Wind Energy – Safer Turbine Installation
Huisman from the Netherlands has announced the launch of a newly developed system that empowers crane operators with the ability to anticipate and react to approaching wind speeds, gusts, and direction during the installation process of turbine blades.
The system, called Wind Gust Buster assists crane operators and lifting supervisors when working with the installation of large objects at considerable height, by providing information on the incoming wind 360° around the boom tip.
Measurement of the incoming wind is done by application of a LiDAR system on the crane’s boom tip, scanning the horizontal area.
The measurement data is post-processed by the crane’s automation system and can be shown to both the crane operator as well as to other people involved, such as on the crane vessel’s bridge.
A typical prediction window is five to eight minutes ahead of the wind gust coming in, which allows sufficient time to make the ‘go or no-go’ decision for mating a blade to a nacelle.
The system can be installed on newly built Huisman cranes as well as retrofitted to existing ones.
