| As energy efficiency becomes more and more important to the future stability of the Earth's environment and ecosystems, the power of wind power looks like the safest bet for industry and government around the world. Using natural gusts of the earth may seem to be Ideal solution but there are still some limitations that prevent wind power from replacing fossil fuels.The problem with the turbine direction is one of the major issues that currently hinder it but with the help of 3D printing the startup in California may have found a solution .  In order to capture as much natural energy as possible, the wind turbines need enough height and huge blades to take advantage of the higher gusts in the atmosphere. In the United States, the average turbine height is currently only over 80 meters. However, the components of these turbines may be difficult to distance Storage and transportation, the logistical issues involved in this relatively new technology can eventually cost a lot of money and reduce its attractiveness as an efficient source of energy. RCAM Technologies recently received a grant of $ 1.25 million from the California Energy Commission (CEC) for the development and testing of 3D printing technology for the construction of concrete turbine towers at the site of the project. The use of 3D printing in the field can indicate the direction for the wind power industry as it allows Using the same huge turbines without the prohibitive logistical costs. If the project proves to be successful, 3D printing can be used to build turbines that are almost twice as large as existing RCAM Technologies hopes to build a tower of 140 meters or more using reinforced concrete additive manufacturing technology powered by the National Renewable Energy Created by NREL alumnus Jason Cotrell, the company left NREL in May seeking funding to develop the technology. Based on NREL's Energy Cost of LCOE modeling tool, the company estimates that a 140-meter tower will add more than 20% of electricity production at moderate windshear sites, which will allow wind farms on low-wind sites The cost is reduced by 11%. Newer towers will increase the capacity factor to generate electricity at a lower cost, enabling the wind turbine to achieve a more stable and robust wind. RCAM's 3D printing system should be able to build a wind turbine tower in the field in one day at half the cost of a traditional steel tower.The construction and testing of prototypes will be conducted in collaboration with UC Irvine at the school's civil engineering lab Half of the new way to manufacture, the top part of the traditional conical steel tower manufacturing. RCAM funding is part of the California Energy Commission's efforts to achieve the new efficiency targets that it hopes will double the energy efficiency of electricity and gas use by 2030 as required by Senate Bill No. 350. The Act establishes these new goals To support California's long-term climate goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 to their 1990 levels. For more than a decade, concrete wind towers have been built in Europe but their construction methods tend to be more traditional than those proposed by RCAM Although new additive manufacturing methods should result in significant savings in logistics costs, they may also increase if implemented on a large scale The time required to build a new turbine. According to Aaron Barr, a senior adviser to MAKE Consulting, a wind power research institute, this longer construction cycle may bring its own drawbacks, Barr said: 'Because all of the turbine equipment has been delivered to the site, Most US wind farms are capable of installing turbines at a speed of 1 or more per day. "The use of on-site concrete tower solutions has resulted in significantly increased installation cycles and increased wind farm development costs and implementation risks." The country's best wind power stations are mostly located in the Great Plains, but efficiency in other parts of the United States is still not high, and NREL proposed a higher turbine as a potential solution at the American Wind Energy Association meeting in May this year. One team said: 'Outside the city center's wind turbine, the average performance has not yet reached the level required to compete with low-cost natural gas and (more and more) low-cost solar PV, especially in times of relatively low load growth NREL researchers. "Continuing assessment of tower technology seems worthwhile to expand the geographic coverage of wind power, and achieving a higher hub level can still drive significant improvements in capacity components across the country. |
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