5 MW Wind Turbine Annual Energy Production Improvement by Flow Control Devices

Aitor Saenz-Aguirre,Jose Manuel Lopez-Guede,Unai Fernandez-Gamiz,Sergio Fernandez-Resines,Iñigo Aramendia,Ekaitz Zulueta,Javier Sancho

doi:10.3390/proceedings2231452

Aitor Saenz-Aguirre, Jose Manuel Lopez-Guede + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2231452

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Publication Date: Nov 6, 2018
Citations: 3	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of the Basque Country

Abstract

Several flow control devices have been studied in recent years. Majority of them were designed firstly for aeronautical purposes. At present many research is aimed to introduce these devices in wind turbines (WTs) in order to optimize their aerodynamic performance. The main goal of the present work is to analyze the influence of passive flow control devices, Vortex Generators and Gurney Flaps, on the Annual Energy Production (AEP) of a large Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT). Consequently, BEM based calculations were performed in order to study their effect on the NREL offshore 5 MW Baseline Wind Turbine. Obtained results show an increment in the maximum value of the power coefficient, Cp_max, and a considerable improvement of the AEP.

Highlights

Flow control devices are known for their good performance when controlling flow across wind turbines (WTs) blades
2016, at 10 m and 50 m, was obtained from the NASA Earth data website in the location of the Hywind Pilot Park. This data was extrapolated to the hub height (90 m) of the 5 MW NREL reference wind turbine, Jonkman et al [7], and BEM-based calculations were performed based on the algorithm developed by Fernandez-Gamiz et al [8]
Interaction of the passive flow control devices with the WT control system, in terms of unreal wind speed and direction measurements, and their influence on the whole wind farm Annual Energy Production (AEP) is to be studied in future works

Summary

Introduction

Flow control devices are known for their good performance when controlling flow across WT blades. In an attempt to characterize the effect of the GF on the wake left by the turbine blade, Holst et al [6] analyze the structure, velocity and frequencies of the induced vortices Relevancy of this concept lies on the possible influence of the generated turbulent wakes on wind speed and direction measurement devices. 2016, at 10 m and 50 m, was obtained from the NASA Earth data website in the location of the Hywind Pilot Park This data was extrapolated to the hub height (90 m) of the 5 MW NREL reference wind turbine, Jonkman et al [7], and BEM-based calculations were performed based on the algorithm developed by Fernandez-Gamiz et al [8]. Interaction of the passive flow control devices with the WT control system, in terms of unreal wind speed and direction measurements, and their influence on the whole wind farm AEP is to be studied in future works

Wind Turbine Location

Annual Wind Speed Characterization

Simulation of Wind Turbine Energy Production

Conclusions