Upstream Turbine Research Articles

Periodic dynamic induction control of wind farms: proving the potential in simulations and wind tunnel experiments

Abstract. As wind turbines in a wind farm interact with each other, a control problem arises that has been extensively studied in the literature: how can we optimize the power production of a wind farm as a whole? A traditional approach to this problem is called induction control, in which the power capture of an upstream turbine is lowered for the benefit of downstream machines. In recent simulation studies, an alternative approach, where the induction factor is varied over time, has shown promising results. In this paper, the potential of this dynamic induction control (DIC) approach is further investigated. Only periodic variations, where the input is a sinusoid, are studied. A proof of concept for this periodic DIC approach will be given by the execution of scaled wind tunnel experiments, showing for the first time that this approach can yield power gains in real-world wind farms. Furthermore, the effects on the damage equivalent loads (DEL) of the turbine are evaluated in a simulation environment. These indicate that the increase in DEL on the excited turbine is limited.

Wind Farm Yaw Optimization via Random Search Algorithm

One direction in optimizing wind farm production is reducing wake interactions from upstream turbines. This can be done by optimizing turbine layout as well as optimizing turbine yaw and pitch angles. In particular, wake steering by optimizing yaw angles of wind turbines in farms has received significant attention in recent years. One of the challenges in yaw optimization is developing fast optimization algorithms which can find good solutions in real-time. In this work, we developed a random search algorithm to optimize yaw angles. Optimization was performed on a layout of 39 turbines in a 2 km by 2 km domain. Algorithm specific parameters were tuned for highest solution quality and lowest computational cost. Testing showed that this algorithm can find near-optimal (<1% of best known solutions) solutions consistently over multiple runs, and that quality solutions can be found under 200 iterations. Empirical results show that as wind farm density increases, the potential for yaw optimization increases significantly, and that quality solutions are likely to be plentiful and not unique.

Wake meandering effects on floating wind turbines

AbstractAs more floating farms are being developed, the wake interaction between multiple floating wind turbines (FWTs) is becoming increasingly relevant. FWTs have long natural periods in certain degrees of freedom, and the large‐scale movement of the wake, known as wake meandering, occurs at very low frequencies. In this study, we use FAST.Farm to simulate a two‐turbine case with three different FWT concepts: a semisubmersible (semi), a spar, and a tension leg platform (TLP), separated by eight rotor diameters in the wind direction. Since wake meandering varies depending on the environmental conditions, three different wind speeds (for all three concepts) as well as two different turbulence levels (for the semi) are considered. For the below‐rated wind speed, when wake meandering was most extreme, yaw motion standard deviations for the downstream semi were approximately 40% greater in high turbulence and over 100% greater in low turbulence when compared with the upstream semi. The low yaw natural frequency (0.01 Hz) of the semi was excited by meandering, while quasi‐static responses resulted in approximately 20% increases in yaw motion standard deviations for the spar and TLP. Differences in fatigue loading between the upstream and downstream turbines for the mooring line tension and tower base fore‐aft bending moment mostly depended on the velocity deficit and were not directly affected by meandering. However, wake meandering did affect fatigue loading related to the tower top yaw moment and the blade root out‐of‐plane moment.

Lidar assisted wake redirection in wind farms: A data driven approach

Lidar based wind measurement is an integral part of wind farm control. The major issues and challenges in power maximization include the potential losses due to wake effect observed among wind turbines. This manuscript presents a wake management technique that utilizes lidar simulations for wake redirection. The proposed methodology is validated for 2-turbine and 15-turbine wind farm layouts involving a PI control based yaw angle correction. Yaw angle misalignment using wake center tracking of the upstream turbines is used to increase the power generation levels. Results of wake center estimation are compared with a Kalman filter based method. Further, the velocity deficit and overall farm power improvement by yaw angle correction is calculated. Results reveal a 1.7% and 0.675% increase in total wind farm power for two different wind speed cases.

