Turbulence In Atmospheric Boundary Layer Research Articles

Effect of wind turbine response time on optimal dynamic induction control of wind farms

In this work, we extend recent research efforts on induction-based optimal control in large-eddy simulations of wind farms in the turbulent atmospheric boundary layer. More precisely, we investigate the effect of wind turbine response time to requested power setpoints on achievable power gains. We do this by including a time-filtering of the thrust coefficient setpoints in the optimal control framework. We consider simulation cases restricted to underinduction compared to the Betz limit, as well as cases that also allow overinduction. Optimization results show that, except for the most restrictive underinductive slow-response case, all cases still yield increases in energy extraction in the order of 10% and more.

Jet flow control at the blade scale to manipulate lift

The turbulent atmospheric boundary layer in which wind turbines are implemented is strongly inhomogeneous and unsteady. This induces unsteady mechanical loads at different characteristic time scales from seconds to minutes which limits significantly their life time. Different control strategies have been proposed in the framework of the French ANR SmartEole project to alleviate the impact of these upstream fluctuations at the farm, wind turbine and blade scales (i.e. characteristic time scales from seconds to minutes). The present work, which is part of this ANR project, focuses on the flow control strategies at the blade scale, to manipulate lift and thus alleviate fatigue loads. The design of a NACA654-421 airfoil profile has been modified to be able to implement jet control. Slotted jet and discrete jet configurations were implemented numerically and experimentally respectively. Results show the ability of both configurations to increase the lift by up to 30% using a significant redistribution of the mean shear. Efficiency seems to be more important using slotted jets, which however needs to be confirmed from 3D simulations.

Investigations into the Interaction of a Wind Turbine with Atmospheric Turbulence in Complex Terrain

This paper deals with the Delayed-Detached-Eddy-Simulations (DES) of a generic 2.4 MW wind turbine in a complex terrain site facing a turbulent atmospheric boundary layer. The boundary layer is generated based on measurement data derived at the complex terrain site. Further, the process of data preparation as well as the numerical setup are described. In the results the impact of complex terrain on the flow field is shown and estimations on the influence on the turbine performance are made. Afterwards, simulations of the turbine facing atmospheric inflow in flat and complex terrain are presented. An increase of loads resulting from a speed-up caused by the terrain as well as a clear change in the power spectrum of the turbine become visible in complex terrain compared to flat terrain. This finding is in agreement with the estimations derived previously. Moreover, the impact of inclined inflow caused by the local terrain slope can be seen in the load distribution vs. the azimuth angle, amongst others.

Inflow turbulence generation techniques for large eddy simulation of flow and dispersion around a model building in a turbulent atmospheric boundary layer

The present paper investigates the performance of various inflow turbulence generation techniques (ITGT) for large eddy simulation (LES) of flow and dispersion around a model building in a turbulent atmospheric boundary layer. Four different ITGT comprising 1 – no fluctuations, 2 – spectral method, 3 – vortex method and 4 – internal mapping, based on two basic methodologies (i.e. precursor and synthetic turbulence methods), are employed. These techniques are evaluated by considering their prediction accuracy, computational costs, complexity of implementation, inflow information required to operate and impacts on the flow downstream of the inlet, particularly in the wake region of the model building. Results indicate that the accuracy of LES predictions is greatly reliant on ITGT. It is shown that ITGT not only have significant effects on flow field vortical structures, but also influence frequency contents of velocity fluctuations, recirculation regions and plume shapes in the wake region.

