Installing the World’s Biggest Wind Turbine | Mega Projects | FD Engineering

foreign the turbine blades are as tall as a 40-story building and helicopters can take off and land from the top of the Machinery cabin it does not use fuel or cause pollution in fact it can generate 400 million kilowatt hours of electricity over a 20-year design life [Music] this is a monster among wind turbines assembling the turbine in choppy Seas during typhoon season was an unprecedented challenge [Music] on August the 2nd 2011 China's largest offshore double boom crane ship the Fung fun arrived at the deep water Port of Hangzhou Bay on yangshan island 38 nautical miles away China's largest crawler crane and its Skipper Jung prepared to help the Fung fun with an unprecedented assembly task [Music] the crane worth as much as a Boeing 737 has a 9 000 horsepower engine it can lift the weight of 800 Passenger cars to a height of 40 stories [Music] thank you the two vessels will be installing the world's largest wind turbine the sl5000 rough seas and unpredictable weather make this project a huge challenge oil and coal consumption has been increasing since the Industrial Revolution non-renewable resources could be depleted in the near future causing many in the world to worry [Music] [Applause] the world's most urgent task is the development of renewable energy this is particularly urgent in rapidly developing China began developing offshore wind power near Shanghai in 2009 a year later Asia's largest offshore wind farm was completed besides the East China Sea Bridge in time for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo in the summer of that year Chinese Engineers Drew up plans for the world's largest offshore wind turbine the sl5000 on the other side of the bridge [Music] the top of the mechanism cabin is as large as a helicopter pad and the rotor alone has a span of 128 meters the size of the project presents unprecedented challenges the engineers and workers [Music] [Applause] the parts of the sl5000 were manufactured in different places and assembled at yangshan Port the cargo ship carrying the landing deck and the semi-submersible vessel for offshore installation arrived at the onshore assembly base on August the 5th 2011. [Music] according to the weather report Plum the ninth typhoon of 2011 is headed for yangshan horn workers need to transfer the Machinery cabin to a safer place and the semi-submersible ship needs to go into the harbor an extra large semi-submersible ship will be used to ensure the safety of the huge sl5000 the pier was enlarged two months ago to accommodate its width the Machinery cabin is still waiting to be moved and the weather is worsening [Music] [Music] Jung checks the wind direction and starts the engine to lift the 300-ton Machinery cabin onto the tracks it is not a hard job for him but he is worried about how the wind will affect the rest of the operation [Music] [Music] foreign departments worked together for six months in early 2011 to draw up the blueprint for the world's largest wind turbine the sl5000 soon after several leaders in the wind energy industry signed a contract to produce it [Music] the first step is to build the main frame it must bear the force of the wind and the weight of the turbine and mechanism so it must be very strong this powerful cutter would be used to make the parts from thick steel plate it not only cuts through steel plate as thick as three floorboards it can accurately cut out any computer design shape the precise cutting lays a good foundation for wounding the parts together the main frame of the sl5000 will have to withstand the huge torque produced by the world's longest turbine blades so all the worlds must be strong air bubbles in the worlds can reduce the strength of the frame with catastrophic consequences [Music] [Music] workers use this ultrasonic tester adjusted to maximum sensitivity to ensure the quality of the welds foreign [Music] is inspected to ensure that the wind turbine can withstand the harsh natural conditions to which it will be subjected building the main frame is only the first step and the next will be even more challenging [Music] the turbine blades required for the sl5000 will have an unprecedented size so their production will be very difficult [Music] China's largest blade manufacturer accepts the challenge [Music] foreign Blades of any size or shape must be both strong and Light which are conflicting characteristics [Music] Dr Liu therefore needs to find a good balance between the two [Music] will be offshore and subject to erosion and severe weather that will severely test its durability if the blades were not strong enough the result would be disastrous the blades on the sl5000 will be the world's longest and largest which means that they will also be subject to a great amount of torque proper selection of materials is critical [Music] tests settled on epoxy a material with excellent chemical and physical stability [Music] but epoxy is brittle so fabric was embedded in the epoxy resin to make a composite material known as FRP [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] it was hoped that the fabric would make the epoxy suitable reducing the thickness