Novel wind turbine ice protection/detection and flow control system based on Electroactive Dielectric Barrier Discharge plasma actuators (IceWindSolution)

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): DOI Link

---

Project Overview

The IceWindSolution project aims to develop a novel active aerodynamic device with embedded intelligent sensor/actuators distributed on the WTs blade surface for controlling flow and icing. This novel concept uses a combination of icing control, ice detection and flow control system based on electro-active polymer dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators to fight against problems associated with icing in a CC wind energy project. The concept of this project is evidently novel and builds on previously published patent by the research team. The anti/deicing system based on the DBD actuators uses a surface plasma for melting the ice layer. When high AC voltage is applied to this system, the electric field on the top of the dielectric layer will ionizes the air forming a plasma region and rise the surface temperature above freezing temperature of water which prevents the ice formation on the surface. The DBD actuators are also proposed here to act as an ice-detector sensor by measuring the capacitance variation due to the change of the electric properties of the water-ice layer which is a functionality that does not exist in the current state of the art.

Technical Objectives

• Flow Control & De-icing Integration: Develop for the first time a new flow control device which integrates the operation of an EAP material in a plasma actuator. By combining the EAP material operation with the plasma discharge generation both active flow control and deicing abilities will be optimized.
• Performance Improvement: It is expected that results will improve WT performance up to 30% without ice formation.
• Energy Savings: Contribute to energy savings by decreasing energy consumption related to ice protection system up to 50%.
• Cross-Industry Application: The ice protection system based on the DBD plasma actuator can be easily adopted to existing aircraft without any additional costs.

Funding & Partner Budgets

The project is funded through the Exploratory Projects program by the FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia).

Partner / Beneficiary	Budget Allocation
Universidade da Beira Interior (UBI) – Entidade promotora	49.917,03 EUR
Total Project Financing	49.917,03 EUR

Project Identification

Operation Code	2023.15318.PEX
Execution Period	01/01/2025 to 31-07-2026
Principal Investigator	Frederico Rodrigues

---

Project Publicity & Mandatory Documentation

Official technical data and publicity poster for this operation can be referenced in the IceWindSolution.pdf document:

Ficha de Operação / Cartaz

---

Key Performance Indicators (KPI) & Scientific Output

Progress against approved targets monitored during execution:

• Job Creation: [Insert Target] Annual FTE (Research positions).
• Intellectual Property: [Insert Target] Patent application target.
• Scientific Production: [Insert Target] Peer-reviewed publications target.

Open Positions

• [Insert open position details here, e.g., one research fellowship for BSc/MSc student (BI), Reference: UBI/IceWindSolution/… , Fellowship duration: X months] (apply)
• [Insert additional open position details here] (apply)

Published Materials

• [Insert published material here, e.g., Author(s). (Year). Title. Journal/Conference. DOI]
• [Insert additional published material here]

---