3 ms·

Do you transport something like this in pieces, or as a single blade?

mschuster91 3y ago
A German company says they can transport blades of up to 100m length as a single piece [1]. For longer things I'd guess there is no option other than to manufacture them on site or near-site, as the Danes are doing for offshore projects [2]. [1] https://www.doll.eu/de/produkte/schwertransport/nachlaeufer-kombination/windfluegeltransport.html https://www.doll.eu/de/produkte/schwertransport/nachlaeufer-... [2] https://www.wiwo.de/technologie/wirtschaft-von-oben/wirtschaft-von-oben-165-daenemark-ein-paar-kilometer-hinter-der-deutschen-grenze-entstehen-die-groessten-windkraftfabriken-der-welt/28453364.html https://www.wiwo.de/technologie/wirtschaft-von-oben/wirtscha...
- tjoff 3y ago
  That is on land, there is a reason a lot of wind production is close to a harbor. So near-site in practice means, near-harbor. Possibly you can have an agile vessel doing the last stretch so that you can change that to ~near-sea.
  - jayGlow 3y ago
    the US Midwest has a ton of wind power, if you drive through there you have a decent chance of seeing a truck carrying a blade. pretty interesting stuff. obviously those are a lot smaller than this windmill though.
    - fbdab103 3y ago
      If you drive through Iowa, it seems like you will see nothing but windmills. Just an enormous amount of installed capacity.
      - SoftTalker 3y ago
        I guess it makes sense that they put them near major roadways, for easier access, but I find driving through a wind farm to be intensely distracting. The rotation of the windmills during the day, and the strobing warning beacons at the top at night, really tend to pull my eyes off the road ahead.
thenewwazoo 3y ago
The blades are transported in single pieces, on trucks with steered rear carriers, as in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTpZ5V4HrK4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTpZ5V4HrK4
- drcongo 3y ago
  I'm going to be stuck watching videos of these things being delivered all day now.
- cinntaile 3y ago
  The blades in this topic are about 4 times the length of the ones in the video. It's a whole different world.
tinco 3y ago
The blade is usually manufactured as a single fiberglass piece. With how big this thing is I imagine it's manufactured somewhere directly at the shore, and just lifted onto a boat directly from the factory. The base is segments (shaped like calamari rings), which are big but usually can be transported by road, but the big ones probably can't pass under bridges.
- fbdab103 3y ago
  How technically challenging is building(?) printing(?) these pieces? Presumably they need to withstand enormous amounts of strain. Can you produce an impromptu factory anywhere, or does this require sophisticated equipment that benefits from fixed installations?
  - mardifoufs 3y ago
    It's a pretty complex and manual process. You need tons of space, and it's usually built with composites. It's pretty challenging to inspect them for flaws once they are built too. Afaik, they are built in dedicated factories but usually on the same continent (at least!) as where they are going to get installed.
- stephenr 3y ago
  > shaped like calamari rings ... but why calamari rings specifically?
kabanossen 3y ago
Depends, regular ones as a single blade since they're assembled in the factory. But there are attempts to do it differently because of the inconvenience. A swedish company make wind turbine towers out of wood that can be assembled on site: https://modvion.com/ https://modvion.com/ Here are some images to give you an idea of the size of large wind turbines https://growsverige.se/2023/02/11/storleken-svindlar-pa-nya-vindkraftverk/ https://growsverige.se/2023/02/11/storleken-svindlar-pa-nya-...

A German company says they can transport blades of up to 100m length as a single piece [1]. For longer things I'd guess there is no option other than to manufacture them on site or near-site, as the Danes are doing for offshore projects [2]. [1] https://www.doll.eu/de/produkte/schwertransport/nachlaeufer-kombination/windfluegeltransport.html https://www.doll.eu/de/produkte/schwertransport/nachlaeufer-... [2] https://www.wiwo.de/technologie/wirtschaft-von-oben/wirtschaft-von-oben-165-daenemark-ein-paar-kilometer-hinter-der-deutschen-grenze-entstehen-die-groessten-windkraftfabriken-der-welt/28453364.html https://www.wiwo.de/technologie/wirtschaft-von-oben/wirtscha...

tjoff 3y ago
That is on land, there is a reason a lot of wind production is close to a harbor. So near-site in practice means, near-harbor. Possibly you can have an agile vessel doing the last stretch so that you can change that to ~near-sea.
- jayGlow 3y ago
  the US Midwest has a ton of wind power, if you drive through there you have a decent chance of seeing a truck carrying a blade. pretty interesting stuff. obviously those are a lot smaller than this windmill though.
  - fbdab103 3y ago
    If you drive through Iowa, it seems like you will see nothing but windmills. Just an enormous amount of installed capacity.
    - SoftTalker 3y ago
      I guess it makes sense that they put them near major roadways, for easier access, but I find driving through a wind farm to be intensely distracting. The rotation of the windmills during the day, and the strobing warning beacons at the top at night, really tend to pull my eyes off the road ahead.

thenewwazoo 3y ago

The blades are transported in single pieces, on trucks with steered rear carriers, as in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTpZ5V4HrK4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTpZ5V4HrK4

drcongo 3y ago
I'm going to be stuck watching videos of these things being delivered all day now.
cinntaile 3y ago
The blades in this topic are about 4 times the length of the ones in the video. It's a whole different world.

tinco 3y ago

The blade is usually manufactured as a single fiberglass piece. With how big this thing is I imagine it's manufactured somewhere directly at the shore, and just lifted onto a boat directly from the factory. The base is segments (shaped like calamari rings), which are big but usually can be transported by road, but the big ones probably can't pass under bridges.

fbdab103 3y ago
How technically challenging is building(?) printing(?) these pieces? Presumably they need to withstand enormous amounts of strain. Can you produce an impromptu factory anywhere, or does this require sophisticated equipment that benefits from fixed installations?
- mardifoufs 3y ago
  It's a pretty complex and manual process. You need tons of space, and it's usually built with composites. It's pretty challenging to inspect them for flaws once they are built too. Afaik, they are built in dedicated factories but usually on the same continent (at least!) as where they are going to get installed.
stephenr 3y ago
> shaped like calamari rings ... but why calamari rings specifically?

kabanossen 3y ago

Depends, regular ones as a single blade since they're assembled in the factory. But there are attempts to do it differently because of the inconvenience. A swedish company make wind turbine towers out of wood that can be assembled on site: https://modvion.com/ https://modvion.com/ Here are some images to give you an idea of the size of large wind turbines https://growsverige.se/2023/02/11/storleken-svindlar-pa-nya-vindkraftverk/ https://growsverige.se/2023/02/11/storleken-svindlar-pa-nya-...