Turbine Wake Deflection Measurement in a Wind Tunnel with a Lidar WindScanner

Wind turbines are typically closely spaced in wind farms, and thus operate in the wake of upstream turbines and experience power losses. Currently, one of the techniques to reduce the wake interaction between turbines within a wind farm is to yaw the upstream turbine with regards to the incident wind direction. The objective is to deflect the wake, which can potentially increase the overall power output and the annual energy production of the wind farm. Experimental data can aid the process to thoroughly analyse the wake deflection under different inflow conditions, which is necessary to apply a yaw-based wind farm control model. The aim of the present research is to investigate the possibility and accuracy of the experimental setup to measure the wake characteristics with a high spatial and temporal resolution through the use of a short-range Lidar WindScanner, within the wind tunnel of ForWind-Oldenburg. This technique provides the opportunity to analyse the flow structures at different operational and inflow conditions in a relative fast manner without disturbing the flow. Experiments were conducted using a model wind turbine in a large cross-section wind tunnel. The short-range Lidar WindScanner is used as the primary instrument to map the wind turbine wake at different downstream locations. The flow structures of the wake were measured from 1 D up to 10 D downstream of the turbine rotor. A stable flow within the wind tunnel segment is measured, which is crucial for the analyses of the evolution of the wake. In addition, a high detailed spatial resolution of the wake profile is observed, showing the symmetric and asymmetric behaviour of the wake, for unyawed and yawed conditions, respectively. Furthermore, the calculation of the thrust coefficient from the velocity data show expected behaviour, giving further credibility to the measurement technique.

The effect of minimum thrust coefficient control strategy on power output and loads of a wind farm

The use of down-regulation control strategies for wind turbines potentially optimises the wind farm performance. One of the promising strategies to minimise the wind farm loads and maximise the energy production is by down-regulating the upstream turbine with minimum thrust coefficient (Ct ). Nonetheless, a majority of minimum Ct control studies is confined to fatigue load analysis of a single turbine. Therefore, this paper focuses on the investigation of the fatigue loads when operating turbines in a wind farm using a minimum Ct control strategy, as well as extreme loads and energy production. The control strategy is implemented in the DTU Wind Energy controller coupled with the aero-elastic code, HAWC2. The Dynamic Wake Meandering model in HAWC2 is used so that the wake deficits generated from the upstream turbines realistically represent the minimum Ct control strategy, as well as the interactions between wakes. The main contribution of this paper is to investigate the possible wind farm operating strategy using minimum Ct control that leads to decrease the lifetime fatigue loads and increase the overall energy production of a wind farm due to the potential extended lifetime of certain wind turbine components.

Field Validation of Wake Steering Control with Wind Direction Variability

Wake steering is a wind farm control strategy wherein upstream turbines are misaligned with the wind direction to redirect their wakes away from downstream turbines, increasing overall wind plant power. Wake steering is often analyzed assuming steady mean wind directions across the wind farm. However, in practice, the wind direction varies considerably over time because of large-scale weather phenomena. Wind direction variability causes the increase in power production from wake-steering to be less than predicted by steady-state models, but more robust wake-steering strategies can be designed that account for variable wind conditions. This paper compares the achieved yaw offsets and power gains from two different 2-turbine wake-steering experiments at a commercial wind farm with model predictions using the FLOw Redirection and Induction in Steady State (FLORIS) control-oriented model, assuming both fixed and variable wind directions. The impact of wind direction variability is modeled by including wind direction and yaw uncertainty in the FLORIS calculations. The field results match the trends predicted, assuming wind direction variability. Specifically, the yaw offsets achieved in the intended control regions are lower than desired, resulting in less power gain, while a slight loss in power occurs for wind directions outside of the intended control region because of unintentional yaw misalignment. The agreement between the model and field results suggests that the wind direction variability model can be used to design wake-steering controllers that are more robust to variable wind conditions present in the field.

