On January 17^th, 2023 China Concrete and Cement-based Products Association organized the scientific and technological achievement appraisal meeting for the project entitled as "Research and application of key technologies for 160 meter ultra high wind turbine tower", which was completed by Beijing TENSAM Technology Co., Ltd (TENSAM) and CGN Wind Power Co., Ltd.

Since 2020, with the increase demand of wind power, there is an increasing demand for towers with a height of 140m and above. For most areas with low wind speed/high shear and high wind speed/high shear, raising the fan height can greatly improve the later income. In these areas, the application prospect of 140m above, and even 180m and above super-high wind turbine tower is broad.

TENSAM and CGN wind power have carried out the following research to complete the design and applications of 160 meter ultra high wind turbine tower.

Vibration control

During the development of 160m Ultra High Wind Turbine Tower, the first problem encountered is vibration control. In the case of the same size (tower diameter), the rigidity of the concrete tower section is about 2.3 times that of the steel tower section. The concrete-steel mixed tower can control the frequency of the high tower within the range of semi-rigid tower. Excessive rigidity means that there is a possibility of resonance point between the second frequency of the tower and the 6P of the impeller operation. In order to meet the requirements of tower frequency, the ratio of concrete tower and steel tower with different heights is calculated continuously, and the optimal tower height of concrete section is finally obtained, and the tower high-order vibration is controlled.

Relation between tower frequency and rotational speed range of impellers

Segmentation of concrete tower

In Guodian Henggang Baiqiao 100MW wind power project and Gansu Guazhou Anbei Second Wind Farm Zone C 200MW project, actual prototype verification of concrete towers with 4-6 pieces has already been carried out. In the process of assembling 4-piece or 6-piece concrete segments, there are high requirements for working tools, prefabrication and installation accuracy, and the on-site operation time is long, which increases the lifting duration and the cost. In this project, the design adopts the 2-pieces or one-piece to finally meet the requirements of the construction.

2-pieces concrete tower

Dry connection (bolted connection)

Due to the high accuracy requirements of the construction of the 160m super-high wind turbine tower for the prefabricated concrete tower, the project replaced the traditional wet connection(grouted connection) by the dry connection with the straight bolt to ensure the installation accuracy and progress.

Dry connection

Customized end mold

In order to meet the requirements of dry connection, the project team developed a customizable end mold. The end mold is fixed inside the mold through the upper and lower fastening devices, and the prefabricated components after pouring become two half rings with 1mm clearance meeting the requirements of dry connection. When the conrete tower is of one-piece, the end mold can be removed by removing the fastening device. The operation is simple, the formwork and grouting materials are saved. and the efficient conversion of the two prefabrication schemes of 2-pieces and one-piece is realized.

This project have been applied in many wind power projects, such as the 155m prototype project of Guodian Henggang Baiqiao, the 200MW wind power project of CGN Lankao Guangxing, and the wind power project of Tianrun Xinneng, Hebei Tunzhen, Wuqing District, Tianjin, and have achieved good social and economic benefits.

200MW wind power project of CGN Lankao Guangxing