Uwe Schmidt Paulsen

Effects of Turbulence and Flow Inclination on the Performance of Cup Anemometers in the Field

Four commercial and one research cup anemometers were comparatively tested in a complex terrain site to quantify the effects of turbulence and flow inclination on the wind speed measurements. The difference of the mean windspeed reading between the anemometers was as much as 2% for wind directions where the mean flow was horizontal. This difference was large enough to be attributed to the well-known overspeeding effect related to the differing distance constant (ranging from 1.7 to 5 m) of the cup anemometers. The application of a theoretical model of the cup-anemometer behaviour in athree-dimensional turbulent wind field proved successful in explaining theobserved differences.Additional measurements were taken with the anemometers tilted at known angles into and out of the incident wind flow. Thus, a field-derived angular response curve is constructed for each anemometer and the deviations from publishedwind-tunnel results are discussed.The uncertainties of, or false assumptions about, the angular response characteristics of the anemometers contribute the largest amount inthe observed errors of mean wind speed even for a horizontal mean flow. The angular response curves are finally used to correct the 10-min mean windspeed. The necessary information for the correction is the turbulent intensity (preferably in the vertical direction) and the mean flow inclination.For demanding applications, the angular response parameters of cup anemometers should be taken into account. The incorporation of the angular response parameters in a correction scheme would be most robustly applied if their variation with inclination and wind speed was smooth.

Developments in Large Wind Turbine Modal Analysis Using Point Tracking Videogrammetry

Wind turbine installations are increasing significantly in numbers as well as capacity as part of the global demand for sustainable energy sources. This leads to stronger need for comprehensive dynamic test data to support reliable cost reductions while meeting safety requirements. The complete wind turbine structural mechanical response at different load conditions is of particular interest. Detailed analysis of the component operational resonances during loading, such as the interaction of the blade - and tower deformations is of basic engineering importance. A testing of the structure with traditional equipment would be quite extensive in sensor instrumentation, calibration and analysis effort. Dynamic field measurements were performed on a 500 kW Nordtank wind turbine at the Risoe DTU campus in Denmark using a customized Pontos point tracking photogrammetry system. Data was acquired at 100 Hz for 7 seconds from more than 50 targets within a 50 meter wide field of view. Practical aspects of the measurement setup including illumination requirements, blade and tower targeting, the ability to automatically track numerous targets through multiple rotations, rigid body correction (de-rotation), and the use of projected angles and trajectory analysis are discussed. Results include movies with animated vectors and associated time history plots for 3D directional and resultant displacements of all blades and the support tower, as well as trajectory plots.

The DAN-AERO MW Experiments

The paper describes the DAN-AERO MW experiments carried out within a collaborative, three years research project between Riso DTU and the industrial partners LM Glasfiber, Siemens Wind Power, Vestas Wind Systems and finally the utility company DONG Energy. The main objective of the project is to establish an experimental data base which can provide new insight into a number of fundamental aerodynamic and aeroacoustic issues, important for the design and operation of MW size turbines. The most important issue is the difference between airfoil characteristics measured under 2D, steady conditions in a wind tunnel and the unsteady 3D flow conditions on a rotor. The different transition characteristics might explain some of the difference between the 2D and 3D airfoil data and the experiments have been set up to provide data on this subject. The overall experimental approach has been to carry out a number of coordinated, innovative measurements on full scale MW size rotors as well as on airfoils for MW size turbines in wind tunnels. Shear and turbulence inflow characteristics were measured on a Siemens 3.6 MW turbine with a five hole pitot tube. Pressure and turbulent inflow characteristics were measured on a 2MW NM80 turbine with an 80 m rotor. One of the LM38.8 m blades on the rotor was replaced with a new LM38.8 m blade where instruments for surface pressure measurements at four radial sections were build into the blade during the blade production process. Additionally, the outmost section on the blade was further instrumented with around 60 microphones for high frequency surface pressure measurements. The surface

Implementation of the Actuator Cylinder flow model in the HAWC2 code for aeroelastic simulations on Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

The paper presents the implementation of the Actuator Cylinder (AC) flow model in the HAWC2 aeroelastic code originally developed for simulation of Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) aeroelasticity. This is done within the DeepWind project where the main objective is to explore the competitiveness of VAWTs for floating MW concepts. The AC model is a 2D flow model and has thus some advantages compared with the stream tube models often used in VAWT aerodynamic and aeroelastic simulation models. A major finding presented in the present paper is a simple way to correct the results from the linear version of the AC model so that they correlate closely with the results of the full AC model. The linear model has very low computational requirements and is thus well suited for implementation in an aeroelastic model where the induction in a number of points on the rotor swept surface is updated at each time step. The AC model is described and the implementation of the model in HAWC2 is briefly presented. Results illustrating the accuracy of the different versions of the AC model are presented. Finally, initial simulations on the 5MW baseline rotor with the new HAWC2 version with the AC model implemented are presented.