and weight of the FRP to 1 4 of the original epoxy increases the strength more than tenfold FRP therefore appears to be the best choice for the blades of the sl5000 shape to make them as aerodynamic as possible the but this also makes it even more difficult to produce them [Music] a prototype must be built first and tested to confirm that the blades can meet design requirements [Music] [Music] thank you [Applause] six months later the Prototype is ready to test [Music] [Music] China's coastal cities are among the fastest growing in the country but rapid economic development is seriously straining the local energy Supply traditional thermal power plants cause serious pollution and environmental problems so advances in clean energy are urgently needed [Music] until a large Harbor was built there in 2005 yangshan Island in Hangzhou Bay was uninhabited after a 30 kilometer Long Bridge was built to connect the islands and the mainland yangshan Port became a world-class deep water Pier foreign s there reached more than 300 watts per meter [Music] [Applause] [Music] with abundant wind resources and good location near a high demand area Hangzhou Bay seems like a good location for a wind farm the same time the area is also subject to frequent summer typhoons the design and manufacture of the sl5000 must take all factors into consideration [Music] the blades are critical so a prototype is first built for testing in the static test chamber Dr Liu attaches stress sensors to different parts of the Prototype blade foreign [Music] the sensors are linked to the computer in the control room to record any damage to the blade above the door of the test chamber a red light warns that a test is underway oh Dr Liu increases the values of all the parameters to ensure the blades will stand up in actual operations after four months of thorough testing equivalent to exposure to harsh natural conditions over its 20-year lifespan the internal structure was examined for defects [Music] there was no damage [Music] the first blade for the sl5000 is made three days after the Prototype is tested [Music] foreign [Music] it's August the 30th 2011 and Mr Chu Chief on-site engineer is very happy that the blades for the sl5000 arrived yesterday afternoon foreign [Applause] weather and other issues have caused the project to get far behind schedule equipment and Personnel costs can total a hundred thousand US dollars a day so further delay could mean serious budget overruns [Music] Chu was also looking forward to the two-week vacation that he will have after the wind turbine is in place this is on here the assembly begins with the installation of the blades [Music] the workers must take great care during the process to ensure the blades do not receive any damage that could later result in their failure [Music] foreign advises soon after the assembly Begins the team realizes that in spite of their expertise following their usual practice could be dangerous because of the size of the blades after careful consideration of the problem the experienced team director comes up with an unorthodox solution as the on-site director Mr Chu needs to quickly assess and resolve this type of problem there is no precedent for this operation so he agrees to try a new method wait a minute three blades are put into place without a hitch and the giant wind turbine begins to take shape [Music] foreign energy is a natural and inexhaustible energy source and scientists continue to make progress in tapping the tremendous potential of wind power 5 megawatt sl5000 will generate electricity worth 400 million new one during its 20-year design life without consuming any fuel but to achieve this it must survive the harsh conditions at sea for 20 years maintenance at Sea is more complex and expensive than on land so if any major parts such as the bearings have to be replaced the cost could make the project unprofitable [Music] things are subject to a great amount of torque and therefore the most easily damaged part only three manufacturers in the world are currently able to produce suitable bearings is a small county level city but the wafang Dien bearing group possesses the two most powerful and precise machines in the world [Applause] they will be used to produce the bearings for the sl5000 in order to work properly the surfaces of the bearings have to be extremely smooth and even [Music] the standards for the smoothness and uniformity of precision bearings are very strict and the bigger the bearing the stricter the standards [Music] the bearings for the sl5000 will be the largest Precision bearings ever made [Music] this state-of-the-art milling machine the world's most precise confound metal Parts over three meters in diameter with an error margin in the microns [Music] the material used for the bearings is five times as hard as the stainless steel of a kitchen knife but this machine only takes 45 seconds to cut a deep channel in it thank you it takes three hours to finish a major component of the bearing cause of the high speed of the bearing in actual operation any one defect could eventually cause serious damage foreign [Music] s are inadequate for ensuring compliance with the rigid requirements for the sl5000 