Ergodicity test of the eddy-covariance technique

Abstract. The ergodic hypothesis is a basic hypothesis typically invoked in atmospheric surface layer (ASL) experiments. The ergodic theorem of stationary random processes is introduced to analyse and verify the ergodicity of atmospheric turbulence measured using the eddy-covariance technique with two sets of field observational data. The results show that the ergodicity of atmospheric turbulence in atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is relative not only to the atmospheric stratification but also to the eddy scale of atmospheric turbulence. The eddies of atmospheric turbulence, of which the scale is smaller than the scale of the ABL (i.e. the spatial scale is less than 1000 m and temporal scale is shorter than 10 min), effectively satisfy the ergodic theorems. Under these restrictions, a finite time average can be used as a substitute for the ensemble average of atmospheric turbulence, whereas eddies that are larger than ABL scale dissatisfy the mean ergodic theorem. Consequently, when a finite time average is used to substitute for the ensemble average, the eddy-covariance technique incurs large errors due to the loss of low-frequency information associated with larger eddies. A multi-station observation is compared with a single-station observation, and then the scope that satisfies the ergodic theorem is extended from scales smaller than the ABL, approximately 1000 m to scales greater than about 2000 m. Therefore, substituting the finite time average for the ensemble average of atmospheric turbulence is more faithfully approximate the actual values. Regardless of vertical velocity or temperature, the variance of eddies at different scales follows Monin–Obukhov similarity theory (MOST) better if the ergodic theorem can be satisfied; if not it deviates from MOST. The exploration of ergodicity in atmospheric turbulence is doubtlessly helpful in understanding the issues in atmospheric turbulent observations and provides a theoretical basis for overcoming related difficulties.

A case study of effects of atmospheric boundary layer turbulence, wind speed, and stability on wind farm induced temperature changes using observations from a field campaign

Recent studies using satellite observations show that operational wind farms in west-central Texas increase local nighttime land surface temperature (LST) by 0.31–0.70 °C, but no noticeable impact is detected during daytime, and that the diurnal and seasonal variations in the magnitude of this warming are likely determined by those in the magnitude of wind speed. This paper further explores these findings by using the data from a year-long field campaign and nearby radiosonde observations to investigate how thermodynamic profiles and surface–atmosphere exchange processes work in tandem with the presence of wind farms to affect the local climate. Combined with satellite data analyses, we find that wind farm impacts on LST are predominantly determined by the relative ratio of turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) induced by the wind turbines compared to the background TKE. This ratio explains not only the day–night contrast of the wind farm impact and the warming magnitude of nighttime LST over the wind farms, but also most of the seasonal variations in the nighttime LST changes. These results indicate that the diurnal and seasonal variations in the turbine-induced turbulence relative to the background TKE play an essential role in determining those in the magnitude of LST changes over the wind farms. In addition, atmospheric stability determines the sign and strength of the net downward heat transport as well as the magnitude of the background TKE. The study highlights the need for better understanding of atmospheric boundary layer and wind farm interactions, and for better parameterizations of sub-grid scale turbulent mixing in numerical weather prediction and climate models.

Atmospheric Boundary Layer Structure and Turbulence during Sea Fog on the Southern China Coast

Abstract Small-scale turbulence has an essential role in sea-fog formation and evolution, but is not completely understood. This study analyzes measurements of the small-scale turbulence, together with the boundary layer structure and the synoptic and mesoscale conditions over the life cycle of a cold advection fog event and a warm advection fog event, both off the coast of southern China. The measurement data come from two sites: one on the coast and one at sea. These findings include the following: 1) For cold advection fog, the top can extend above the inversion base, but formation of an overlaying cloud causes the fog to dissipate. 2) For warm advection fog, two layers of low cloud can merge to form deep fog, with the depth exceeding 1000 m, when strong advection of warm moist air produces active thermal-turbulence mixing above the thermal-turbulence interface. 3) Turbulence near the sea surface is mainly thermally driven for cold advection fog, but mechanically driven for warm advection fog. 4) The momentum fluxes of both fog cases are below 0.04 kg m−1 s−2. However, the sensible and latent heat flux differ between the cases: in the cold advection fog case, the sensible and latent heat fluxes are roughly upward, averaging 2.58 and 26.75 W m−2, respectively; however, in the warm advection fog case, the sensible and latent heat flux are mostly downward, averaging −6.98 and −6.22 W m−2, respectively. 5) Low-level vertical advection is important for both fogs, but has a larger influence on fog development in the warm advection fog case.