Transient analysis of upstream wake inside turbine blade passage with purge flow

Secondary air bled from the compressor which bypasses the combustion chamber is used to seal the turbine components from incoming hot gas. Interaction of this secondary air (also known as purge flow) with the mainstream flow can alter the flow characteristics of turbine blade passage. This paper presents numerical investigation of interaction between ejected purge flow and mainstream flow in the presence of upstream disturbances/wakes. Steady as well as unsteady simulations are carried out using Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes equations and SST turbulence model. The numerical results are validated with experimental measurements obtained at the blade exit region using an L shaped 5 hole probe and Scanivalve. Upstream wakes are generated by a circular cylinder, kept upstream of blade leading edge at different pitch-wise positions. For transient analysis cylinders are kept at stagnation line (STW) and middle of the blade passage (MW). The analysis reveals the interaction effects of two more additional vortices, viz. the cylinder vortex (Vc) and the purge vortex (Vp). Steady state analysis shows an increase in the underturning at blade exit due to the squeezing of the pressure side leg (PSL) of horse shoe vortex towards the pressure surface by the cylinder vortices (Vp). The unsteady analysis reveals the formation of filament shaped wake structures which breaks into smaller vortical structures at the blade leading edge for STW configuration. These filaments lead to the formation of additional pressure surface vortices. On the contrary, in MW configuration, the obstruction created by the purge flow causes the upper portion of cylinder vortices bend forward, creating a shearing action along the spanwise direction. In MW configuration, the horse shoe vortices generated from the upstream cylinder are broken by the purge vortex whereas in the STW configuration it slides over the purge vortex and move towards the suction surface under the influence of the pitchwise pressure gradient.

Blockage effects in wind farms

AbstractAn experimental study of wind farm blockage has been performed to quantify the velocity decrease that the first row of a wind farm experiences due to the presence of the other turbines downstream. The general perception has been that turbines downstream of the first row are only influenced by the wakes from upstream turbines without any upstream effect. In the present study, an attempt is made to demonstrate the existence of a two‐way coupling between individual turbines and turbines in the wind farm. Several staggered layouts were tested in the wind tunnel experiments by changing the spacing between rows, spacing between turbines in the rows, and the amount of wind turbines involved. The experiments focused on turbines located in the center of the first row as well as the two turbines located in the row edges, usually believed to experience a speedup. The present results show that no speedup is present and that all the turbines in the first row are subjected to a reduced wind speed. This phenomenon has been considered to be due to “global blockage.” An empirical correlation formula between spacing, number of rows, and velocity decrease is proposed to quantify such effect for the center turbine as well as for the turbines at the edges.

Investigation of wind turbine wake superposition models using Reynolds‐averaged Navier‐Stokes simulations

AbstractIt is well accepted that the wakes created by upstream turbines significantly impact on the power production and fatigue loading of downstream turbines and that this phenomenon affects wind farm performance. Improving the understanding of wake effects and overall efficiency is critical for the optimisation of layout and operation of increasingly large wind farms. In the present work, the NREL 5‐MW reference turbine was simulated using blade element embedded Reynolds‐averaged Navier‐Stokes computations in sheared onset flow at three spatial configurations of two turbines at and above rated flow speed to evaluate the effects of wakes on turbine performance and subsequent wake development. Wake recovery downstream of the rearward turbine was enhanced due to the increased turbulence intensity in the wake, although in cases where the downstream turbine was laterally offset from the upstream turbine this resulted in relatively slower recovery. Three widely used wake superposition models were evaluated and compared with the simulated flow‐field data. It was found that when the freestream hub‐height flow speed was at the rated flow speed, the best performing wake superposition model varied depending according to the turbine array layout. However, above rated flow speed where the wake recovery distance is reduced, it was found that linear superposition of single turbine velocity deficits was the best performing model for all three spatial layouts studied.

