Wind turbine peeps are figuring something out.....

[Charles Mampe]

Interesting article, the referenced info has been around, but getting attention now.

https://www.ecoportal.net/en/insect-remains-coat-percent-wind-turbine/31596/

I wonder if bug wipers would help?

You could also do a clinging robot to wander the wings for cleaning, this could be autonomous and when there was no wind. Better than sending a person up there.

I wonder if they need to change airfoil type, we all know some airfoils (PIK-20, SGS-1-35, etc.) are more critical with contamination.

[john firth]

Window cleaner robots exist, using suction to hold on; if scaled up this could be the answer to the 

upper surface contamination.

John Firth

[Eric Greenwell]

I like the idea. When the blade is stopped, three cleaners crawl from the hub, one to a blade, cleaning as they travel to the tip, then returning quickly to the hub when done. Each is equipped with a parachute that deploys if the cleaner loses suction to the blade, or is knocked off by an eagle that thinks it looks like a snack.

Eric

[Charles Mampe]

I know flat surface cleaners exist, deal with complex curves is harder.

Combine with dirt, chalky surface and bugs, it's much harder.

I think having the blade level and LE up is best, but who knows.

A flying unit may solve some issues, but adds some new ones.

Still, that's enough performance loss to make it worth resolving the cleaning part.

[Ryszard Krolikowski]

Maybe those huge propellers will have humps on the leading edge one day, working as a thrust concentratators?

Easy physics in slow mowing prop.

Hump in every 1.5 m with climber attachment point would make easy for professional climbers to do cleaning job when no wind.

Ryszard

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[Eric Greenwell]

Cleaning is literally a huge project, and it's not just bugs, but also oil that's leaked from the hub:

https://aerones.com/services/cleaning/blade-cleaning/

https://www.tiktok.com/@vortexparadise/video/7532461409536412942

Eric

[Mark Mocho]

I'm waiting for the "Save the Bugs!" faction to weigh in. Note: I once flew through a column of smoke from a wildfire north of Santa Fe. When I emerged, my leading edges were BLACK with bugs. There must have been one splat every half inch. I wasn't sure I was going to get back to Moriarty. I could barely see out of the canopy. It took hours to scrub the glider.

[Charles Mampe]

A few years ago, we had swarms of very small black bugs in SE NY, yes, a flight would leave the LE's dark grey/black with bugs. When I first landed once, I saw the wings and thought the towplane had a major oil leak.

As to "save the bugs", if not honey bees, butterflies, or similar, I doubt most would care.

[Uli N]

Wind turbine blades nowadays are cleaned using large drones, which pull up a supply hose for (sometimes) hot, high-pressure water and of course electricity to keep the drone flying. There are articulated nozzles which always work in pairs opposite to each other to balance out their actions. The whole thing is controlled from the ground and can clean a blade in 'the 6 o'clock' position in a matter of minutes.

Many years ago, I was working at a wind park in SE Colorado. It was hot and bugs were everywhere. We were monitoring the weather and a cold front with copious amounts of rain was approaching. The turbines of course kept working throughout the storms. After the front was through, the overall output for the site - normalized for the same wind speed - was noticeably higher than before, which we attributed to the washing and cleaning effect of the rain. These blades have 12-15 distinct airfoil sections between their root and the tip, each optimized for the increasing speed the further out one goes. The L/D of them is well over 100, however, the surface finish would put any self-respecting glider pilot to tears - it is that bad!

Uli

'AS' 

[Ian Molesworth]

Dont even need to be powered bug wipers. 

Park at the hub. 

Allow one blade to orient vertically down. 

Gravity draws wiper down to tip.

Orient blade vertically up.

Gravity draws wiper to hub.

Rinse and repeat as required.

Could have say 2 or 3 wipers for 1/2 or 1/3 spans to match differing profiles. 

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