Wind and Temperature Oscillations Generated by Wave–Turbulence Interactions in the Stably Stratified Boundary Layer

Abstract The authors investigate atmospheric internal gravity waves (IGWs): their generation and induction of global intermittent turbulence in the nocturnal stable atmospheric boundary layer based on the new concept of turbulence generation discussed in a prior paper by Sun et al. The IGWs are generated by air lifted by convergence forced by the colliding background flow and cold currents near the ground. The buoyancy-forced IGWs enhance wind speed at the wind speed wave crests such that the bulk shear instability generates large coherent eddies, which augment local turbulent mixing and vertically redistribute momentum and heat. The periodically enhanced turbulent mixing, in turn, modifies the air temperature and flow oscillations of the original IGWs. These turbulence-forced oscillations (TFOs) resemble waves and coherently transport momentum and sensible heat. The observed momentum and sensible heat fluxes at the IGW frequency, which are due to either the buoyancy-forced IGWs themselves or the TFOs, are larger than turbulent fluxes near the surface. The IGWs enhance not only the bulk shear at the wave crests, but also local shear over the wind speed troughs of the surface IGWs. Temporal and spatial variations of turbulent mixing as a result of this wave-induced turbulent mixing change the mean airflow and the shape of the IGWs.

Towards a Simplified DynamicWake Model Using POD Analysis

We apply a modified proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) to large eddy simulation data of a wind turbine wake in a turbulent atmospheric boundary layer. The turbine is modeled as an actuator disk. Our analysis mainly focuses on the pragmatic identification of spatial modes, which yields a low order description of the wake flow. This reduction to a few degrees of freedom is a crucial first step for the development of simplified dynamic wake models based on modal decompositions. It is shown that only a few modes are necessary to capture the basic dynamical aspects of quantities that are relevant to a turbine in the wake flow. Furthermore, we show that the importance of the individual modes depends on the relevant quantity chosen. Therefore, the optimal choice of modes for a possible model could in principle depend on the application of interest. We additionally present a possible interpretation of the extracted modes by relating them to the specific properties of the wake. For example, the first mode is related to the horizontal large-scale movement.

D-4 風洞実験によるウィングセールの各種パラメータに関する空気力学的研究(流体特性)

Following the 33rd America's Cup which featured a trimaran versus a catamaran, and the recent 34th America's Cup in 2013 featuring AC72 catamarans with multi-element wing sail yachts sailing at unprecendented speeds, interest in wing sail technology has increased substantially. Unfortunately there is currently very little open peer-reviewed literature available with a focus on multi-element wing design for yachts. The limited available literature focuses primarily on the structures of wings and their control, rather than on the aerodynamic design. While there is substantial available literature on the aerodynamic properties of aircrafy wings, the differences in the flow domains between aeroplanes and yachts is significant. A yacht sail will operate in a Reynolds number range of 0.2 to 8 million while aircraft operate regularly in excess of 10 million. Furthermore, yachts operate in the turbulent atmospheric boundary layer and require high maximum lift coefficients at many apparent wind angles, and minimizing drag is not so critical. This paper reviews the literature on wing sail design for high performance yachts and discusses the results of wind tunnel testing. Two wings with different symmetrical profiles have been tested at low Reynolds number with surface pressure measurements to measure the effect of gap geometry, angle of attack and camber on a wing sail's performance characteristic. It has been found that for the two element wing studied, the gap size and pivot point of the rear element have only a weak influence on the lift and drag coefficients. Reynolds number has a strong effect on separation for highly cambered foils.

An investigation of fluttering piezoelectric energy harvesters in off-axis and turbulent flows

The response of a fluttering piezoelectric energy harvester was studied in smooth flow and in aspects of replicated Atmospheric Boundary Layer turbulence (12.7% intensity, 310-mm longitudinal integral length scale). The harvester was yawed and pitched, and the effects on the power output were examined. Key findings were the following: (1) off-axis flow conditions rapidly degraded the mean output power of the harvester; (2) turbulence, for this specific harvester, acted similarly to a dynamic damping mechanism; (3) for on-axis flow, turbulence degraded the power outputs relative to smooth flow and for off-axis flow, the turbulence enhanced the power outputs relative to smooth flow. Future challenges include determination of harvester efficiencies, and analysis of fatigue-induced performance degradation.

