A case study on optimum tip speed ratio and pitch angle laws for wind turbine rotors operating in yawed conditions

Abstract

The values of the tip speed ratio and blade pitch angle that yield maximum power coefficient are calculated for a rotor operating in yawed conditions. In a first step, the power coefficient is determined using a model based on the blade element momentum theory (BEMT) which includes a Prandtl-Glauert root-tip losses correction, a non-uniform model for the axial and tangential induction factors, and a model of the rotational augmentation effects. The BEMT model is validated with the experimental data from the NREL-UAE. The maximum values of the power coefficient are determined for different yaw angles and the corresponding values of the tip speed ratio and blade control angle are obtained. The maximum power coefficient using these optimum laws is compared to the maximum power coefficient using the optimum laws of the non-yawed case and it is shown that there is a gain in the power coefficient. For the case study presented in this paper it has been found that for yaw angles of 30° about 10% of the power coefficient can be recovered.