Arena-Based Modeling of the Maintenance Operation for a Wind Farm

Abstract:

Wind energy has become a leading developing direction in electric power. The high cost associated with turbine maintenance is a key challenging issue in wind farm operation as wind turbines are hard-to access for inspection and repair. Analysis of an onshore wind farm is carried out in this paper in terms of the operation, failure, and maintenance. Failures are categorized into three classes according to the downtime. It is found that the pitch, gearbox and generator have the most amount of downtime, while the most number of failures is from the pitch and electric system. A discrete-event model is developed by using Arena to simulate the operation, failure occurrence, and maintenance of the wind turbines, with an aim to determine the main factors influencing maintenance costs and the availability of the turbines in the wind farm.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volumes 401-403)
• Pages: 2205-2208
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.401-403.2205
• Online since: September 2013
• Authors: Huai Zhong Li, Tong Jing, Hong Zhang
• Keywords: Maintenance, Modeling, Optimization, Reliability, Wind Energy, Wind Turbine Generator

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