A Lévy Based Approach to Random Vector Fields: With a View Towards Turbulence

Abstract Using integration of deterministic, matrix-valued functions with respect to vector-valued, volatility modulated Lévy bases, we construct random vector fields on R n . In the statistically homogeneous case, the vector field is given as a convolution. With applications to turbulence in mind, the convolution kernel is expressed in terms of the energy spectrum. The theory is applied to atmospheric boundary layer turbulence where, in particular, the Shkarofsky correlation family (a generalisation of the Matérn correlation family) is shown to fit the data well. A modification of the Shkarofsky correlation family, which reproduces a more rigorously derived result on the small-scale behaviour of fully developed turbulence, is introduced. Since turbulence possesses structure across a wide range of length scales, simulation is non-trivial. Using a smooth partition of unity, a simple algorithm is derived to decompose the simulation problem into computationally tractable subproblems. Applications within the wind energy industry are suggested.

Implications of Stably Stratified Atmospheric Boundary Layer Turbulence on the Near-Wake Structure of Wind Turbines

Turbulence structure in the wake behind a full-scale horizontal-axis wind turbine under the influence of real-time atmospheric inflow conditions has been investigated using actuator-line-model based large-eddy-simulations. Precursor atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) simulations have been performed to obtain mean and turbulence states of the atmosphere under stable stratification subjected to two different cooling rates. Wind turbine simulations have revealed that, in addition to wind shear and ABL turbulence, height-varying wind angle and low-level jets are ABL metrics that influence the structure of the turbine wake. Increasing stability results in shallower boundary layers with stronger wind shear, steeper vertical wind angle gradients, lower turbulence, and suppressed vertical motions. A turbulent mixing layer forms downstream of the wind turbines, the strength and size of which decreases with increasing stability. Height dependent wind angle and turbulence are the ABL metrics influencing the lateral wake expansion. Further, ABL metrics strongly impact the evolution of tip and root vortices formed behind the rotor. Two factors play an important role in wake meandering: tip vortex merging due to the mutual inductance form of instability and the corresponding instability of the turbulent mixing layer.

POD Analysis of a Wind Turbine Wake in a Turbulent Atmospheric Boundary Layer

The wake of a single wind turbine is modeled using an actuator disk model and large eddy simulations. As inflow condition a numerically generated turbulent atmospheric boundary layer is used.The proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) is applied to a plane perpendicular to the main flow in the far wake of the turbine. Reconstructions of the field are investigated depending on the numbers of POD modes used. Even though a great number of modes is needed to recover a great part of the turbulent kinetic energy, our results indicate that relevant aspects of a wake flow can be recovered using only a few modes. Particularly, the dynamics of the average velocity over a potential disk in the wake can partially be captured using only three modes.

Measurement of atmospheric boundary layer based on super-large-scale particle image velocimetry using natural snowfall

We present an implementation of super-large-scale particle image velocimetry (SLPIV) to characterize spatially the turbulent atmospheric boundary layer using natural snowfall as flow tracers. The SLPIV technique achieves a measurement area of ~22 m × 52 m, up to 56 m above the ground, with a spatial resolution of ~0.34 m. The traceability of snow particles is estimated based on their settling velocity obtained from the wall-normal component of SLPIV velocity measurements. The results are validated using coincident measurements from sonic anemometers on a meteorological tower situated in close proximity to the SLPIV sampling area. A contrast of the mean velocity and the streamwise Reynolds stress component obtained from the two techniques shows less than 3 and 12 % difference, respectively. Additionally, the turbulent energy spectra measured by SLPIV show a similar inertial subrange and trends when compared to those measured by the sonic anemometers.

An actuator sector method for efficient transient wind turbine simulation

AbstractThis paper investigates a new method for transient simulation of flow through a wind turbine using an actuator technique. The aim, in the context of wind turbine wake simulation, is to develop an alternative to the widely used actuator disc model with an increased resolution and range of applications, for the same or less computational expense. In this new model, the actuator sector method, forces applied to the fluid are distributed azimuthally to maintain a continuous flow solution for increased time‐step intervals compared with the actuator line method. Actuator sector results are presented in comparison with actuator disc and actuator line models initially for a non‐dimensionalized turbine in laminar onset flow. Subsequent results are presented for a turbine operating in a turbulent atmospheric boundary layer. Results show significant increases in flow fidelity compared with actuator disc model results; this includes the resolution of diametric variation in rotor loading caused by horizontal or vertical wind shear and the helical vortex system shed from the turbine blade tips. Significant reductions in computational processing time were achieved with wake velocities and turbulence statistics comparable with actuator line model results. The actuator sector method offers an improved alternative to applications employing conventional actuator disc models, with little or no additional computational cost. This technique in conjunction with a Cartesian mesh‐based parallel flow solver leads to efficient simulation of turbines in atmospheric boundary layer flows. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A concurrent precursor inflow method for Large Eddy Simulations and applications to finite length wind farms