Designing wind turbine rotor blades to enhance energy capture in turbine arrays

An inverse design approach is proposed to compute wind turbine blade geometries which maximize the aggregate power output from a wind farm. An iterative inverse algorithm is used to solve the optimization problem. The algorithm seeks to minimize the target function, f=−CP,av, where CP,av is the average normalized mechanical power of all the turbines in the wind farm. An upper bound on the blade planform area, representative of the blade weight, is imposed to demonstrate how to incorporate constraints in the design process. The power coefficients (CP) of the turbines in the farm are computed by solving the Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes equations with the turbine rotors modeled as momentum sources using the actuator disk model. The inverse design is carried out using the trust-region-reflective method, which is a nonlinear least squares regression solver. The computation cost is reduced by computing the Jacobian once every few iterations and approximating it using Broyden's method in between. The proposed design approach is first demonstrated to maximize the isolated performance of single- and dual-rotor wind turbines and subsequently used to design the blades for a 3-turbine array and a ten-turbine array in which the downstream turbines operate directly in the wake of the upstream turbines. For a turbine-turbine spacing of four rotor diameters, the farm-optimized blade designs increase the farm power output by over five percent and the optimized blade geometries are found to be considerably different from the blade geometry optimized for isolated turbine operation. As the turbine-turbine spacing is increased to eight rotor diameters, the difference between the blade geometry optimized for farm operation versus that for isolated operation, is reduced.

A numerical study of tilt‐based wake steering using a hybrid free‐wake method

AbstractThis study investigates the potential of using tilt‐based wake steering to alleviate wake shielding problems experienced by downwind turbines. Numerical simulations of turbine wakes have been conducted using a hybrid free‐wake analysis combining vortex lattice method (VLM) and an innovative free‐wake model called constant circulation contour method (CCCM). Simulation results indicate tilting a horizontal axis wind turbine's shaft upward causes its wake to ascend, carrying energy‐depleted air upward and pumping more energetic replacement air into downstream turbines, thereby having the potential to recover downstream turbine power generation. Wake cross section vorticity and velocity distributions reveal that the wake upward transport is caused by the formation of near‐wake streamwise vorticity components, and furthermore, the wake velocity deficit is weakened because of the skewed wake structure. Beyond the single turbine wake simulation, an inline two‐turbine case is performed as an assessment of the wake steering influence on the two‐turbine system and as an exploratory work of simulating turbine‐wake interactions using the hybrid free‐wake model. Individual and total turbine powers are calculated. A comparison between different tilting angles suggests turbine power enhancement may be achieved by tilting the upstream turbine and steering its wakes away from the downstream turbine.

Three tidal turbines in interaction: An experimental study of turbulence intensity effects on wakes and turbine performance

The development of marine current turbine arrays depends on the understanding of the interaction effects that exist between turbines in close proximity. Moreover, the ambient turbulence intensity also plays a major role in the behaviour of tidal turbines. Thus it is necessary to take ambient turbulence into account when studying interaction effects between several turbines. In order to highlight these interaction effects, experiments have been carried out in the IFREMER flume tank. These experiments focus on interactions between three horizontal axis turbines. This paper presents the experimental results obtained for three configurations with two ambient turbulence intensity rates.The results are presented in terms of turbine wakes and performance. The wake characterisation presents complex features for the three configurations and the lowest ambient turbulence rate: upstream turbines wakes are still present at the location of the downstream turbine and their wakes can interact or merge, depending on the tested configurations. On the contrary, for the highest turbulence rate, the downstream turbine wake is not affected in his shape by the two upstream ones which are not visible any more. In fact, as already observed in the previous studies of Mycek et al. [1, 2], the wake shape rapidly spreads out in the stream-wise direction behind the turbines. However, the velocity deficit and the turbulence intensity are higher for the downstream turbine comparing to the upstream ones. In terms of performance, one tested case presents an increase of the downstream turbine power production: when this turbine is exactly in the centre of the two upstream turbines and for the lowest turbulence rate only. A small misalignment of the layout axis with respect to the tidal current may result in a decrease of performance at the end. An analysis of the power spectral density functions of the downstream turbine torque and thrust shows that no signature of the upstream turbines can be found in these answers. Furthermore, the same spectral analysis carried out on the velocity measurements shows no signature of the upstream turbines either, from 3 diameters distance. This result is noticeable for the highest and the lowest tested turbulence cases and whatever the turbines configuration is.

