Simulation comparison of wake mitigation control strategies for a two‐turbine case

Wind turbines arranged in a wind plant impact each other through their wakes. Wind plant control is an active research field that attempts to improve wind plant performance by coordinating control of individual turbines to take into account these turbine–wake interactions. In this paper, high‐fidelity simulations of a two‐turbine fully waked scenario are used to investigate several wake mitigation strategies, including modification of yaw and tilt angles of an upstream turbine to induce wake skew, as well as repositioning of the downstream turbine. The simulation results are compared through change relative to a baseline operation in terms of overall power capture and loading on the upstream and downstream turbine. Results demonstrated improved power production for all methods. Analysis of control options, including individual pitch control, shows potential to minimize the increase of, or even reduce, turbine loads.Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characteristics of turbine spacing in a wind farm using an optimal design process

The characteristics of turbine spacing for optimal wind farm efficiency were investigated using combined numerical models. The effects of wakes from upstream turbines were predicted by a model capable of determining velocity distributions on a rotor plane, based on Ainslie's approach. The performance results of a wind farm showed good agreement with measurements. The blade element momentum theory, in combination with a dynamic wake model, was applied. Wake model used the results of aerodynamic analysis as input properties. The optimal distance between wind turbines was predicted using a genetic algorithm to maximize efficiency in a wind farm. The results showed that the spacing between the first and the second turbines had the importance to the entire farm's efficiency.     

Parabolic RANS solver for low‐computational‐cost simulations of wind turbine wakes

A numerical framework for simulations of wake interactions associated with a wind turbine column is presented. A Reynolds‐averaged Navier‐Stokes (RANS) solver is developed for axisymmetric wake flows using parabolic and boundary‐layer approximations to reduce computational cost while capturing the essential wake physics. Turbulence effects on downstream evolution of the time‐averaged wake velocity field are taken into account through Boussinesq hypothesis and a mixing length model, which is only a function of the streamwise location. The calibration of the turbulence closure model is performed through wake turbulence statistics obtained from large‐eddy simulations of wind turbine wakes. This strategy ensures capturing the proper wake mixing level for a given incoming turbulence and turbine operating condition and, thus, accurately estimating the wake velocity field. The power capture from turbines is mimicked as a forcing in the RANS equations through the actuator disk model with rotation. The RANS simulations of the wake velocity field associated with an isolated 5‐MW NREL wind turbine operating with different tip speed ratios and turbulence intensity of the incoming wind agree well with the analogous velocity data obtained through high‐fidelity large‐eddy simulations. Furthermore, different cases of columns of wind turbines operating with different tip speed ratios and downstream spacing are also simulated with great accuracy. Therefore, the proposed RANS solver is a powerful tool for simulations of wind turbine wakes tailored for optimization problems, where a good trade‐off between accuracy and low‐computational cost is desirable.     

Modelling and measurements of power losses and turbulence intensity in wind turbine wakes at Middelgrunden offshore wind farm

Understanding of power losses and turbulence increase due to wind turbine wake interactions in large offshore wind farms is crucial to optimizing wind farm design. Power losses and turbulence increase due to wakes are quantified based on observations from Middelgrunden and state‐of‐the‐art models. Observed power losses due solely to wakes are approximately 10% on average. These are relatively high for a single line of wind turbines due in part to the close spacing of the wind farm. The wind farm model Wind Analysis and Application Program (WAsP) is shown to capture wake losses despite operating beyond its specifications for turbine spacing. The paper describes two methods of estimating turbulence intensity: one based on the mean and standard deviation (SD) of wind speed from the nacelle anemometer, the other from mean power output and its SD. Observations from the nacelle anemometer indicate turbulence intensity which is around 9% higher in absolute terms than those derived from the power measurements. For comparison, turbulence intensity is also derived from wind speed and SD from a meteorological mast at the same site prior to wind farm construction. Despite differences in the measurement height and period, overall agreement is better between the turbulence intensity derived from power measurements and the meteorological mast than with those derived from data from the nacelle anemometers. The turbulence in wind farm model indicates turbulence increase of the order 20% in absolute terms for flow directly along the row which is in good agreement with the observations. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of rotating wakes on separation in turbine exhaust diffusers

