CFD modelling of wind flow over complex and rough terrain

A model has been developed using the general-purpose Navier-Stokes solver CFX4 to simulate Atmospheric Boundary Layer flow over complex terrain. This model has been validated against the measured data from the Askervein Hill experiment, and has been shown to perform well. The CFD model is also compared to the WAsP linear model of wind flow over topography, and a significant improvement is noted for flow over complex topography. Boundary conditions, gridding issues and sensitivity to other solver parameters have all been investigated. An advanced roughness model has been developed to simulate flow over forest canopies, using a resistive body force within the canopy volume. The model is validated against measured data for simple 2D cases, and for a complex 3D case over real topography. The model is shown to give a more physically realistic profile for the wind speed in and just above forest canopies than the standard roughness length model used in most CFD simulations. An automated methodology for setting up CFD simulations using the models described has been developed. A custom pre-processing package to implement this has been written, to enable the use of the CFD methodology in a commercial environment

Estimating the potential yield of small building-mounted wind turbines

The wind profile in the urban boundary layer is described as following a logarithmic curve above the mean building height and an exponential curve below it. By considering the urban landscape to be an array of cubes, a method is described for calculating the surface roughness length and displacement height of this profile. Firstly, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model employing a k-ϵ turbulence model is used to simulate the flow around a cube. The results of this simulation are compared with wind tunnel measurements in order to validate the code. Then, the CFD model is used to simulate the wind flow around a simple pitched-roof building, using a semi-logarithmic inflow profile. An array of similar pitched-roof houses is modelled using CFD to determine the flow characteristics within an urban area. Mean wind speeds at potential turbine mounting points are studied, and optimum mounting points are identified for different prevailing wind directions. A methodology is proposed for estimating the energy yield of a building-mounted turbine from simple information such as wind atlas wind speed and building density. The energy yield of a small turbine on a hypothetical house in west London is estimated. The energy yield is shown to be very low, particularly if the turbine is mounted below rooftop height. It should be stressed that the complexity of modelling such urban environments using such a computational model has limitations and results can only be considered approximate, but nonetheless, gives an indication of expected yields within the built environment