Analysis of wake effects on global responses for a floating two-turbine case

While most existing modeling and analysis of floating wind turbines (FWTs) considers isolated systems, interactions among multiple FWTs arranged in an array have received little attention. In this study, two 10 MW semi-submersible FWTs, separated by 8 rotor diameters (D) in the wind direction, are simulated with an ambient wind speed of 10 m/s and in moderate wave conditions using FAST. Farm to investigate the effects of wakes on global responses. Synthetic inflow is generated using three methods: the Kaimal turbulence model, 1) without and 2) with spatial coherence in the lateral and vertical velocity components, and 3) the Mann turbulence model (where spatial coherence in all three dimensions is inherent to the model). The first method results in negligible wake meandering, a relatively uniform wake deficit, while the second and third methods result in meandering of the upstream turbine’s lateral wake center at the downstream turbine’s rotor plane of up to approximately 1D and 1.5D, respectively. The slow meandering behavior of the upstream turbine’s wake resulted in increased low-frequency platform motions for the downstream turbine. Yaw motions were especially susceptible to wake meandering as the standard deviation of the downstream turbine’s yaw motion increased by 28.0 % for the second method and 11.3 % for the third method. Increased low-frequency response in structural loading was also observed. Wake effects led to between 2 % and 30 % greater fatigue damage at the top of the tower for all three methods and at the base of the tower for the second method. However, other results were found to be sensitive to the blade-passing frequency.

Performance analysis of multi-row vertical axis hydrokinetic turbine–straight blade cascaded (VAHT-SBC) turbines array

Due to its high energy concentration, hydrokinetic energy from tidal and rivers flow provides great expectation. One of the effective ways to meet the energy production target is to reduce the installation and maintenance effort arranging turbines in such configuration, known as hydrokinetic turbine array. The performance of array configuration is affected by turbine position and rotational direction. This research provides a comprehensive analysis of the effect of turbine rotational direction and position on the array performance. The experimental study and URANS simulation were carried out to gain deeper information. This previous study proposed 3 side-by-side configurations, i.e. Co-rotating” (Co), “counter-rotating-in” (CtI) and “counter-rotating-out” (CtO) and the current study proposed 2 multi-row configurations, i.e. 3T-A and 3T-B. The comprehensive information is provided. Both experimental and numerical study confirmed that the velocity superposition in the interaction zone gives the constructive effect on turbine performance. All site-by-site configurations is able to enhance farm effectiveness. Co configuration is recommended to install in the resource having unpredictable flow direction. However, the CtI is for canal or river since it has better performance. The study for multi-row configuration shows that the downstream turbine has performance decrement due to the bad effect of the upstream turbine wake.

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Wake Interactions of Marine Hydrokinetic Turbines

To study the performance and environmental impacts of marine hydrokinetic (MHK) turbine arrays, we carry out an investigation based on laboratory experiments and numerical models able to resolve the dynamics of turbulent wake interactions and their effects on the river bed. We investigate a scaled Sabella D10 mounted on a mobile bed for a single and two aligned turbines, measuring the flow velocity, the rotor angular velocity, and the scour on the sediment bed. Numerical simulations are performed using a detached-eddy simulation (DES) turbulence model coupled with the blade-element momentum (BEM) approach, which can capture the mean flow and resolve the dynamics of turbulent coherent structures in the wakes. The simulations show a good agreement on the velocity statistics obtained experimentally. Power and thrust coefficients for the downstream turbine show an average decrease and a larger variability due to the turbulent intensity produced by the upstream turbine, as compared to the single turbine case. Results of this investigation also provide a framework to assess the predictive capabilities, scope, and applicability of computational models parameterizing the turbines using BEM, for testing different turbine designs and siting strategies within the MHK array.

Numerical Investigation on the Effects of Cavity-Blowing Jet on Intermediate Turbine Duct Flowfield

Intermediate turbine duct is an important part of engine, which guides the hot gas from upstream high-pressure turbine to downstream low-pressure turbine without much loss. To promise such goal, much work has been done to investigate flow mechanism in this kind of duct as well as its design criterion with numerical and experimental methods. Usually intermediate turbine duct simplified from real engine structure was adopted with upstream and downstream blades. However, cavity-blowing jet exists to disturb the duct flow field in real engine to change its performance. Naturally, the wall vortex pair would develop in different ways. In addition to that, the blowing jet flow rate changes at different engine representative operating conditions. This paper deals with the influence of cavity-blowing jet on the aerodynamic performance of an aggressive intermediate turbine duct. The objective is to reveal the physical mechanism of blowing jet ejected from the wheel-space and its effects on the duct flow field. First, ten cases with and without cavity are simulated simultaneously. On one hand, the influence of cavity structure without blowing jet on the flow field inside duct would be discussed. On the other hand, the effect of blowing jet rate on flow field could be analyzed to investigate the mechanisms at different engine operating conditions. Second, seventy other more configurations with different cavity inlet swirl angle have been discussed to study its influence on the flow mechanisms in the ducts.

