Study on an innovative three-dimensional wind turbine wake model

Haiying Sun, Hongxing Yang

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

128 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this paper, to help handle wind farm optimization problems, an original analytical three-dimensional wind turbine wake model is presented and validated. Compared with existing analytical wake models, the presented wake model also considers the wind variation in the height direction, which is more accurate and closer to the reality. The wake model is based on the flow flux conservation law, and it assumes that the wind deficit downstream of a wind turbine is Gaussian-shaped. The derivation process is described in detail. The wake model is validated by published wind tunnel measurement data at both horizontal and vertical sections. Detailed relative errors are analyzed: the relative errors are mostly within 5% in the horizontal profile validation and within 3% in the vertical profile validation. Based on the wake model, a series of prediction results from multiple views and at different positions are demonstrated. From the predictions, the three-dimensional wake model is effective in describing the spatial distribution of wind velocity. It makes a theoretical contribution to the single wake study, and it is also meaningful to the further study of multiple wakes. Because height is considered in the three-dimensional wake model, the model can be used to optimize wind turbine hub heights and to solve more wind farm layout optimization problems, which will further contribute to increasing the energy output and decreasing the cost of energy.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)483-493
Number of pages11
JournalApplied Energy
Volume226
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Sept 2018

Keywords

  • Derivation process
  • Three-dimensional wake model
  • Wake distribution prediction
  • Wind tunnel validation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Building and Construction
  • General Energy
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

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