2023 Report (First Half): The Final Redemption!

 January 2023

First blade of the wind turbine fabricated.

Protocol #1 testing by Gargi Raj and Aritra Sarkar, supervised by PhD Scholar Mr. Triptendu Choudhary, in the Machine Lab, Department of Electrical Engineering. 

 

Visit to Vestas R&D India, Chennai. It was a pleasure meeting the whole team of Bhalaji Subramanian, Head, Loads and Controls.

Main Shaft procured.

Protocol #2 : Inverter and Battery quantified by Aritra Sarkar, procured. IP65 boxes procured.

February 2023

Protocol #3 testing : by Aritra Sarkar and Smarak Kanjilal.

Nose-cone making starts. Hub plates powder-coated by Steelraj furniture, Ghaghra. 

Nacelle assembly begins. All items (main flange, brake, coupling) machined for push-fit on the Main shaft.

Feb 9 : Pluto, my four-legged brother, and our neighborhood mascot, passed away at the age of 16. He had been my companion for over four years. Everyone loved him. People would feed him, care for him, vaccinate him, apply medicines on his wounds, give him water, and much more. But he never took a bath. I used to kept a bowl of water outside my door for him. I used to spend the weekends in the garden with him. Whenever I strolled in the driveway, he was there to give me company. I had built a kennel for him, though he never used it. I had also gotten a winter jacket for him in 2019-2020, though he lost it in a few days. Almost every morning, he would greet me by bowing when I left for work. Every evening, he would be waiting for me to enter the driveway, park my car, and then pet him, saying "Pluto......Good evening Pluto!....How are you Pluto?....You had a good day Pluto?". He often had dinner from me. He would spent the night on my welcome mat. In severe winters, he had sometimes spent the night in my drawing room. He had slowed down in the last 6 months of his life. He had lost some of his teeth and was unable to chew and eat properly. He had then developed a difficult skin disease, causing him to lose his coat. He had also lost a lot of weight, becoming skeletal. It was time for him to leave this world. 

Arrival of the yawing system (slew drive with motor and gearbox) of the wind turbine. Base plate machining done. Arrival of the Yaw rotary encoder.

Marking of the North-South-East-West Direction on the site.

My sister's visit to KGP for a long weekend.

March 2023

Visit to Chennai : Venus International Women's Awards 2023

Awarded the "Best Woman Researcher in Wind Turbine Technology".

Job Offer from Vestas, Chennai : Lead Engineer (Loads). 

Submitted my resignation to IIT Kharagpur. My 22-year old association with this place is finally coming to an end. 

Main shaft layout and Bed-plate layout finalized by Mr. Souvik Basak, assisted by Mr. Sayan Siuli and Mr. Tanish Goel. 

Brake-testing and RPM IRE testing on Main shaft by  Mr. Aritra Sarkar and Mr. Smarak Kanjilal.

New stands for bearings and machinery designed by Mr. Sayan Siuli, analyzed by Mr. Souvik Basak, and fabricated, machined, drilled.

Energy meter testing by Mr. Pritam Das, Mr. Aritra Sarkar and Mr. Smarak Kanjilal. Data extraction and Memory-mapping of Energy Meter by Mr. Smarak Kanjilal.

 

Slew drive installation plan by Mr. Sayan Siuli : design and production of steel doughnuts. Bolt procurement. 

 

Hub assembly alignment. Blade stem base alignment and drilling. Rotor labeling. 

 

 

 

Inverter and Battery testing. Protocol#4 testing by  Mr. Harsh Singh Chauhan and Mr. Aritra Sarkar.

 

Yaw IRE installation on slew drive worm by Mr. Nirbhay and Mr. Kashyap Patel. 

 

 

April 2023

Master circuit layout : Review by Prof. Kastha (EE) and Mr. S. Ghosh, Sr. Exe. Engr.

Trial-fitting and assembly of blades to hub. 

Nacelle frame sizing and trial-fitting on bed plate. Powder-coating of hardware. 

Complete Protocol#4 testing in Machines Lab, Dept. of Electrical Engg., under the supervision of Mr. Triptendu Choudhary, 4th year Research Scholar, Dept. of Electrical Engg. 

Nacelle Cover Design by Mr. Sayan Siuli, fabrication and fitting in MCL.

Printed Circuit Board (PCB) design by Mr. Harsh Singh Chauhan and Mr. Pritam Das.

Main shaft machining for key-seats. Main shaft assembly. 

Yaw system mock assembly. Bed-plate mock assembly. Bed plate bolt-hole drilling.

May 2023

Testing of Control system.

Main shaft machining final touches. Bed plate machining and finishing. 

Spray-painting of blades.

Soldering of the Printed Circuit Board.

DRIVE TRAIN ASSEMBLY.

Stage#4 begins.

June 2023

Cable purchase with end connectors.

Yawing system assembly : slew drive with IRE on base plate.

Mr. Souvik Basak (4th year, Mechanical Engineering) presents his paper at OMAE2023 at Melbourne, Australia. 

N.Datta, S. Basak, “Monopile Depth Sizing Of Fixed Offshore Wind Turbines On Indian Territorial Waters: Dynamic Analysis of Towers Under Wind and Ocean Loads”, Proceedings of the 42^nd Intl Conference On Ocean, Offshore & Polar Engg (OMAE2023), Melbourne, Australia, June 11-16, 2023.

Drive Train Assembly.

Nacelle cabling and circuitry.

Nacelle frame and cover packing. Grounding of motors with nacelle.

Nacelle assembly transport to site.

 

Blade transport to site. 

Nacelle rigging. Nacelle installation. 

Floor-testing

On-site circuitry. 

 

Blade fitting.

On-site trials. (Motor Action, Brake Test, Yaw Test, Generator Action)

June 22, 2023, 5:30 PM. Winds rise to 2 m/s. Generator Action Test SUCCESSFUL!

• Super-synchronous RPM in Incremental Rotary encoder (negative slip of induction machine).
• Negative power consumption (i.e., power production) in tri-vector energy meter.
• Wind power converts to 3-phase electrical power and feeds into the grid.

CHAKRA-SINDHU WIND TURBINE : Commissioning and Inauguration.

30th June : GOODBYE ACADEMIA!