5 research outputs found
A Fast and Effective Local Search Algorithm for Optimizing the Placement of Wind Turbines
The placement of wind turbines on a given area of land such that the wind
farm produces a maximum amount of energy is a challenging optimization problem.
In this article, we tackle this problem, taking into account wake effects that
are produced by the different turbines on the wind farm. We significantly
improve upon existing results for the minimization of wake effects by
developing a new problem-specific local search algorithm. One key step in the
speed-up of our algorithm is the reduction in computation time needed to assess
a given wind farm layout compared to previous approaches. Our new method allows
the optimization of large real-world scenarios within a single night on a
standard computer, whereas weeks on specialized computing servers were required
for previous approaches.Comment: 16 pages, 2 algorithms, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Limitations to the validity of single wake superposition in wind farm yield assessment
Commercially available wind yield assessment models rely on superposition of wakes calculated for isolated single turbines. These methods of wake simulation fail to account for emergent flow physics that may affect the behaviour of multiple turbines and their wakes and therefore wind farm yield predictions. In this paper wake-wake interaction is modelled computationally (CFD) and physically (in a hydraulic flume) to investigate physical causes of discrepancies between analytical modelling and simulations or measurements. Three effects, currently neglected in commercial models, are identified as being of importance: 1) when turbines are directly aligned, the combined wake is shortened relative to the single turbine wake; 2) when wakes are adjacent, each will be lengthened due to reduced mixing; and 3) the pressure field of downstream turbines can move and modify wakes flowing close to them