Wind turbine boundary layer arrays for Cartesian and staggered configurations‐Part I,flow field and power measurements

Model wind turbine arrays were developed for the purpose of investigating the wake interaction and turbine canopy layer in a standard cartesian and row‐offset turbine array configurations. Stereographic particle image velocimetry was used to collect flow data upstream and downstream of entrance and exit row turbines in each configuration. Wakes for all cases were analyzed for energy content and recovery behavior including entrainment of high‐momentum flow from above the turbine canopy layer. The row‐offset arrangement of turbines within an array grants an increase in streamwise spacing of devices and allows for greater wake remediation between successive rows. These effects are seen in exit row turbine wakes as changes to statistical quantities including the in‐plane Reynolds stress, , and the production of turbulence. The recovery of wakes also strongly mitigates the perceived underperformance of wind turbines within an array. The flux of kinetic energy is demonstrated to be more localized in the entrance rows and in the offset arrangement. Extreme values for the flux of kinetic energy are about 7.5% less in the exit row of the cartesian arrangement than in the offset arrangement. Measurements of mechanical torque at entrance and exit row turbines lead to curves of power coefficient and demonstrate an increase in efficiency in row‐offset configurations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.