Søren Juhl Andersen

Simulation of wind turbine wakes using the actuator line technique

The actuator line technique was introduced as a numerical tool to be employed in combination with large eddy simulations to enable the study of wakes and wake interaction in wind farms. The technique is today largely used for studying basic features of wakes as well as for making performance predictions of wind farms. In this paper, we give a short introduction to the wake problem and the actuator line methodology and present a study in which the technique is employed to determine the near-wake properties of wind turbines. The presented results include a comparison of experimental results of the wake characteristics of the flow around a three-bladed model wind turbine, the development of a simple analytical formula for determining the near-wake length behind a wind turbine and a detailed investigation of wake structures based on proper orthogonal decomposition analysis of numerically generated snapshots of the wake.

Simulation of the inherent turbulence and wake interaction inside an infinitely long row of wind turbines

The turbulence in the interior of a wind farm is simulated using large eddy simulation and the actuator line technique implemented in the Navier–Stokes equations. The simulations are carried out for an infinitely long row of turbines simulated by applying cyclic boundary conditions at the inlet and outlet. The simulations investigate the turbulence inherent to the wind turbines as no ambient turbulence or shear is added to this idealised case. The simulated data give insight into the performance of the wind turbines operating in the wake of others as well as details on key turbulent quantities. One of the key features of wakes behind wind turbines is the dynamic wake meandering, which is shown to be related to the wind turbine spacing and the vortex shedding from the turbine as a bluff body. The flow is analysed and reconstructed by applying proper orthogonal decomposition.

Comparison of Engineering Wake Models with CFD Simulations

The engineering wake models by Jensen [1] and Frandsen et al. [2] are assessed for different scenarios simulated using Large Eddy Simulation and the Actuator Line method implemented in the Navier-Stokes equations. The scenarios include the far wake behind a single wind turbine, a long row of turbines in an atmospheric boundary layer, idealised cases of an infinitely long row of wind turbines and infinite wind farms with three different spacings. Both models include a wake expansion factor, which is calibrated to fit the simulated wake velocities. The analysis highlights physical deficiencies in the ability of the models to universally predict the wake velocities, as the expansion factor can be fitted for a given case, but with not apparent transition between the cases.

Wind turbine noise propagation modelling: An unsteady approach

Wind turbine sound generation and propagation phenomena are inherently time dependent, hence tools that incorporate the dynamic nature of these two issues are needed for accurate modelling. In this paper, we investigate the sound propagation from a wind turbine by considering the effects of unsteady flow around it and time dependent source characteristics. For the acoustics modelling we employ the Parabolic Equation (PE) method while Large Eddy Simulation (LES) as well as synthetically generated turbulence fields are used to generate the medium flow upon which sound propagates. Unsteady acoustic simulations are carried out for three incoming wind shear and various turbulence intensities, using a moving source approach to mimic the rotating turbine blades. The focus of the present paper is to study the near and far field amplitude modulation characteristics and time evolution of Sound Pressure Level (SPL).

Quantifying variability of Large Eddy Simulations of very large wind farms

Large Eddy Simulations are inherently dynamic as the largest scales are resolved and the smallest scales are modeled temporally. This raises challenges for simulations including very large scales such as atmospheric flows, which require very long simulation times. Simple averages fail at capturing these dynamics and potentially yield misleading interpretations concerning the capabilities of different models when tested in blind tests or in benchmarking exercises such as Wakebench, where results from different flow models are compared. This article will present results from very large wind farm simulations using Actuator Disc (AD) and Line (AL) models for two different turbine spacings with turbulent inflow. The results of each numerical flow model include a certain variability, and it will be examined if different models result in comparable probability distributions.

Comparison between PIV measurements and computations of the near-wake of an actuator disc

Experimental stereoscopic PIV measurements in the wake of a two-bladed rotor and a porous actuator disc are compared to numerical simulation of an actuator disc. Compared to previous literature, the focus of the present analysis is on the near wake, where the actuator discs fail to represent the complex flow structures correctly, which affects the downstream representation of the full wake behind a real rotor. The near wake region is characterised by the instability and breakdown of the tip-vortex helical system, which constitutes the onset of a stronger mixing process. The comparison focuses on the turbulent structures in the shear layer at the borders of the wake through the analysis of the Reynolds stresses and by employing POD on two separate regions. The analysis shows that the actuator discs fail to capture the details of the complex flow behind a rotor, but that the experimental and numerical actuator discs are generally comparable at a certain distance behind the actuator disc. This project is intended to provide the basis for understanding the origin of the limitations of the current wake models based on the actuator disc assumption.

Turbulence and entrainment length scales in large wind farms

A number of large wind farms are modelled using large eddy simulations to elucidate the entrainment process. A reference simulation without turbines and three farm simulations with different degrees of imposed atmospheric turbulence are presented. The entrainment process is assessed using proper orthogonal decomposition, which is employed to detect the largest and most energetic coherent turbulent structures. The dominant length scales responsible for the entrainment process are shown to grow further into the wind farm, but to be limited in extent by the streamwise turbine spacing, which could be taken into account when developing farm layouts. The self-organized motion or large coherent structures also yield high correlations between the power productions of consecutive turbines, which can be exploited through dynamic farm control. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Wind energy in complex terrains’.

Statistics of LES Simulations of Large Wind Farms

Numerous large eddy simulations are performed of large wind farms using the actuator line method, which has been fully coupled to the aero-elastic code, Flex5. The higher order moments of the flow ...

Performance and Equivalent Loads of Wind Turbines in Large Wind Farms

Ten simulations of large wind farms have been performed using a fully coupled LES and aero-elastic framework to form a database of full turbine operational conditions in terms of both production and loads. The performance is examined in terms of averaged power production and thrust, as well as 10min equivalent flapwise bending, yaw, and tilt moment loads. Certain scenarios operating below rated wind speed shows unexpected peaks in the loads. The influence on the operating conditions are examined for various parameters and compared relative to an effective power production per area.

Free-flow wind speed from a blade-mounted flow sensor

This paper presents a method for obtaining the free-inflow velocities from a 3-D flow sensor mounted on the blade of a wind turbine. From its position on the rotating blade, e.g. one-third from the tip, a blade-mounted flow sensor (BMFS) is able to provide valuable information about the turbulent sheared inflow in different regions of the rotor. At the rotor, however, the inflow is affected by the wind turbine, and in most cases the wind of interest is the inflow that the wind turbine is exposed to, i.e. the free-inflow velocities. The current method applies a combination of aerodynamic models and procedures to estimate the induced velocities, i.e. the disturbance of the flow field caused by the wind turbine. These velocities are subtracted from the flow velocities measured by the BMFS to obtain the free-inflow velocities. Aeroelastic codes, like HAWC2, typically use a similar approach to calculate the induction, but they use it for the reversed process, i.e. they add the induction to the free inflow to get the flow velocities at the blades, which are required to calculate the resulting aerodynamic forces. The aerodynamic models included in the current method comprise models based on blade element momentum (BEM) for axial and tangential induction, a radial induction model and tip loss correction, and models for skew and dynamic inflow. It is shown that the method is able to calculate the free-inflow velocities with high accuracy when applied to aeroelastic HAWC2 simulations with a stiff structural model while some deviations are seen in simulations with a flexible structure. Furthermore, the method is tested on simulations performed by a flexible structural model coupled with a large-eddy simulation (LES) flow solver. The results of this higher-fidelity verification confirm the HAWC2based conclusion.