Browsing by Author "Haug, Stefan"

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    Design of a kite launch and retrieval system for a pumping high altitude wind power generator
    (2012) Haug, Stefan
    Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) is currently one of the most challanging topics in wind energy. Due to the little amount of material it is possible to reach low energy costs and a low environmental impact. Kites are perfect wings to gain AWE due to its good flight quality and a high surface to mass ratio. However, a good and cheap launch and retrieval system for automated kite usage has not been designed, yet. This thesis aims to analyze the properties which influence the launch and retrieval of a Leading Edge Inflatable (LEI) Kite and to design a complete launch and retrieval system for the automated launch and retrieval of a 100m2 LEI Kite. This thesis starts from close to the scratch. It develops requirement for a launch and retrieval system to later check the quality of different possible systems. It finds out that systems like balloons or UAVs fit the best to the requirements, however, they are not reliable enough in strong wind. Hence an aluminum truss mast is build as prototype to investigate the behavior of the kites during an upside down launch. As the results are auspicious the launch is mathematically analyzed. To create a final design the current kite is scaled up to 100m2. By using the upscaled forces and dimensions it designs - a mast construction - a foundation for on- or offshore applications - a function to store, protect and control the kite during idle time Furthermore it gives a first impression on the dimensions of bearings and engines which are necessary for the system. By scaling up known data and using current price of steel and concrete a price for the system is estimated. It is proven by field tests that the upside down launch is possible with a wind speed of approximately 4m/s and that higher wind speed is profitable for the launch. Analysis showed that the final design is safe in case of extreme temperature, long durability and high wind up to the 50 years gust. Furthermore the CO2 emission per kWh of the final design can be decreased down to 11gCO2/kWh in good conditions.