Sangwon Lee
PhD
​Innovative Rotor-Nacelle System Design and Analysis for Modularized Blade Systems.​
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Host Organisation
​Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU)
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Company
GMC Limited​​
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Project Description
The continuous expansion of blade size is crucial for reducing the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), and it will result in the rapid deployment of wind turbines. However, the manufacturing, transportation, installation, and control of these ultra-large blades present numerous engineering and logistical challenges. Traditional one-piece blades have reached practical and economic limitations due to their size, weight, and aerodynamic complexity. In contrast, modular blade designs could present an alternative, addressing challenges related to aeroelastic loads, ease of manufacturing, and logistics. The project's distinctive novelty lies in the integration of partial pitch blade segments with IPC, enabling individual control of aerodynamic loads, thus improving turbine performance while mitigating structural loads.
Supervisors
Main supervisor: Prof. Alan Wai Hou Lio
Co. supervisor: Prof. Taeseong Kim
Co. supervisor: Prof. Dr. Carlo L. Bottasso
Co. supervisor: CEO of GMC Limited Phil Jones
Background
I'm from Busan in South Korea. My hometown has the largest harbor in the country and I have been close to the sea. I think that's why I chose to become a sailor before graduate school. My bachelor's major is marine engineering, and I have worked for 4 years as an engineering officer for a global LNG transport company. LNG's role as bridge energy in the energy transition inspired my interest in offshore wind energy, leading me to enter a wind engineering master's program. I studied load analysis using OpenFAST (made by NREL) for the IEA 15 MW floating offshore wind turbine. Based on my load analysis experience, I could apply the NEXTGenT program and DTU.
Motivation
My experience at sea allowed me to glimpse the boundless potential of the ocean, which led me to a strong interest in offshore wind turbines (OWT). Currently, I am interested in the development of super-large OWT (+25 MW), and scaling up is inevitable to utilize offshore wind resources to lower the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE). However, the manufacturing, transportation, installation, and control of these super-large blades present numerous engineering and logistical challenges. I hope that my project, individual pitch control with modular blades, might offer a solution. Ultimately, I wish my academic journey could contribute to the promotion and deployment of offshore wind energy.