Final results from the EU project AVATAR: aerodynamic modelling of 10 MW wind turbines

This paper presents final results from the EU project AVATAR in which aerodynamic models are improved and validated for wind turbines on a scale of 10 MW and more. Special attention is paid to the improvement of low fidelity engineering (BEM based) models with higher fidelity (CFD) models but also with intermediate fidelity free vortex wake (FVW) models. The latter methods were found to be a good basis for improvement of induction modelling in engineering methods amongst others for the prediction of yawed cases, which in AVATAR was found to be one of the most challenging subjects to model. FVW methods also helped to improve the prediction of tip losses. Aero-elastic calculations with BEM based and FVW based models showed that fatigue loads for normal production cases were over predicted with approximately 15% or even more. It should then be realised that the outcome of BEM based models does not only depend on the choice of engineering add-ons (as is often assumed) but it is also heavily dependent on the way the induced velocities are solved. To this end an annulus and element approach are discussed which are assessed with the aid of FVW methods. For the prediction of fatigue loads the so-called element approach is recommended but the derived yaw models rely on an annulus approach which pleads for a generalised solution method for the induced velocities

Latest results from the EU project AVATAR: aerodynamic modelling of 10 MW wind turbines

This paper presents the most recent results from the EU project AVATAR in which aerodynamic models are improved and validated for wind turbines on a scale of 10 MW and more. Measurements on a DU 00-W-212 airfoil are presented which have been taken in the pressurized DNW-HDG wind tunnel up to a Reynolds number of 15 Million. These measurements are compared with measurements in the LM wind tunnel for Reynolds numbers of 3 and 6 Million and with calculational results. In the analysis of results special attention is paid to high Reynolds numbers effects. CFD calculations on airfoil performance showed an unexpected large scatter which eventually was reduced by paying even more attention to grid independency and domain size in relation to grid topology. Moreover calculations are presented on flow devices (leading and trailing edge flaps and vortex generators). Finally results are shown between results from 3D rotor models where a comparison is made between results from vortex wake methods and BEM methods at yawed conditions

Sexual maturation protects against development of lung inflammation through estrogen.

Increasing levels of estrogen and progesterone are suggested to play a role in the gender switch in asthma prevalence during puberty. We investigated whether the process of sexual maturation in mice affects the development of lung inflammation in adulthood and the contributing roles of estrogen and progesterone during this process. By inducing ovalbumin-induced lung inflammation in sexually mature and immature (ovariectomized before sexual maturation) adult mice, we showed that sexually immature adult mice developed more eosinophilic lung inflammation. This protective effect of \u22puberty\u22 appears to be dependent on estrogen, as estrogen supplementation at the time of ovariectomy protected against development of lung inflammation in adulthood whereas progesterone supplementation did not. Investigating the underlying mechanism of estrogen-mediated protection, we found that estrogen-treated mice had higher expression of the anti-inflammatory mediator secretory leukoprotease inhibitor (SLPI) and lower expression of the proasthmatic cytokine IL-33 in parenchymal lung tissue and that their expressions colocalized with type II alveolar epithelial cells (AECII). Treating AECII directly with SLPI significantly inhibited IL-33 production upon stimulation with ATP. Our data suggest that estrogen during puberty has a protective effect on asthma development, which is accompanied by induction of anti-inflammatory SLPI production and inhibition of proinflammatory IL-33 production by AECII

UNAFLOW project: UNsteady Aerodynamics of FLOating Wind turbines

UNAFLOW (UNsteady Aerodynamics for Floating Wind) is a joint EU-IRPWIND founded experiment on wind turbine rotor unsteady aerodynamics. It brings together four different academic contributors: Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN), DTU Wind Energy, University of Stuttgart (USTUTT) and Politecnico di Milano (PoliMi) sharing knowledge both in numerical modelling and in experimental tests design, allowing direct numerical and experimental comparison. The experimental tests carried out for UNAFLOW are of the same type of the ones carried out during the ongoing EU H2020 project LIFES50+ [1], regarding both the unsteady behaviour of the 2d blade section and the entire turbine rotor, although with improved setup and wider test matrix. The project partners are already currently jointly collaborating in the AVATAR project [2], developing and validating numerical models of different accuracy level. The numerical models used in the UNALFOW project range from engineering tool (eg. BEM) to high fidelity CFD methods. Numerical simulations are used both in the design of experiment phase and in the results analysis allowing for an in depth understanding of the experimental findings through advanced modelling approach. The UNAFLOW project, together with a new understanding of the unsteady behaviour of the turbine rotor aerodynamics, will provide also an open database to be shared among the scientific community for future analysis and new models validation

Next-generation text-mining mediated generation of chemical response-specific gene sets for interpretation of gene expression data

