Cleaning Wind Turbine Blades by Drone

Hundreds of feet above a snow-covered field, a boxy black device covered in propellers hovers next to the enormous outstretched blade of a wind turbine. From a corner of the machine, a nozzle sprays a liquid across the surface of the blade in a rapid smooth zigzag motion like a rogue car wash in the sky.

The machine is a drone made by Latvian-born startup Aerones, and earlier this year the company tested it out de-icing a wind turbine blade at a wind farm in Latvia.

Aerones, after several years of trials and upgrades, opens a new phase in the Renewable Energy maintenance sector. Backed up by a 20 years of R&D experience Aerones elaborated a method for cleaning windmill blades with Drone, which involves not only the way to carry out the operation, but also the appropriate equipment.

Now, Aerones has developed a maintenance method for wind turbines – a cleaning method of wind turbine blades by Drone. This new service aims to provide an effective, practical and economical alternative for cleaning the wind turbine blades using machinery adapted to the needs as well as technicians who are specialized in cleaning work by Automated Drone.

A lot of factors could provoke the airfoil break of the blades: snow, ice, pollution, humidity, dust, insects, etc.  It is known that a good maintenance of wind turbines and, specially, of the blades can increase the efficiency as much as 20% or even as much as 100% in case of frost or snow on its blades.

The maintenance of these wind turbines is something assumed in a wind turbine operational cost, even though the actual methods are very slow, expensive and involve a high risk for the personnel.

Depending on the size of blades and the wind conditions, Aerones could clean or de-ice 30 blades (10 turbines) in one day with full efficiency and no component spoilage.

Next week, Aerones’ Latvian founders will stand before a room of potential investors and the media to give a two-minute pitch explaining their drone technology — as part of a gathering of the latest cohort of Y Combinator companies. The company, which is testing various applications for its powerful drones, recently was accepted into the influential Silicon Valley program. It will spend the next few months honing ideas and finding new customers with Y Combinator’s help.

Sources: Website; Business Green