Various techniques have been used by researchers to detect and estimate the associated parameters of atmospheric ice accretion on structures like wind turbine blades in cold regions. Most of these techniques did not perform well in harsh weather conditions. This paper describes a passive thermal Infrared based technique to detect ice on wind turbine blades. To validate the concept and perform this lab based study, a comprehensive lab setup at cold room chamber of Narvik University College was designed, that consists of a very long wavelength thermal infrared camera (λ = 17 μm), frequency controlled low speed ice generator, data acquisition system, associated electronics and computational resources. Thermal infrared images of scaled wind turbine model in cold environment were processed using image processing techniques to study the temperature and emissivity distribution along wind turbine blade, which provided more accurate results as compared to the point sensors, where extensive computation and material degradation under freezing temperatures is a constant problem.

Wind resource assessment of a complex terrain like Narvik area in North Norway, was carried outusing computational fluid dynamics based numerical approach. The research work is aimed at understanding the effects of different operating and geometric variables such as terrain size, surface roughness as well as the height of atmospheric boundary layer on the resultant wind profile in complex terrains. Numerical results were also compared with the field data from two meteorological stations located at different locations in the surroundings of the Narvik area. The comparison was done for a short period from October-November 2012. Different scenarios based on five domains (terrains) extensions, three roughness scales and two boundary layers heights were numerically analysed. Results show that for a specific velocity direction the selection of domain has the major influence on the simulated wind field when compared with the roughness scale used and the boundary layer. A good agreement between the simulation results and the reported experimental data for the two selected locations was found.

No abstract

The resultant effect of ice and snow accretion on automobiles in cold regions may induce performance losses by provoking mechanical system failures and structural damages. Different methods for ice/snow detection and measurement have been used by researchers, ranging from simple monitoring techniques to advanced complex ones. Thermal infrared image processing based techniques can be a promising way for ice and snow detection on different surface of automobiles in cold regions, but have not extensively been studied so far. This paper presents a preliminary study about application of thermal infrared image processing based techniques for ice and snow detection on various automobiles in cold regions. Preliminary field measurements have been carried out by researchers of Narvik University College in northern part of Norway during winter 2012-2013, where results have shown a potential in this technique. Better knowledge of vehicle performance in icy conditions will help the designers to improve safe driving conditions.