Agenda
Blades USA 2022
FEBRUARY 22-23
AUSTIN, TEXAS
DAY 1 – TUESDAY – FEBRUARY 22ND
9:00 am – 9:10 am
WELCOME REMARKS FROM THE CHAIRPERSON
Chair: Kenn Kerr, Group Vice President, MISTRAS Group
9:15 am – 09:35 am
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
David Kaskie, Vice President of Products & Services Division, Sensoria™ by MISTRAS
09:40 am – 10:40 am
PANEL DISCUSSION: PREDICTIVE, PREVENTATIVE AND AUTONOMOUS MAINTENANCE: BUILDING A SYSTEM OF CONSTANT CONDITION MONITORING
- To what extent is building a predictive model limited by only using existing experience as an input?
- What is the impact of the constantly evolving and improving blade technology and how are newer composites changing the way in which blades need to be maintained?
- Transparency as the key to get to the next stage of predictive maintenance, what can we do as an industry to foster a more collaborative working relationship across the sector?
- What should a good service contract look like to ensure proper blade care based on site specific parameters?
John Hall, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Buffalo
Valery Godinez-Azcuaga, Vice President of Engineering and Product Development, Sensoria™ by MISTRAS
Harriet Green, Operations Manager – Empire Wind & Beacon Wind, Equinor
Megan Rotondo, Senior Consulting Engineer, Onyx Insight
Chair: Kenn Kerr, Group Vice President, MISTRAS Group
10:40 am – 11:15 am: NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK AND OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLORE EXHIBITION AREA
INNOVATORS & INSIGHTS
11:20 am – 12:10 pm
6 MINUTES. 6 SLIDES. 6 INNOVATIONS.
- 6 slides. 6 minutes. 6 innovations to help you protect, maintain or repair your blades from the environment.
- Each presenter will only have 6 minutes and 6 slides to demonstrate their innovation.
- Once all have presented there will be a Q&A session and the audience will anonymously vote for which one they think is the best.
Valery Godinez-Azcuaga, Vice President of Engineering and Product Development, Sensoria™ by MISTRAS
Neal Fine, CEO, Artura Wind
Alex Grinfeder, Director, LM Blade Services Americas, LM Wind Power
Rogers Weed, Managing Director, The Americas, Clobotics
Vip Jain, CEO, ABJ
Dainis Kruze, Co-Founder & CEO, Aerones
12:15 pm – 1:45 pm: LUNCH BREAK
1:45 pm – 2:15 pm
- Using smart data to make better decisions and avoid high levels of uncertainty in blade degradation
- How to incorporate analytical methods to blade O&M to reduce costs and improve performance
- What software is available to monitor, analyse and offer operational changes to improve performance?
- How should one consider the carbon footprint and logistics of blade transportation throughout the life of a blade?
2:20 pm – 3:15 pm
PANEL: THE FUTURE OF BLADE DESIGN: SUSTAINABILITY, ACCESS AND LONGEVITY
- How are designs changing to create bigger blades and are the new blade composites more difficult to maintain?
- How are OEMs balancing the risk with trying new technologies and materials with blade performance in field?
- How does feedback from in field operations affect the choice of composites used?
- What AEP gains can you expect from recently designed blades?
- What are the O&M risks associated with using newer blades with less data on failure trends?
- How does customer data on common fleet issues translate into a change in future designs?
- Using modeled environmental conditions to assess power performance and structural changes in new blades
- Could giving owners more insight into the build process improve blade performance and aftercare?
- How are transporting costs impacting overall blade costs?
Edward Stewart, Senior Engineer, RWE
Kristian Dixon, Team Lead – Conceptual Blade Design, Envision Energy
Kevin Standish, Director of Global Blade Innovation Centre, Envision Energy (DIGITAL)
Chair: Kenn Kerr, Group Vice President, MISTRAS Group
3:15pm-3:45pm: NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK
3:45 pm – 4:15 pm
- Setting up systems for internal and external autonomous inspection
- How to choose inspection intervals that fit your site conditions and resources available
- Can you deal with serious damages outside of the repair season?
- Using automated analysis to create inspection workflows and reduce cost of repair
4:20 pm – 5:20 pm
PANEL DISCUSSION: HOW CAN THE INDUSTRY IMPROVE DIAGNOSTICS AND STANDARDISATION OF BLADE DAMAGES
- Do certification agencies need to step in to set standardised damage categories across the industry?
- Should the maintenance regime be guided by industry standards, an independent body or by the OEM? How can collaboration and data sharing help?
- Will improved sensor technology be the best way to assess structural integrity of blades?
- Is it possible to have a one fits all solution to monitor blade health? And how can you determine a good monitoring system from a bad one?