Highly efficient turbine exhaust diffuser cannot be designed without taking into account the unsteady interactions with the last rotating row of the turbine. Former investigations described in the literature show a very high potential compared to that of other parts of turbomachines for improving the diffuser. A scale model of a typical gas turbine exhaust diffuser is investigated experimentally. To investigate the influence of rotating wakes, measurements without a spoke wheel as well as measurements with a variable-speed rotating cylindrical spoke wheel with 2 mm- or 10 mm-spokes simulating turbine rotor wakes were made. Miniaturized 3-hole pneumatic probes as well as a 2D-Laser-Doppler-Velocimeter （LDV） were used to investigate velocity profiles. 122 static pressure tapings were used to measure several axial and circumferential static pressure distributions. Without a spoke-wheel the annular diffuser separates at the shroud for all swirl configurations. For the measurements with the 2 mm spoke wheel, the separating diffuser was unstable while keeping the test rig operating parameters constant. For a non-rotating 10 mm spoke wheel and at rotational speeds less than 1,000 rpm, the annular diffuser separated at the shroud. Increasing the rotational speed of the 10mm spoke wheel, flow did not separate at the shroud and much higher pressure recovery than without spoke wheel has achieved.     

Optimization of wind turbine micro-siting for reducing the sensitivity of power generation to wind direction

In the optimization of wind turbine micro-siting of wind farms, the major target is to maximize the total energy yield. But considering from the aspect of the power grid, the sensitivity of wind power generation to varying incoming wind direction is also an essential factor. However, most existing optimization approaches on wind turbine micro-siting are focused on increasing the total power yield only. In this paper, by employing computational fluid dynamics and the virtual particle model for the simulation of turbine wake flow, a sensitivity index is proposed to quantitatively evaluate the variation of power generation under varying wind direction. Typical turbine layouts obtained by existing power optimization approaches are evaluated for stability. Results indicate that regularly arranged turbine layouts are not suitable for stable power production. Based on solutions from the power optimization, a second-stage optimization using Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm is presented. The proposed optimization method adjusts the positions of the turbines locally, aiming at increasing the stability of wind farm power generation without damaging its advantage of high power yield. Case studies on flat terrain and complex terrain both demonstrate the effectiveness of the present local adjustment optimization method.     

Survey of modelling methods for wind turbine wakes and wind farms

This article provides an overview and analysis of different wake‐modelling methods which may be used as prediction and design tools for both wind turbines and wind farms. We also survey the available data concerning the measurement of wind magnitudes in both single wakes and wind farms, and of loading effects on wind turbines under single‐ and multiple‐wake conditions. The relative merits of existing wake and wind farm models and their ability to reproduce experimental results are discussed. Conclusions are provided concerning the usefulness of the different modelling approaches examined, and difficult issues which have not yet been satisfactorily treated and which require further research are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wind turbine aerodynamics and loads control in wind shear flow

Wind turbine is subjected to some asymmetrical effects like wind shear, which will lead to unsteady blade airloads and performance. Fatigue loads can lead to damage of turbine components and eventually to failures. It is evident that the variation of the velocity over the rotor disc has an influence on the blade and introduces both flap-wise and edge-wise fatigue damage on the blade as a result of moment fluctuations in the two directions. The flap-wise moments on the blade are the origin of the rotor yaw and tilt moments which transmit to the turbine structure through the drive train to the yaw system and the tower. A lifting surface method with time marching free wake model is used to investigate the periodic unsteady nature in the wind shear. Individual pitch control (IPC) that is applied nowadays is the most advanced active control to reduce the fatigue. The blade airloads and performance of the turbine are also predicted under IPC control. It is found that IPC of the fluctuating blade root flap-wise moment can reduce the flap-wise fatigue damage remarkably while the blade root edge-wise moments are less sensitive to the varying blade pitch than the blade root flap-wise moments.     

Advanced control algorithms for reduction of wind turbine structural loads

To enable further growth of wind turbine dimensions and rated power, it is essential to decrease structural loads that wind turbines experience. Therefore a great portion of research is focused on control algorithms for reduction of wind turbine structural loads, but typically wind turbine rotor is considered to be perfectly symmetrical, and therefore such control algorithms cannot reduce structural loads caused by rotor asymmetries. Furthermore, typical approach in the literature is to use blade load measurements, especially when higher harmonics of structural loads are being reduced. In this paper, improvements to standard approach for reduction of structural loads are proposed. First, control algorithm capable of reducing structural loads caused by rotor asymmetries is developed, and then appropriate load transformations are introduced that enable presented control algorithms to use load measurements from various wind turbine components. Simulation results show that proposed control algorithm is capable of reducing structural loads caused by rotor asymmetries.     

