Читать книгу Wind Power Basics - Dan Chiras - Страница 18

Like trees and power lines, wind turbines can ice up under certain conditions. Ice falling off the blades is known as ice throw, and is a concern that may arise during zoning hearings on residential wind turbines.

While ice builds up on blades and wind turbine towers during ice storms, it is typically deposited in very thin sheets. When the blades are warmed by sunlight, the ice tends to break up into small pieces, not huge dangerous chunks, and drop to the ground.

Ice buildup on the blades of a wind turbine dramatically reduces the speed at which a turbine can spin. It’s a little like trying to drive a car with four flat tires. As a result, ice is not thrown from a turbine, it falls around the base of the tower — just as it does from trees and power lines.

Any prudent person would stay away from the tower base when ice is shed from the blades, as they would from trees or power lines covered with ice warming in the sun. Ice-laden trees are also considerably more dangerous, as branches can and often do break and fall to the ground, damaging power lines, cars and houses. Entire trees can topple as a result of ice buildup.

On the rare occasion that ice builds up on a wind turbine, experienced wind turbine operators shut down their machines until the Sun or warmer temperatures melt the ice since they cannot generate electricity spinning at such low revolutions per minute anyway.