Background: Availability of chemical response-specific lists of genes (gene sets) for pharmacological and/or toxic effect prediction for compounds is limited. We hypothesize that more gene sets can be created by next-generation text mining (next-gen TM), and that these can be used with gene set analysis (GSA) methods for chemical treatment identification, for pharmacological mechanism elucidation, and for comparing compound toxicity profiles. Methods. We created 30,211 chemical response-specific gene sets for human and mouse by next-gen TM, and derived 1,189 (human) and 588 (mouse) gene sets from the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD). We tested for significant differential expression (SDE) (false discovery rate -corrected p-values < 0.05) of the next-gen TM-derived gene sets and the CTD-derived gene sets in gene expression (GE) data sets of five chemicals (from experimental models). We tested for SDE of gene sets for six fibrates in a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARA) knock-out GE dataset and compared to results from the Connectivity Map. We tested for SDE of 319 next-gen TM-derived gene sets for environmental toxicants in three GE data sets of triazoles, and tested for SDE of 442 gene sets associated with embryonic structures. We compared the gene sets to triazole effects seen in the Whole Embryo Culture (WEC), and used principal component analysis (PCA) to discriminate triazoles from other chemicals. Results: Next-gen TM-derived gene sets matching the chemical treatment were significantly altered in three GE data sets, and the corresponding CTD-derived gene sets were significantly altered in five GE data sets. Six next-gen TM-derived and four CTD-derived fibrate gene sets were significantly altered in the PPARA knock-out GE dataset. None of the fibrate signatures in cMap scored significant against the PPARA GE signature. 33 environmental toxicant gene sets were significantly altered in the triazole GE data sets. 21 of these toxicants had a similar toxicity pattern as the triazoles. We confirmed embryotoxic effects, and discriminated triazoles from other chemicals. Conclusions: Gene set analysis with next-gen TM-derived chemical response-specific gene sets is a scalable method for identifying similarities in gene responses to other chemicals, from which one may infer potential mode of action and/or toxic effect

A Potent Tartrate Resistant Acid Phosphatase Inhibitor to Study the Function of TRAP in Alveolar Macrophages.

The enzyme tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP, two isoforms 5a and 5b) is highly expressed in alveolar macrophages, but its function there is unclear and potent selective inhibitors of TRAP are required to assess functional aspects of the protein. We found higher TRAP activity/expression in lungs of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma compared to controls and more TRAP activity in lungs of mice with experimental COPD or asthma. Stimuli related to asthma and/or COPD were tested for their capacity to induce TRAP. Receptor activator of NF-κb ligand (RANKL) and Xanthine/Xanthine Oxidase induced TRAP mRNA expression in mouse macrophages, but only RANKL also induced TRAP activity in mouse lung slices. Several Au(III) coordination compounds were tested for their ability to inhibit TRAP activity and [Au(4,4'-dimethoxy-2,2'-bipyridine)Cl2][PF6] (AubipyOMe) was found to be the most potent inhibitor of TRAP5a and 5b activity reported to date (IC50 1.3 and 1.8 μM respectively). AubipyOMe also inhibited TRAP activity in murine macrophage and human lung tissue extracts. In a functional assay with physiological TRAP substrate osteopontin, AubipyOMe inhibited mouse macrophage migration over osteopontin-coated membranes. In conclusion, higher TRAP expression/activity are associated with COPD and asthma and TRAP is involved in regulating macrophage migration

Comparison of 3D transitional CFD simulations for rotating wind turbine wings with measurements:Paper

Since the investigation of van Ingen et al., attempts were undertaken to search for laminar parts within the boundary layer of wind turbines operating in the lower atmosphere with much higher turbulence levels than seen in wind tunnels or at higher altitudes where airplanes usually fly. Based on the results of the DAN-Aero experiment and the Aerodynamic Glove project, a special work package Boundary Layer Transition was embedded in IAEwind Task 29 MexNext 3rd phase (MN3). Here, we report on the results of the application of various CFD tools to predict transition on the MEXICO blade. In addition, recent results from a comparison of thermographic pictures (aimed at detecting transition) with 3D transitional CFD are included as well. The MEXICO (2006) and NEW MEXICO (2014) wind tunnel experiments on a turbine equipped with three 2.5 m blades have been described extensively in the literature. In addition, during MN3, high-frequency Kulite data from experiments were used to detect traces of transitional effects. Complementary, the following set of codes were applied to cases 1.1 and 1.2 (axial inflow with 10 m/s and 15 m/s respectively) – elsA, CFX, OpenFOAM (with 2 different turbulence/transitional models), Ellipsys, (with 2 different turbulence models and eN transition prediction tool), FLOWer and TAU – to search for detection of laminar parts by means of simulation. Obviously, the flow around a rotating blade is much more complicated than around a simple 2D section. Therefore, results for even integrated quantities like thrust and torque are varying strongly. Nevertheless, visible differences between fully turbulent and transitional set-ups are present. We discuss our findings, especially with respect to turbulence and transition models used