Turbine Size and Temperature Dependence of Icing on Wind Turbine Blades

The dependence of atmospheric icing on temperature and wind turbine size was studied by performing numerical simulations of ice accumulation on five different wind turbine blade profiles at four different temperatures. The profiles were for 450 kW, 600 kW, 1 MW, 2 MW and 5 MW wind turbines, and the temperatures -10 degrees C, -7.5 degrees C, -5 degrees C and -2.5 degrees C. The simulations indicate that generally atmospheric icing is less severe for larger wind turbines in terms of how much the aerodynamics are disturbed, but the opposite can be true under certain specific conditions. It is indicated that the air temperature range at which the transition between glaze and rime ice occurs is lower for the larger wind turbines.