Ultrasonic Bat Deterrent Technology Dr. Kevin Kinzie Myron Miller - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Ultrasonic Bat Deterrent Technology Dr. Kevin Kinzie Myron Miller General Electric Dr. Amanda Hale Dr. Victoria Bennett Texas Christian University Brad Romano Shoener Environmental Inc. Karyn Coppinger Invenergy Dr. John Skalski Skalski
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Designed by Industry Leading Turbine Manufacturer Tested at Major US Wind Farm Evaluated by World Class Biologists and Statisticians 1) Develop causal bat behavioral characteristics to understand:
and in different bat environments (i.e. foraging, near turbines)
with and without the deterrent operating using video imaging and 3D flight mapping 2) Redesign the GE deterrent system based on new behavioral and technology learnings and test the efficacy in a operating wind farm Flight Room Behavioral Testing to Document Response to Ultrasonic Signals Ground Based Testing for Demonstration of Redesigned Deterrent Field Testing of Redesigned Deterrent Installed in Operating Wind Farm 3D Flight Mapping of Bat Motion Around Turbine
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Key Design Criteria
transducer based system
High speed air jet device provides wide frequency range, broad coverage, and reliability
Typical transducer based directivity pattern Directivity pattern of GE device
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Deterrent Off Deterrent On
deterrent device was effective with this application
“During every treatment, bats would move out of the airspace being filled with sound within 5-10 seconds. In most cases they remained at a distance of approximately 40 m away from the device, where they appeared to forage and behave normally. “ – WEST, Inc. Study Report, 2012
IR camera IR light Deterrent
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Pre-2013 Initial deterrent design and pilot testing (WY, IN) 2013 First deployment
effectiveness (IL) 2014 Move/test deterrent placement on turbines, study bat activity (IL) 2015 Develop pulse system; study constant and pulse (TX, IL) 2016 Test pulse signal
and in turbine deployment (IL) Future Available for full-scale deployment at
facilities
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– Equip 12-20 turbines with deterrent, operate at normal cut-in speed – Feather all study turbines below cut-in – Deterrents operational under all wind conditions during nighttime hours for treated turbines – Thermal imaging data to evaluate bat behavior at deterred and non-deterred turbines
– 4-night treatment blocks; 10 of the 20 deterrent-equipped turbines operated as deterrent treatments and the remaining 10 operated as control turbines; Switch control and treatment turbines after 4 nights; visual searches by human searchers
– 6-night treatment blocks; control and treatment groups switched after 3 nights; treatment and control groups re-randomized every 6 days; combination of human and dog/handler search teams (over 95% searcher efficiency)
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➢ 30 – 40% reductions in all-bat estimated fatality rates; ~50% reduction in non-eastern red bats (data dominated by hoary/silver-haired); little to no effect on eastern red bats ➢ Shifts to nozzle placements and nozzle quantity consistently moving effectiveness in desired direction ➢ Similar effectiveness for pulsed and steady systems ➢ Effectiveness is reduced with distance; consistently 20 – 30 meter effective range across all bat activity studies ➢ Bats that do fly through treated airspace have simpler, straighter flights than those passing through same airspace while deterrents off
Approximate fatality reduction
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* = estimated reduction was significantly different than zero (p < 0.05) Error bars +/- 1 standard error
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* = estimated reduction was significantly different than zero (p < 0.05) Error bars +/- 1 standard error
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WIND WIND 15
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