In order to enable simulations of developing wind turbine array boundary layers with highly realistic inflow conditions a concurrent precursor method for Large Eddy Simulations is proposed. In this method we consider two domains simultaneously, i.e. in one domain a turbulent Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) without wind turbines is simulated in order to generate the turbulent inflow conditions for a second domain in which the wind turbines are placed. The benefit of this approach is that a) it avoids the need for large databases in which the turbulent inflow conditions are stored and the correspondingly slow I/O operations and b) we are sure that the simulations are not negatively affected by statically swept fixed inflow fields or synthetic fields lacking the proper ABL coherent structures. Sample applications are presented, in which, in agreement with field data a strong decrease of the power output of downstream wind-turbines with respect to the first row of wind-turbines is observed for perfectly aligned inflow.

On the Development of a Dynamic Non-linear Closure for Large-Eddy Simulation of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

A dynamic procedure is developed to compute the model coefficients in the recently introduced modulated gradient models for both momentum and scalar fluxes. The magnitudes of the subgrid-scale (SGS) stress and the SGS flux are estimated using the local equilibrium hypothesis, and their structures (relative magnitude of each of the components) are given by the normalized gradient terms, which are derived from the Taylor expansion of the exact SGS stress/flux. Previously, the two model coefficients have been specified on the basis of theoretical arguments. Here, we develop a dynamic SGS procedure, wherein the model coefficients are computed dynamically according to the statistics of the resolved turbulence, rather than provided a priori or ad hoc. Results show that the two dynamically calculated coefficients have median values that are approximately constant throughout the turbulent atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), and their fluctuations follow a near log-normal distribution. These findings are consistent with the fact that, unlike eddy-viscosity/diffusivity models, modulated gradient models have been found to yield satisfactory results even with constant model coefficients. Results from large-eddy simulations of a neutral ABL and a stable ABL using the new closure show good agreement with reference results, including well-established theoretical predictions. For instance, the closure delivers the expected surface-layer similarity profiles and power-law scaling of the power spectra of velocity and scalar fluctuations. Further, the Lagrangian version of the model is tested in the neutral ABL case, and gives satisfactory results.

Momentum and buoyancy transfer in atmospheric turbulent boundary layer over wavy water surface – Part 2: Wind–wave spectra

Abstract. Drag and mass exchange coefficients are calculated within a self-consistent problem for the wave-induced air perturbations and mean velocity and density fields using a quasi-linear model based on the Reynolds equations with down-gradient turbulence closure. This second part of the report is devoted to specification of the model elements: turbulent transfer coefficients and wave number-frequency spectra. It is shown that the theory agrees with laboratory and field experimental data well when turbulent mass and momentum transfer coefficients do not depend on the wave parameters. Among several model spectra better agreement of the theoretically calculated drag coefficients with TOGA (Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere) COARE (Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment) data is achieved for the Hwang spectrum (Hwang, 2005) with the high frequency part completed by the Romeiser spectrum (Romeiser et al., 1997).

Momentum and buoyancy transfer in atmospheric turbulent boundary layer over wavy water surface – Part 1: Harmonic wave

Abstract. The surface-drag and mass-transfer coefficients are determined within a self-consistent problem of wave-induced perturbations and mean fields of velocity and density in the air, using a quasi-linear model based on the Reynolds equations with down-gradient turbulence closure. Investigation of a harmonic wave propagating along the wind has disclosed that the surface drag is generally larger for shorter waves. This effect is more pronounced in the unstable and neutral stratification. The stable stratification suppresses turbulence, which leads to weakening of the momentum and mass transfer.