Review on Dynamics of Offshore Floating Wind Turbine Platforms

Abstract

This paper presents a literature review of the dynamics of offshore floating wind turbine platforms. When moving further offshore, there is an increase in the capacity of wind power. Generating power from renewable resources is enhanced through the extraction of wind energy from an offshore deep-water wind resource. Mounting the turbine on a platform that is not stable brings another difficulty to wind turbine modeling. There is a need to introduce platforms that are more effective to capture this energy, because of the complex dynamics and control of these platforms. This paper highlights the historical developments and progresses in the design of different types of offshore floating wind turbine platforms needed for harvesting the energy from offshore winds. The relative advantages and disadvantages of the platform types with the design challenges are discussed. The major types of floating platforms included in this study are tension leg platform (TLP) type, spar type, and semisubmersible type. This study reviews the previous work on the dynamics of the floating platforms for a single turbine and multiple turbines under various operating environmental conditions. The numerical methods to analyze the aerodynamics of the wind turbine and hydrodynamics of floating platforms are discussed in this paper. This paper also investigates the performance of analytical wake loss models of Jensen, Larsen, and Frandsen that can provide guidelines for using these wake models in future applications. There are still a lot of challenges that need to be addressed to study the accurate behavior of floating platforms operating under combined wind–wave environmental conditions. With the current technological advancements, the offshore floating multi-turbine platform can be a potential solution to harness the abundant offshore wind resource. Based on this literature review, recommendations for future work are suggested.

A Review of Recent Advancements in Offshore Wind Turbine Technology

“…Full-order CFD simulations can be computationally expensive. It is a common practice in designing wind turbines to rely on low-order modeling techniques based on potential flow models [20] or blade element momentum (BEM) theory [21]. Traditionally, computationally cost-effective simulation frameworks are used, including FLEX, FAST or GH Bladed, which rely on simplistic models, particularly modelling inline forces on bodies interacting with oscillatory flows [22] that remains valid for cylindrical structures with smaller diameters [10].…”

“…Traditionally, computationally cost-effective simulation frameworks are used, including FLEX, FAST or GH Bladed, which rely on simplistic models, particularly modelling inline forces on bodies interacting with oscillatory flows [22] that remains valid for cylindrical structures with smaller diameters [10]. Despite their low computational cost, they do not handle viscous effects [20], which are important to determine hydrodynamic and aerodynamic features associated with floating foundations, rotating blades, nacelle and tower. Moreover, their capability to model large-amplitude motions and their related phenomena is limited and it involves large deviations from experimental measurements.…”

Market Needs, Opportunities and Barriers for the Floating Wind Industry

“…Several experts confirm the technical viability of FOWT [23][24][25][26][27]. However, the global feasibility of floating wind was not previously assessed.…”

Design and Stability Analysis of an Offshore Floating Multi-Wind Turbine Platform

“…The Larsen wake model is the analytical wake model that accurately predicts the wake behavior by including the turbulence intensity factor [13]. The analytical Larsen wake loss model [30][31][32][33] is based on the Prandtl turbulent boundary layer equations that afford the closed-form solutions for the wake diameter (D w ) and the mean wind speed (u 2 ) in the wake as a function of axial distance (x) and radial distance (r).…”

“…The four important floating platform concepts are buoyancy-and ballast-stabilized semi-submersible [2][3][4][5], buoyancy-stabilized barge [6], ballast-stabilized spar buoy [7][8][9], and mooring line-stabilized tension leg platform [10][11][12]. The type of floating platform is selected based on the mooring system, the number of wind turbines, site requirements, construction, grid connection, and operating conditions of the sea [13]. Recently, the concept of multiple wind turbines on a floating platform has drawn attention because they are more stable and enable the use of higher towers and hence greater capture of wind energy [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23].…”