A Novel Concept for Floating Offshore Wind Turbines: Recent Developments in the Concept and Investigation on Fluid Interaction With the Rotating Foundation

This paper describes the recent developments regarding a new concept for deep sea offshore vertical axis wind turbines. The concept utilizes a cylindrical foundation rotating in the water. The 2D Navier-Stokes solver EllipSys2D has been used to investigate the interaction between the rotating foundation and a water flow stream passing the turbine. Lift and drag forces, and the friction moment on the rotating foundation of the turbine have been computed. The calculations are repeated for different operating conditions of the wind turbine on a range of rotational speeds. The Reynolds number, based on the diameter of the foundation, is 5×106 .Copyright

Analysis of VAWT aerodynamics and design using the Actuator Cylinder flow model

The actuator cylinder (AC) flow model is defined as the ideal VAWT rotor. Radial directed volume forces are applied on the circular path of the VAWT rotor airfoil and constitute an energy conversion in the flow. The power coefficient for the ideal as well as the real energy conversion is defined. The describing equations for the two-dimensional AC model are presented and a solution method splitting the final solution in a linear and non-linear part is briefly described. A family of loadforms approaching the uniform loading is used to study the ideal energy conversion indicating that the maximum power coefficient for the ideal energy conversion of a VAWT could exceed the Betz limit. The real energy conversion of the 5MW DeepWind rotor is simulated with the AC flow model in combination with the blade element analysis. Aerodynamic design aspects are discussed on this basis revealing that the maximum obtainable power coefficient for a fixed pitch VAWT is constrained by the fundamental cyclic variation of inflow angle and relative velocity leading to a loading that deviates considerably from the uniform loading.

Design and Aero-Elastic Simulation of a 5MW Floating Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

This paper deals with the design of a 5MW floating offshore Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT). The design is based on a new offshore wind turbine concept (DeepWind concept), consisting of a Darrieus rotor mounted on a spar buoy support structure, which is anchored to the sea bed with mooring lines [1]. The design is carried out in an iterative process, involving the different sub-components and addressing several conflicting constraints. The present design does not aim to be the final optimum solution for this concept. Instead, the goal is to have a baseline model, based on the present technology, which can be improved in the future with new dedicated technological solutions. The rotor uses curved blades, which are designed in order to minimize the gravitational loads and to be produced by the pultrusion process. The floating platform is a slender cylindrical structure rotating along with the rotor, whose stability is achieved by adding ballast at the bottom. The platform is connected to the mooring lines with some rigid arms, which are necessary to absorb the torque transmitted by the rotor. The aero-elastic simulations are carried out with Hawc2, a numerical solver developed at Riso-DTU. The numerical simulations take into account the fully coupled aerodynamic and hydrodynamic loads on the structure, due to wind, waves and currents. The turbine is tested in operative conditions, at different sea states, selected according to the international offshore standards. The research is part of the European project DeepWind (2010–2014), which has been financed by the European Union (FP7-Future Emerging Technologies).Copyright

Remote sensing used for power curves

: Power curve measurement for large wind turbines requires taking into account more parameters than only the wind speed at hub height. Based on results from aerodynamic simulations, an equivalent wind speed taking the wind shear into account was defined and found to reduce the power standard deviation in the power curve significantly. Two LiDARs and a SoDAR are used to measure the wind profile in front of a wind turbine. These profiles are used to calculate the equivalent wind speed. The comparison of the power curves obtained with the three instruments to the traditional power curve, obtained using a cup anemometer measurement, confirms the results obtained from the simulations. Using LiDAR profiles reduces the error in power curve measurement, when these are used as relative instrument together with a cup anemometer. Results from the SoDAR do not show such promising results, probably because of noisy measurements resulting in distorted profiles.

Conceptual Design of a Floating Support Structure and Mooring System for a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

This paper deals with the conceptual design of a floating support structure and mooring system for a 5MW vertical axis offshore wind turbine. The work is carried out as part of the DeepWind project, where the main objective is to investigate the feasibility of a floating vertical axis offshore wind turbine. The DeepWind concept consists of a Darrieus rotor mounted on a spar buoy support structure. The conceptual design is carried out in an iterative process, involving the different subcomponents. The present work is part of the first design iteration and the objective is to find a feasible floating support structure and mooring system for the DeepWind concept. The conceptual design is formulated as an optimization problem: Starting with an initial configuration, the optimization procedure tries to find a cheaper solution while satisfying a set of design requirements. This approach utilizes available response analysis programs for mooring system forces and vessel motions, and combines this with a gradient search method for solution of nonlinear optimization problems with arbitrary constraints. Two different mooring system configurations are considered: Chain systems with 3 and 6 lines, respectively.

Kalman filter based data fusion for neutral axis tracking in wind turbine towers

Wind energy is seen as one of the most promising solutions to man’s ever increasing demands of a clean source of energy. In particular to reduce the cost of energy (COE) generated, there are efforts to increase the life-time of the wind turbines, to reduce maintenance costs and to ensure high availability. Maintenance costs may be lowered and the high availability and low repair costs ensured through the use of condition monitoring (CM) and structural health monitoring (SHM). SHM allows early detection of damage and allows maintenance planning. Furthermore, it can allow us to avoid unnecessary downtime, hence increasing the availability of the system. The present work is based on the use of neutral axis (NA) for SHM of the structure. The NA is tracked by data fusion of measured yaw angle and strain through the use of Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). The EKF allows accurate tracking even in the presence of changing ambient conditions. NA is defined as the line or plane in the section of the beam which does not experience any tensile or compressive forces when loaded. The NA is the property of the cross section of the tower and is independent of the applied loads and ambient conditions. Any change in the NA position may be used for detecting and locating the damage. The wind turbine tower has been modelled with FE software ABAQUS and validated on data from load measurements carried out on the 34m high tower of the Nordtank, NTK 500/41 wind turbine.