Estimating an Optimal Multiple Savonius Wind Turbines Layout by CFD Velocity Pattern Analysis

Proper arrangement of multiple VAWT turbines has been known to have increased the overall power efficiency. The challenge is how to optimally place each turbine within a given location such that the overall performance is improved. This paper presents a methodology by which the placement of individual turbine is determined by the location of vortices created by the upstream turbine. This analysis is carried out by using commercial CFD solver via sliding mesh approach. To clearly observe the creation of wake and vortices by an isolated Savonius turbine, the extra fine mesh was defined outside the rotating zone of the computational domain. The resulted velocity pattern generated shows an area of the high vortex created at the tip of advancing blade at a certain rotor angle. However, the returning blade generates a weaker vortex. The placement of consecutive Savonius wind turbine is, therefore, should be at an angle ranges between 20° to 90° with respect to the advancing blade of the upstream turbine. The analyses on two-turbine, three-turbines and nine turbines in V formation have shown an improvement up to 11% in the overall power efficiency.

Aerodynamically Interacting Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines: Performance Enhancement and Three-Dimensional Flow

This study examined three-dimensional, volumetric mean velocity fields and corresponding performance measurements for an isolated vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) and for co- and counter-rotating pairs of VAWTs with varying incident wind direction and turbine spacings. The purpose was to identify turbine configurations and flow mechanisms that can improve the power densities of VAWT arrays in wind farms. All experiments were conducted at a Reynolds number of R e D = 7.3 × 10 4 . In the paired arrays, performance enhancement was observed for both the upstream and downstream turbines. Increases in downstream turbine performance correlate with bluff–body accelerations around the upstream turbine, which increase the incident freestream velocity on the downstream turbine in certain positions. Decreases in downstream turbine performance are determined by its position in the upstream turbine’s wake. Changes in upstream turbine performance are related to variations in the surrounding flow field due to the presence of the downstream rotor. For the most robust array configuration studied, an average 14% increase in array performance over approximately a 50° range of wind direction was observed. Additionally, three-dimensional vortex interactions behind pairs of VAWT were observed that can replenish momentum in the wake by advection rather than turbulent diffusion. These effects and their implications for wind-farm design are discussed.

Tip-vortex instabilities of two in-line wind turbines

The hydrodynamic stability of a vortex system behind two in-line wind turbines operating at low tip-speed ratios is investigated using the actuator-line method in conjunction with the spectral-element flow solver Nek5000. To this end, a simplified setup with two identical wind turbine geometries rotating at the same tip-speed ratio is simulated and compared with a single turbine wake. Using the rotating frame of reference, a steady solution is obtained, which serves as a base state to study the growth mechanisms of induced perturbations to the system. It is shown that, already in the steady state, the tip vortices of the two turbines interact with each other, exhibiting the so-called overtaking phenomenon. Hereby, the tip vortices of the upstream turbine overtake those of the downstream turbine repeatedly. By applying targeted harmonic excitations at the upstream turbine’s blade tips a variety of modes are excited and grow with downstream distance. Dynamic mode decomposition of this perturbed flow field showed that the unstable out-of-phase mode is dominant, both with and without the presence of the second turbine. The perturbations of the upstream turbine’s helical vortex system led to the destabilization of the tip vortices shed by the downstream turbine. Two distinct mechanisms were observed: for certain frequencies the downstream turbine’s vortices oscillate in phase with the vortex system of the upstream turbine while for other frequencies a clear out-of-phase behaviour is observed. Further, short-wave instabilities were shown to grow in the numerical simulations, similar to existing experimental studies [1].