Ice shedding from wind turbines

Abstract

Wind power is an excellent source of renewable energy in areas with sufficient wind resources. Usually, the best locations for wind turbines are on the tops of hills and ridges, where there are lower temperatures [1]. Cold temperatures are responsible for novel challenges [2, 3]. Due to cold climatic conditions, turbine blades are subjected to icing [4]. A number of methods have been proposed and tested for prevention and removal of ice on wind turbine blades, but no solution has been discovered to avoid it completely. The icing on the blades results in the phenomenon of ‘ice shedding’.