Analysis of axial‐induction‐based wind plant control using an engineering and a high‐order wind plant model

Wind turbines are typically operated to maximize their performance without considering the impact of wake effects on nearby turbines. Wind plant control concepts aim to increase overall wind plant performance by coordinating the operation of the turbines. This paper focuses on axial‐induction‐based wind plant control techniques, in which the generator torque or blade pitch degrees of freedom of the wind turbines are adjusted. The paper addresses discrepancies between a high‐order wind plant model and an engineering wind plant model. Changes in the engineering model are proposed to better capture the effects of axial‐induction‐based control shown in the high‐order model. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coupled multi-body dynamics and CFD for wind turbine simulation including explicit wind turbulence

A high fidelity approach for wind turbine aero-elastic simulations including explicit representation of the atmospheric wind turbulence is presented. The approach uses a dynamic overset computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code for the aerodynamics coupled with a multi-body dynamics (MBD) code for the motion responses to the aerodynamic loads. Mann's wind turbulence model was implemented into the CFD code as boundary and initial conditions. The wind turbulence model was validated by comparing the theoretical one-point spectrum for the three components of the velocity fluctuations, and by comparing the expected statistics from the CFD simulated wind turbulent field with the explicit wind turbulence inlet boundary from Mann model. Extensive simulations based on the proposed coupled approach were conducted with the conceptual NREL 5-MW offshore wind turbine in an increasing level of complexity, analyzing the turbine behavior as elasticity, wind shear and atmospheric wind turbulence are added to the simulations. Results are compared with the publicly available simulations results from OC3 participants, showing good agreement for the aerodynamic loads and blade tip deflections in time and frequency domains. Wind turbulence/turbine interaction was examined for the wake flow. It was found that explicit turbulence addition results in considerably increased wake diffusion. The coupled CFD/MBD approach can be extended to include multibody models of the shaft, bearings, gearbox and generator, resulting in a promising tool for wind turbine design under complex operational environments.     

Wind plant power optimization through yaw control using a parametric model for wake effects—a CFD simulation study

This article presents a wind plant control strategy that optimizes the yaw settings of wind turbines for improved energy production of the whole wind plant by taking into account wake effects. The optimization controller is based on a novel internal parametric model for wake effects called the FLOw Redirection and Induction in Steady‐state (FLORIS) model. The FLORIS model predicts the steady‐state wake locations and the effective flow velocities at each turbine, and the resulting turbine electrical energy production levels, as a function of the axial induction and the yaw angle of the different rotors. The FLORIS model has a limited number of parameters that are estimated based on turbine electrical power production data. In high‐fidelity computational fluid dynamics simulations of a small wind plant, we demonstrate that the optimization control based on the FLORIS model increases the energy production of the wind plant, with a reduction of loads on the turbines as an additional effect. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wind farm layout optimization using area dimensions and definite point selection techniques

Wind turbines are the biggest rotating machines on earth, operating in the lowest part of the earth boundary layer. Designing the layout scheme of wind farms is a challenging job to researchers, as there are many design objectives and constraints due to the multiple wake phenomena. This paper proposes an area rotation method to find the optimum dimensions of the wind farm shape, where maximum area could face the free stream velocity. Afterwards, a novel method called Definite Point Selection (DPS) is developed to place the turbines in order to operate at maximum, while providing obligatory space between adjacent turbines for operation safety. This method can be used to identify the zero wake effect points at wind farm. The result from this study shows that the proposed method is more effective to increase the overall power of a wind farm than the previous methods. Also, the power output of the wind farm by using combined area rotation and DPS methods was increased even when using the same number of wind turbines.     

Mesoscale modeling of offshore wind turbine wakes at the wind farm resolving scale: a composite‐based analysis with the Weather Research and Forecasting model over Horns Rev

The use of mesoscale modeling to reproduce the power deficits associated with wind turbine wakes in an offshore environment is analyzed. The study is based on multiyear (3 years) observational and modeling results at the Horns Rev wind farm. The simulations are performed with the Weather Research and Forecasting mesoscale model configured at a high horizontal resolution of 333 m over Horns Rev. The wind turbines are represented as an elevated momentum sink and a source of turbulent kinetic energy. Composites with different atmospheric conditions are extracted from both the observed and simulated datasets in order to inspect the ability of the model to reproduce the power deficit in a wide range of atmospheric conditions. Results indicate that mesoscale models such as Weather Research and Forecasting are able to qualitatively reproduce the power deficit at the wind farm scale. Some specific differences are identified. Mesoscale modeling is therefore a suitable framework to analyze potential downstream effects associated with offshore wind farms. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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

This 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.     

Performance of a 3 kW wind turbine generator with variable pitch control system

A prototype 3 kW horizontal upwind type wind turbine generator of 4 m in diameter has been designed and examined under real wind conditions. The machine was designed based on the concept that even small wind turbines should have a variable pitch control system just as large wind turbines, especially in Japan where typhoons occur at least once a year. A characteristic of the machine is the use of a worm and gear system with a stepping motor installed in the center of the hub, and the rotational main shaft. The machine is constructed with no mechanical breaking system so as to avoid damage from strong winds. In a storm, the wind turbine is slowed down by adjusting the pitch angle and the maximum electrical load. Usually the machine is controlled at several stages depending on the rotational speed of the blades. Two control methods have been applied: the variable pitch angle, and regulation of the generator field current. The characteristics of the generator under each rotational speed and field current are first investigated in the laboratory. This paper describes the performances of the wind turbine in terms of the functions of wind turbine rotational speed, generated outputs, and its stability for wind speed changes. The expected performances of the machine have been confirmed under real wind conditions and compared with numerical simulation results. The wind turbine showed a power coefficient of 0.257 under the average wind speed of 7.3 m/s.     