bearings this is the world's largest 3D Precision detector which uses Ultra hard ruby-tipped probes it has a detection range of over three meters and is accurate within 0.8 microns that's equivalent to a bump the size of a grain of sand on a flat area three kilometers in diameter [Music] the tolerance for the sl5000s bearings is six microns [Music] foreign s on sl5000 are processed by this powerful machine the biggest as tall as a two-story building would be installed in the bottom of the mechanism housing it will allow the giant wind turbine to rotate to face the wind [Music] in alternating current the flow of electricity rapidly changes polarity the discovery of alternating current 130 years ago was one of the greatest scientific advances in history but when AC was first discovered nobody knew how important it would be to the future of mankind Thomas Edison was strongly against the use of alternating current he even allowed an assistant to electrocute an elephant to demonstrate the dangers of AC [Music] today it seems that this also proved how powerful AC can be as its advantages gradually became apparent the age of electricity emerged foreign life is inextricably tied to electricity for this reason people are constantly looking for new ways to meet society's demand for electric power burning fossil fuels is the most convenient way to generate electricity [Music] [Applause] flya fossil fuels is limited moreover burning fossil fuels is highly polluting which has been linked to many ecological disasters [Music] technological advances have generated various types of clean electricity technology including hydropower nuclear power wind power and solar all of them have certain drawbacks so far wind power has proved to have the least environmental impact among known clean energy sources [Music] foreign [Music] the world's potential wind energy is about three times the current world energy consumption in other words there is enough wind energy to supply the energy consumption of three Earths but wind power is nowhere near reliable enough ability of wind power is an inherent drawback since the generation and use of electricity usually occur simultaneously the role of the grid system is to maintain a balance between generation and consumption [Music] too much or too little Supply could bring down the entire grid [Music] foreign regulatory capacity cannot be improved developing wind power will never be practical [Music] but cutting-edge Technologies such as hvdc transmission and an intelligent grid system are making it possible to make better use of clean and renewable energy sources foreign [Music] 2011. nearly a year after work on the sl5000 began the Mainframe gearbox and Generator are all in place in the Machinery cabin [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] the huge flatbed truck used to transport it has independently controlled wheel axles to make it easy to steer thank you [Music] three hours later the mechanism reaches the end point of the land transport on the way to yangshan Port the assembly site assembly and installation of a wind turbine at Sea is a challenging task this is particularly true on the choppy Seas of Hangzhou Bay today the greatest enemies of offshore work are choppy waves and changeable weather and the Sea can be choppy even on calm and sunny days [Music] all over the platform is fixed but the ship carrying the mechanism is not this makes monitoring the process on the platform particularly important [Music] the sl5000 at over 150 meters in height and 400 tons in weight is the world's largest offshore wind turbine even a slight bump from the heavy machinery cabin as it is hoisted up could seriously damage the platform or the Machinery itself it's an extraordinarily great challenge [Music] the critical part of assembly of the sl5000 begins on September the 3rd 2011 on yangshan Island first the Machinery cabin is secured on top of the tower at the designated angle [Music] [Music] all right thanks to meticulous planning and careful execution the operation goes smoothly now the impeller will be installed [Applause] this is no easy task the impeller is not only huge but also has an awkward shape two cranes are needed to lift it and to keep it balanced so that it doesn't wobble too much [Music] because the blades are so long even a small amount of shaking could damage them [Applause] the wind is getting stronger in the afternoon so workers must speed up the assembly it is time to test the skill of the two crane operators [Music] foreign is pleased with the progress so far everyone is extremely careful handling the 128 meter impeller and thanks to the good work of the crane operators the operation goes smoothly despite a frightening scene occurs in the process the wind continues to get stronger so the operation has to be suspended for the day but the wind often dies down as fast as it comes up so work can resume tomorrow unfortunately though this is not the case this time [Music] according to the weather report the air pressure over the Western Pacific Ocean is extremely unstable meaning that a tropical storm or typhoon is likely to happen in the next two days the safest thing to do would be to suspend the operation