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Assessing compressibility effects on the performance of large horizontal-axis wind turbines

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  • Yan, Chi
  • Archer, Cristina L.

Abstract

The tips of large horizontal-axis wind turbines can easily reach high speeds, thus raising the concern that compressibility effects may influence turbine wakes and ultimately power production. All past studies have assumed that these effects are negligible. Compressibility effects are assessed here in terms of blade aerodynamic properties and variable density separately. Using the Blade Element Momentum (BEM) method, we find that under normal operating conditions (i.e., wind speed <∼15 m s−1 and tip speed ratio TSR <∼12) aerodynamic corrections to the lift and drag coefficients of the blades have a minimal impact, thus the incompressible coefficients are adequate. To assess the variable-density effects, numerical simulations of a single turbine and two aligned turbines, modeled via the actuator line model with the default aerodynamic coefficients, are conducted using both the traditional incompressible and a compressible framework. The flow field around the single turbine and its power performance are affected by compressibility and both show a strong dependency on TSR. Wind speed and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) differences between compressible and incompressible results origin from the rotor tip region but then impact the entire wind turbine wake. Power production is lower by 8% under normal operating conditions (TSR ∼ 8) and 20% lower for TSR ∼ 12 due to compressibility effects. When a second turbine is added, the front turbine experiences similar effects as the single-turbine case, but TKE differences are enhanced while wind speed differences are reduced after the second turbine in the overlapping wakes. These findings suggest that compressibility effects play a more important role than previously thought on power production and, due to the acceptable additional computational cost of the compressible simulations, should be taken into account in future wind farm studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Yan, Chi & Archer, Cristina L., 2018. "Assessing compressibility effects on the performance of large horizontal-axis wind turbines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 33-45.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:212:y:2018:i:c:p:33-45
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.12.020
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Wood, D.H., 1997. "Some effects of compressibility on small horizontal-axis wind turbines," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 11-17.
    2. Cho, Taehwan & Kim, Cheolwan, 2012. "Wind tunnel test results for a 2/4.5 scale MEXICO rotor," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 152-156.
    3. Krogstad, Per-Åge & Eriksen, Pål Egil, 2013. "“Blind test” calculations of the performance and wake development for a model wind turbine," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 325-333.
    4. Vasel-Be-Hagh, Ahmadreza & Archer, Cristina L., 2017. "Wind farm hub height optimization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 905-921.
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    Cited by:

    1. Janesh N. Mohanan & Kumaravel Sundaramoorthy & Ashok Sankaran, 2021. "Performance Improvement of a Low-Power Wind Turbine Using Conical Sections," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-21, August.
    2. Silva, R.N. & Nunes, M.M. & Mendes, R.C.F. & Brasil, A.C.P. & Oliveira, T.F., 2023. "A novel mechanism of turbulent kinetic energy harvesting by horizontal-axis wind and hydrokinetic turbines," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    3. Archer, Cristina L. & Vasel-Be-Hagh, Ahmadreza & Yan, Chi & Wu, Sicheng & Pan, Yang & Brodie, Joseph F. & Maguire, A. Eoghan, 2018. "Review and evaluation of wake loss models for wind energy applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 1187-1207.
    4. Silva, Paulo A.S.F. & Tsoutsanis, Panagiotis & Vaz, Jerson R.P. & Macias, Marianela M., 2024. "A comprehensive CFD investigation of tip vortex trajectory in shrouded wind turbines using compressible RANS solver," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).

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