Wind tunnel and numerical study of a small vertical axis wind turbine

This paper presents a combined experimental and computational study into the aerodynamics and performance of a small scale vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT). Wind tunnel tests were carried out to ascertain overall performance of the turbine and two- and three-dimensional unsteady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models were generated to help understand the aerodynamics of this performance.Wind tunnel performance results are presented for cases of different wind velocity, tip-speed ratio and solidity as well as rotor blade surface finish. It is shown experimentally that the surface roughness on the turbine rotor blades has a significant effect on performance. Below a critical wind speed (Reynolds number of 30,000) the performance of the turbine is degraded by a smooth rotor surface finish but above it, the turbine performance is enhanced by a smooth surface finish. Both two bladed and three bladed rotors were tested and a significant increase in performance coefficient is observed for the higher solidity rotors (three bladed rotors) over most of the operating range. Dynamic stalling behaviour and the resulting large and rapid changes in force coefficients and the rotor torque are shown to be the likely cause of changes to rotor pitch angle that occurred during early testing. This small change in pitch angle caused significant decreases in performance.The performance coefficient predicted by the two dimensional computational model is significantly higher than that of the experimental and the three-dimensional CFD model. The predictions show that the presence of the over tip vortices in the 3D simulations is responsible for producing the large difference in efficiency compared to the 2D predictions. The dynamic behaviour of the over tip vortex as a rotor blade rotates through each revolution is also explored in the paper.     

Adjustment of wind farm power output through flexible turbine operation using wind farm control

When the installed capacity of wind power becomes high, the power generated by wind farms can no longer simply be that dictated by the wind speed. With sufficiently high penetration, it will be necessary for wind farms to provide assistance with supply‐demand matching. The work presented here introduces a wind farm controller that regulates the power generated by the wind farm to match the grid requirements by causing the power generated by each turbine to be adjusted. Further, benefits include fast response to reach the wind farm power demanded, flexibility, little fluctuation in the wind farm power output and provision of synthetic inertia. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CFD simulation of a floating offshore wind turbine system using a variable-speed generator-torque controller

Prediction and control of rotor rotational velocity is critical for accurate aerodynamic loading and generator power predictions. A variable-speed generator-torque controller is combined with the two-phase CFD solver CFDShip-Iowa V4.5. The developed code is utilized in simulations of the 5 MW floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) conceptualized by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for the Offshore Code Comparison Collaboration (OC3). Fixed platform simulations are first performed to determine baseline rotor velocity and developed torque. A prescribed platform motion simulation is completed to identify effects of platform motion on rotor torque. The OC3’s load case 5.1, with regular wave and steady wind excitation, is performed and results are compared to NREL’s OC3 results. The developed code is shown to functionally control generator speed and torque but requires controller calibration for maximum power extraction. Generator speed variance is observed to be a function of unsteady stream-wise platform motions. The increased mooring forces of the present model are shown to keep the turbine in a more favorable variable-speed control region. Lower overall platform velocity magnitudes and less rotor torque are predicted corresponding to lower rotor rotational velocities and a reduction in generated power. Potential improvements and modifications to the present method are considered.     

Comparative study on the performance of control systems for doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) wind turbines operating with power regulation

As a result of the increasing wind power penetration on power systems, the wind farms are today required to participate actively in grid operation by an appropriate generation control. This paper presents a comparative study on the performance of three control strategies for DFIG wind turbines. The study focuses on the regulation of the active and reactive power to a set point ordered by the wind farm control system. Two of them (control systems 1 and 2) are based on existing strategies, whereas the third control system (control system 3) presents a novel control strategy, which is actually a variation of the control system 2. The control strategies are evaluated through simulations of DFIG wind turbines, under normal operating conditions, integrated in a wind farm with centralized control system controlling the wind farm generation at the connection point and computing the power reference for each wind turbine according to a proportional distribution of the available power. The three control systems present similar performance when they operate with power optimization and power limitation strategies. However, the control system 3 with down power regulation presents a better response with respect to the reactive power production, achieving a higher available reactive power as compared with the other two. This is a very important aspect to maintain an appropriate voltage control at the wind farm bus.