blades to take pictures. It's
Each blade 4 runs up and down (leading edge, trailing edge, pressure side and suction side). You need a brake after 3 turbines and the wind is always a big issue.

[[email protected]]

I think I was probably having more fun doing NDB holds in 50 kt crosswinds this morning

[ShyTorque]

So....how do they de-ice the helicopter's rotor blades?

[Hilico]

There's a spray attachment on the wind turbine, just fly past it slowly, job done.

[GoodGrief]

Gordy:

I know. Was just referring to the the approval for the 355 but her not being suitable for the job.

[HeliHenri]