Chair: Kenn Kerr, Group Vice President, MISTRAS Group
Speakers:
Bob Gallaher, Structural Engineer – Wind Fleet Blades & Structures, Nextera Energy
Matthew Malkin, Principal Engineer, DNV.GL
Carsten Westergaard, President, Westergaard Solutions Inc.
Marc Hoffmann, Global Head of Sales & Marketing, Sulzer Schmid
5:25pm – 5:30 pm
CLOSING REMARKS FROM THE CHAIRPERSON
Chair: Kenn Kerr, Group Vice President, MISTRAS Group
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
END OF DAY 1
DAY 2 – WEDNESDAY – FEBRUARY 23RD
9:45 am – 9:50 am
WELCOME REMARKS FROM THE CHAIRPERSON
Brian Hayes, VP Asset Operations, EDPR
REDUCING AEP LOSS AND PROACTIVE REPAIRS
09:55 am – 10:55 am
PANEL DISCUSSION: UNIQUE DAMAGES, WARRANTIES AND PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE NEW DAMAGES
- Once we have achieved predictive maintenance, will we lose the ability to react to unique damages?
- Identifying the challenges facing inspection and repair for the upcoming generation of larger turbines
- What are the latest innovations in blade design that are going to change operations and maintenance in the future?
- Trend analysis and sub-component testing: What insight can service companies provide on systemic problems for blades?
- Will they ever be in a position to share this insight?
Chair: Brian Hayes, VP Asset Operations, EDPR
Bob Gallaher, Structural Engineer – Wind Fleet Blades & Structures, Nextera Energy
Billy Martin, Independent DER Consultant, EME Consulting, LLC
Katelyn Reynolds, Senior Mechanical Engineer, Invenergy
Arnold Wilmink, VP – Wind Turbine Engineering, RWE
11:00 am – 11:30 am
NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK AND OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLORE EXHIBITION AREA
11:30am – 11:55am
LIGHTNING’S SHOCKING EFFECT ON WIND TURBINE BLADES: CAN IT BE CONTROLLED?
- Understanding the physical phenomenon of lightning and how it interacts with wind turbine blades
- What are some issues with current Lightning Protection Systems (LPS)?
- Is it possible to retrofit wind turbine blades with an add-on system that will enhance the existing LPS?
- Will future blade designs that incorporate more carbon fiber result in new lightning problems? If so, what types of design improvements may help mitigate these lightning strike issues?
12:00 pm – 12:25 pm
PRESENTATION: PLANNING FOR BLADE DEGRADATION: LEADING EDGE EROSION AND STRUCTURAL DAMAGE
- What leading edge protection systems are available?
- Educating operators on the best ways to monitor for and deal with leading edge erosion
- What are the energy production and cost implications of poor leading edge protection and maintenance
- How best to deal with blade root damage?
- Creating good contracts with your suppliers to ensure effective support and blade longevity
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm: LUNCH BREAK
DUE DILIGENCE FOR BLADES, RECYCLING AND REPURPOSING AT END OF LIFE
2:00 pm -2:30 pm
Presentation: Don’t Judge the Blade (just) By it’s Cover
- Comprehensive inspection data aggregation and analysis beyond drone Inspections is critical for ROI and production optimization
- Ingesting external visual blade data alone isn’t enough – internal blade data is also necessary to holistically manage blades
- Repair prioritization for blades and across other asset classes (gearboxes, etc.) is critical to optimize seasonal maintenance schedules
- Advanced analytics that learn from historical failure rates and repair optimizations, like LEAD, are critical
- Many wind turbine operators are now investing in solar assets…. Why do those inspections in a separate asset management system?
Chair: Brian Hayes, VP Asset Operations, EDPR
Bob Baughman, CEO, HUVR
Katelyn Reynolds, Senior Mechanical Engineer, Invenergy
Carsten Westergaard, President, Westergaard Solutions Inc.
2:35 pm – 2:55 pm
PRESENTATION: You’ve Centralized Your Blade Data – Now What?
Table stakes were blade inspection data, but now that you have that data, maintenance data, sensor data, and so much more all in one place, how are you leveraging it?
Tom Brady , CTO, SkySpecs
3.00 pm – 3:30 pm
QUICK FIRE PRESENTATIONS FOLLOWED BY Q&A PANEL DISCUSSION: RECYCLING & REPURPOSING BLADES
A series of short presentations showcasing some of the projects and work that is being done to improve the recyclability and sustainability of blades and wider turbines. Each speaker will present for 10 mins and then there will be a joint Q&A afterwards
Chair: Brian Hayes, VP Asset Operations, EDPR
Dr. Russell Gentry, Research Engineer, Georgia Tech
Derek Berry, Senior Wind Technology Engineer, NREL
3.30 pm – 3:40 pm
CLOSING REMARKS FROM THE CHAIRPERSON
Brian Hayes, VP Asset Operations, EDPR
End of Day 2 and Close of Conference
