Study on Anti-Icing Performance of Biogas-Residue Nano-Carbon Coating for Wind-Turbine Blade

Icing is a common phenomenon in nature and has a serious impact on wind turbines. Anti-icing coatings have become a major focus of industrial applications and academic research. In this study, a hydrophobic nano-carbon coating was prepared from corn-straw-biogas residue. The characterization results of the SEM, BET, FTIR, and XRD analyses showed that the hydrophobic nano-carbon has good pore structure and crystal structure. The hydrophobic and anti-icing effects of the carbon were confirmed by contact-angle measurements and anti-icing experiments. The ice thicknesses of the hydrophobic nano-carbon-coated aluminum-alloy blade (AAB) and bakelite blade (BB) were found to decrease by 1.20 mm and 1.10 mm, respectively, compared with those without coating; their weights decreased by 2.00 g and 1.31 g, respectively. The ratios of the icing areas before and after the hydrophobic nano-carbon coating of the AAB and BB were 8.15% and 9.65%, respectively. In brief, this method is a more effective technique for creating anti-icing coatings on wind-turbine blades and other outdoor apparatus.

Automated summary

In this study, a hydrophobic nano-carbon coating was prepared from corn-straw-biogas residue and showed good pore structure and crystal structure. The hydrophobic and anti-icing effects of the carbon were confirmed by contact-angle measurements and anti-icing experiments. The results showed that the hydrophobic nano-carbon coating could effectively reduce ice thickness and icing areas on wind-turbine blades.