Case Study | Solving Icing Challenges, Wisson AP30-P2 Helps Wind Turbines Tackle Snow and Ice

Wind turbine icing is a high-impact meteorological disaster for wind power generation, posing significant hazards. After icing, the increased load on the blades not only shortens the service life of the units but also significantly affects the power generation efficiency of the turbines. Extreme weather can even lead to widespread wind farm shutdowns, challenging the safe and stable operation of the power grid. Additionally, ice thrown off by rotating blades poses a significant threat to the safety of personnel and equipment at the wind farm.   

To address wind turbine icing, the industry has been trying various methods, but there is still no widespread and stable approach. For example, installing sensors on wind turbine blades to monitor icing through technical means, or inserting heating resistors into the blades to eliminate ice layers using the heat they release. However, these technical means are difficult to scale due to excessively high retrofitting costs or the inability to retrofit older turbines. In addition, many wind farms apply hydrophobic coatings or anti-icing and anti-freezing liquids to wind turbines, or perform manual mechanical de-icing after the wind turbine blades ice up. Although these methods are widely applicable, they require manual high-altitude operations, which are inefficient, labor-intensive, and pose significant safety hazards.   

In response to the demand for wind turbine anti-icing, the company actively sought intelligent methods that could be widely and rapidly promoted and replicated, and investigated a large number of intelligent wind power operation and maintenance equipment, including wall-climbing robots and drones, but found that they generally had problems such as poor environmental adaptability, difficulty in deployment and implementation, high costs, and unassured safety. After considering factors such as convenience, operating costs, and safety, the company decided to adopt the Wisson Technology AP30-P2 high-pressure cleaning system, and recently applied anti-icing and de-icing liquid spraying to wind turbine blades.

Compared with traditional operation and maintenance robots and drones, the AP30-P2 high-pressure cleaning system is specifically designed for high-altitude operations, adapting to heavy-duty industrial drones such as the DJI FC30. It can perform safe, stable, convenient, and efficient spraying operations in hovering or flying states, supporting various liquids such as water, anti-icing and de-icing liquid, and cleaning liquid. It combines high safety interaction, light self-weight, strong protection level, and flexible operation capabilities, which can significantly improve the efficiency of wind turbine anti-icing and anti-freezing operation and maintenance and reduce operating costs.   

Safety First, Stable and Reliable

Based on remote control technology and laser ranging functions, the "AP30-P2" completely eliminates the safety risks of personnel high-altitude operations while accurately controlling the spraying distance to ensure the safety of the operating target. Its unique balance structure and functions further enhance the flexibility and stability of flight, effectively offset the recoil during spraying, and maintain stable operation in complex environments.   

With advanced flexible design extended by flexible technology, the "AP30-P2" can flexibly adjust multiple angles in a hovering state, easily meeting the spraying needs of large areas and complex tricky areas, reducing the number of drone flight adjustments, and greatly improving operating efficiency and coverage.  

The system integrates multi-angle automatic path planning algorithms, which can intelligently identify and adapt to various complex surfaces, achieving precise spraying, effectively reducing human error and repetitive operations, and improving spraying quality and consistency. At the same time, the modular designed nozzles can flexibly adapt to various coating types and operating scenarios, meeting the paint touch-up needs of complex surfaces such as building facades, bridges, and wind turbines.