8,205 research outputs found
State of the Art in the Optimisation of Wind Turbine Performance Using CFD
Wind energy has received increasing attention in recent years due to its sustainability and geographically wide availability. The efficiency of wind energy utilisation highly depends on the performance of wind turbines, which convert the kinetic energy in wind into electrical energy. In order to optimise wind turbine performance and reduce the cost of next-generation wind turbines, it is crucial to have a view of the state of the art in the key aspects on the performance optimisation of wind turbines using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), which has attracted enormous interest in the development of next-generation wind turbines in recent years. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art progress on optimisation of wind turbine performance using CFD, reviewing the objective functions to judge the performance of wind turbine, CFD approaches applied in the simulation of wind turbines and optimisation algorithms for wind turbine performance. This paper has been written for both researchers new to this research area by summarising underlying theory whilst presenting a comprehensive review on the up-to-date studies, and experts in the field of study by collecting a comprehensive list of related references where the details of computational methods that have been employed lately can be obtained
Predictive control of wind turbines by considering wind speed forecasting techniques
A wind turbine system is operated such that the points of wind rotor curve and electrical generator curve coincide. In order to obtain maximum power output of a wind turbine generator system, it is necessary to drive the wind turbine at an optimal rotor speed for a particular wind speed. A Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) controller is used for this purpose. In fixed-pitch variable-speed wind turbines, wind-rotor parameters are fixed and the restoring torque of the generator needs to be adjusted to maintain optimum rotor speed at a particular wind speed for optimum power output. In turbulent wind environment, control of variable-speed fixed-pitch wind turbine systems to continuously operate at the maximum power points becomes difficult due to fluctuation of wind speeds. In this paper, wind speed forecasting techniques will be considered for predictive optimum control system of wind turbines
Turbulence-resolving simulations of wind turbine wakes
Turbulence-resolving simulations of wind turbine wakes are presented using a
high--order flow solver combined with both a standard and a novel dynamic
implicit spectral vanishing viscosity (iSVV and dynamic iSVV) model to account
for subgrid-scale (SGS) stresses. The numerical solutions are compared against
wind tunnel measurements, which include mean velocity and turbulent intensity
profiles, as well as integral rotor quantities such as power and thrust
coefficients. For the standard (also termed static) case the magnitude of the
spectral vanishing viscosity is selected via a heuristic analysis of the wake
statistics, while in the case of the dynamic model the magnitude is adjusted
both in space and time at each time step. The study focuses on examining the
ability of the two approaches, standard (static) and dynamic, to accurately
capture the wake features, both qualitatively and quantitatively. The results
suggest that the static method can become over-dissipative when the magnitude
of the spectral viscosity is increased, while the dynamic approach which
adjusts the magnitude of dissipation locally is shown to be more appropriate
for a non-homogeneous flow such that of a wind turbine wake
Effects of POD control on a DFIG wind turbine structural system
This paper investigates the effects power oscillation damping (POD) controller could have on a wind turbine structural system. Most of the published work in this area has been done using relatively simple aerodynamic and structural models of a wind turbine which cannot be used to investigate the detailed interactions between electrical and mechanical components of the wind turbine. Therefore, a detailed model that combines electrical, structural and aerodynamic characteristics of a grid-connected Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) based wind turbine has been developed by adapting the NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) 5MW wind turbine model within FAST (Fatigue, Aerodynamics, Structures, and Turbulence) code. This detailed model is used to evaluate the effects of POD controller on the wind turbine system. The results appear to indicate that the effects of POD control on the WT structural system are comparable or less significant as those caused by wind speed variations. Furthermore, the results also reveal that the effects of a transient three-phase short circuit fault on the WT structural system are much larger than those caused by the POD controller
Towards a Simplified Dynamic Wake Model using POD Analysis
We apply the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) to large eddy simulation
data of a wind turbine wake in a turbulent atmospheric boundary layer. The
turbine is modeled as an actuator disk. Our analyis mainly focuses on the
question whether POD could be a useful tool to develop a simplified dynamic
wake model. The extracted POD modes are used to obtain approximate descriptions
of the velocity field. To assess the quality of these POD reconstructions, we
define simple measures which are believed to be relevant for a sequential
turbine in the wake such as the energy flux through a disk in the wake. It is
shown that only a few modes are necessary to capture basic dynamical aspects of
these measures even though only a small part of the turbulent kinetic energy is
restored. Furthermore, we show that the importance of the individual modes
depends on the measure chosen. Therefore, the optimal choice of modes for a
possible model could in principle depend on the application of interest. We
additionally present a possible interpretation of the POD modes relating them
to specific properties of the wake. For example the first mode is related to
the horizontal large scale movement. Besides yielding a deeper understanding,
this also enables us to view our results in comparison to existing dynamic wake
models
Modeling space-time correlations of velocity fluctuations in wind farms
An analytical model for the streamwise velocity space-time correlations in
turbulent flows is derived and applied to the special case of velocity
fluctuations in large wind farms. The model is based on the Kraichnan-Tennekes
random sweeping hypothesis, capturing the decorrelation in time while including
a mean wind velocity in the streamwise direction. In the resulting model, the
streamwise velocity space-time correlation is expressed as a convolution of the
pure space correlation with an analytical temporal decorrelation kernel. Hence,
the spatio-temporal structure of velocity fluctuations in wind farms can be
derived from the spatial correlations only. We then explore the applicability
of the model to predict spatio-temporal correlations in turbulent flows in wind
farms. Comparisons of the model with data from a large eddy simulation of flow
in a large, spatially periodic wind farm are performed, where needed model
parameters such as spatial and temporal integral scales and spatial
correlations are determined from the large eddy simulation. Good agreement is
obtained between the model and large eddy simulation data showing that spatial
data may be used to model the full temporal structure of fluctuations in wind
farms.Comment: Submitted to Wind Energ
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