but the Machinery cabin and impeller would have to be taken down first the budget supervisor warns that such a delay would take the project far over budget the team could also simply wait until the wind dies down a little and then continue if they do this they cannot afford any more problems since the typhoon will arrive soon Mr Chu wants to take the chance but he has to wait for final approval from headquarters [Music] meanwhile the Machinery cabin is still only temporarily secured on the tower so a crane is used to support it during the night foreign [Music] September the 4th 2011 Zhang checks the crane in the morning other than being a little low in oil everything looks good after operating on autopilot all night the wind has not died down and there is no word from headquarters yet [Music] Jung has been involved in similar projects in recent years but this one is much more challenging he grew up by the Sea and loves a challenge but now he can only wait the good news is that the catch today is especially good so dinner tonight should be very good [Music] headquarters orders assembly to continue [Applause] the wind finally dies down in the afternoon so Chu decides to go ahead and secure the impeller and Machinery cabin Jung worries about matching up the 108 huge screws on the impeller with the screw holes on the Machinery cabin 18 meters in the air where the wind is much stronger [Music] the impeller could sway back and forth in the air complicating the operation it's another huge challenge for Zhong [Music] the wind usually picks up towards the evening so the assembly must be completed before then first the huge impeller has to be set up right on the ground requiring perfect coordination between two cranes [Music] impeller together and then one crane slowly releases the cable causing the impeller to come up to an upright position [Music] the last step of onshore assembly begins at 3 pm [Music] [Music] and 45 minutes later the impeller is lifted to an upright position and crane now carries out the most dangerous step it will be very difficult to avoid the impeller bumping against the Machinery cabin when it is suspended from the crane [Music] any damage could seriously affect operation of the wind turbine foreign [Music] ER the cable the longer it takes to respond to adjustments it takes a couple of seconds for the impeller to actually move after sending the command Zhang demonstrates great skill in controlling the crane during one hour of moving the impeller little by little the impeller is positioned in place just before dusk everything is going well so far [Music] on the morning of September the 5th 2011 the sl5000 leaves from yangshan port on a semi-submersible ship the installation site is nearly 40 nautical miles offshore and the trip takes eight hours foreign 's largest offshore double boom crane ship the Fung fun has been waiting at the site for nine days the 13th tropical storm of 2011 in the Western Pacific has been building strength lately making the sea choppy there is only a 24-hour window left for the installation September the 6th could be the last sunny day of the week and the next step is the most critical [Music] the offshore worksite is much more unstable than the land work site a small movement at the base of the wind turbine will cause a huge movement at the top which could spell disaster for the project [Music] another view the base is closely monitored by specialized instruments to help ensure the mechanism doesn't forcefully strike the base but gently placing the Giant sl5000 on the base with a boat rolling with the waves will be a nearly impossible task [Music] 10 a.m the Fung fun begins lifting the Machinery cabin [Music] and two hours later the sl5000 is directly above the base as expected it sways back and forth over the base even with the help of the gigantic crane ship [Music] naturally though the workers are prepared for this situation a special device will absorb the impact as the mechanism is lowered in place when the Tower and the base come into contact the device will also accurately guide the tower into place but the device has never been used in the installation of such a huge wind turbine at 2PM the docking device which is based on a secret technology is put in place no one knew how well it would actually work but by 4 pm the tower has been accurately secured to the base [Music] [Music] no displacement of the base was detected by the monitoring devices during the installation [Music] and on the evening of September the 6th 2011 the installation of the sl5000 beside the East China Sea Bridge is finally complete it marks a major milestone in the history of the development of wind power foreign [Music] [Music]

Channel: Free Documentary - Engineering

Views: 196,991

Keywords: free documentary, free documentary engineering, engineering, engineering documentary, tech, tech documentary, constructions, constructions documentary, technology documentary, wind turbine, wind power, offshore wind, wind energy, wind turbines, wind turbine farm, wind turbine installation, wind turbine project, wind turbine generator

Id: za7kbChoqiM

Length: 47min 59sec (2879 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 30 2023