A novel hybrid control strategy of wind turbine wakes in tandem configuration to improve power production

Abstract

The wind turbines that operate in the wake region of the upstream turbines produce less power and may suffer serious structural issues due to highly unsteady flows, which can reduce the life expectancy of the turbines. In this study, a novel hybrid wake control strategy for the wind farm power generation enhancement is proposed, which is based on highly accurate large eddy simulations coupled with the actuator line method. The combined effects of yaw angle and tilt angle control methods on the performance improvement of downstream wind turbines in wind farm layouts have not yet been investigated. This work would be the first attempt to evaluate the hybrid wake-control strategy of tandem wind turbines. It is found that the vortex generation is stronger at lower tilt angles because more parts of the rotor are affected by the wakes of the upstream wind turbine. An optimisation analysis is also provided to find the optimum wake deflection angles of the upstream turbine to maximize the electrical power generation. The results show that an accumulative power production increment of 17.1% is achieved by controlling both yaw angle (θ=30o), and tilt angle (φ=24o). The power obtained in the present study is approximately 6.1% higher than previous wake control techniques. By using the hybrid control strategy, an annual energy production enhancement of 3.7% is achieved, which is higher than the previous wake-controlled wind farm layouts.