The University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada, just announced an agreement with sound and vibration measurement equipment manufacturer Brüel & Kjaer to establish the Wind and Renewable Energies Centre of Expertise (WRECE), the first facility of its kind in North America. The project will be housed in the Industrial Courtyard of the University’s Centre for Engineering Innovation (CEI). Currently under construction, the $112 million dollar CEI is Windsor University’s largest capital project to date. The LEED Gold certified CEI will open this fall, providing 300,000 square feet of laboratory and research space for for the engineering faculty at Windsor. Once completed, WRECE will move into their new space later in the year.
The joint partnership between WRECE and B&K provides $1.4 million of research and testing equipment for the university’s Noise Vibration and Harshness-Sound Quality Group (NVH-SG) including a large-scale wind turbine model and associated software designed for research and testing of low frequency noise generation from wind turbines. This research will help in the design of wind turbine components and develop ways to better quantify turbine noise, sound pressure levels, and vibration testing. Led by Assistant Professor Dr. Colin Novak, NVH-SG has developed a graduate level course in the use of the new equipment to be taught this summer.
Ongoing research into turbine noise, vibration, and efficiency is vital, says Novak, as wind energy continues to play a larger role in energy production and wind turbines become a part of our shared landscape:
“If we carefully monitor the vibration and noise wind turbines generate we are well-positioned to minimize their impact on people. Wind energy is a constantly evolving technology that will have an impact on the lives of everyone – not just in our immediate community but around the world.”
Another aspect of research at the WRECE includes the huge automobile-sized gearboxes and blades, looking for ways to monitor conditions within these components to increase efficiencies and help create the next generation of wind turbines and towers.
Main photo credit: Geograph.org.uk