scholarly journals More accurate aeroelastic wind-turbine load simulations using detailed inflow information

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mads Mølgaard Pedersen ◽  
Torben Juul Larsen ◽  
Helge Aagaard Madsen ◽  
Gunner Christian Larsen
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Turbulence Intensity ◽  
Atmospheric Stability ◽  
Pitot Tube ◽  
Aerodynamic Model ◽  
Mean Wind Speed ◽  
Fatigue Loads ◽  
Aeroelastic Simulations ◽  
The One ◽  
Measured Wind Speed

Abstract. In this paper, inflow information is extracted from a measurement database and used for aeroelastic simulations to investigate if using more accurate inflow descriptions improves the accuracy of the simulated fatigue loads. The inflow information is extracted from the nearby met masts and a blade-mounted five-hole pitot tube. The met masts provide measurements of the inflow at fixed positions some distance away, whereas the pitot tube measures the inflow while rotating with the rotor. The met mast measures the free-inflow velocity, but the measured turbulence may evolve on its way to the turbine, pass besides the turbine, or the mast may be in the wake of the turbine. The inflow measured by the pitot tube, on the other hand, is very representative of the wind that acts on the turbine as it is measured close to the blades and includes variations within the rotor plane. This inflow is, however, affected by the presence of the turbine, and therefore an aerodynamic model is used to estimate the free-inflow velocities that would have been at the same time and position without the presence of the turbine. The inflow information used for the simulations includes the mean wind speed and trend, the turbulence intensity, wind shear profile, atmospheric stability dependent turbulence parameters, and azimuthal variations within the rotor plane. In addition, the instantly measured wind speed is used to constrain the turbulence. It is concluded that the period-specific turbulence intensity must be included in the aeroelastic simulations to make the range of the simulated fatigue loads representative for the range of the measured fatigue loads. Furthermore, it is found that the one-to-one correspondence between the measured and simulated fatigue loads is improved considerably by using inflow characteristics extracted from the pitot tube instead of the met-mast-based sensors as input for the simulations. Finally, the use of pitot-tube wind speed to constrain the turbulence is found to decrease the variation of the simulated loads due to different turbulence realisations (seeds), such that the need for multiple simulations is reduced.

scholarly journals More accurate aeroelastic wind-turbine load simulations using detailed inflow information

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-323
Author(s):  
Mads Mølgaard Pedersen ◽  
Torben Juul Larsen ◽  
Helge Aagaard Madsen ◽  
Gunner Christian Larsen
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Turbulence Intensity ◽  
Atmospheric Stability ◽  
Pitot Tube ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
Inflow Turbulence ◽  
Mean Wind Speed ◽  
Fatigue Loads ◽  
Aeroelastic Simulations

Abstract. In this paper, inflow information is extracted from a measurement database and used for aeroelastic simulations to investigate if using more accurate inflow descriptions improves the accuracy of the simulated wind-turbine fatigue loads. The inflow information is extracted from nearby meteorological masts (met masts) and a blade-mounted five-hole pitot tube. The met masts provide measurements of the inflow at fixed positions some distance away from the turbine, whereas the pitot tube measures the inflow while rotating with the rotor. The met mast measures the free-inflow velocity; however the measured turbulence may evolve on its way to the turbine, pass beside the turbine or the mast may be in the wake of the turbine. The inflow measured by the pitot tube, in comparison, is very representative of the wind that acts on the turbine, as it is measured close to the blades and also includes variations within the rotor plane. Nevertheless, this inflow is affected by the presence of the turbine; therefore, an aerodynamic model is used to estimate the free-inflow velocities that would have occurred at the same time and position without the presence of the turbine. The inflow information used for the simulations includes the mean wind speed field and trend, the turbulence intensity, the wind-speed shear profile, atmospheric stability-dependent turbulence parameters, and the azimuthal variations within the rotor plane. In addition, instantaneously measured wind speeds are used to constrain the turbulence. It is concluded that the period-specific turbulence intensity must be used in the aeroelastic simulations to make the range of the simulated fatigue loads representative for the range of the measured fatigue loads. Furthermore, it is found that the one-to-one correspondence between the measured and simulated fatigue loads is improved considerably by using inflow characteristics extracted from the pitot tube instead of using the met-mast-based sensors as input for the simulations. Finally, the use of pitot-tube-recorded wind speeds to constrain the inflow turbulence is found to significantly decrease the variation of the simulated loads due to different turbulence realizations (seeds), whereby the need for multiple simulations is reduced.

scholarly journals Wind Turbulence Intensity at La Ventosa, Mexico: A Comparative Study with the IEC61400 Standards

Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 3007 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Lopez-Villalobos ◽  
O. Rodriguez-Hernandez ◽  
R. Campos-Amezcua ◽  
Guillermo Hernandez-Cruz ◽  
O. Jaramillo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Turbulence Intensity ◽  
Structural Damage ◽  
Atmospheric Stability ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Power Sector ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
Technical Solutions ◽  
Large Wind

Wind speed turbulence intensity is a crucial parameter in designing the structure of wind turbines. The IEC61400 considers the Normal Turbulence Model (NTM) as a reference for fatigue load calculations for small and large wind turbines. La Ventosa is a relevant region for the development of the wind power sector in Mexico. However, in the literature, there are no studies on this important parameter in this zone. Therefore, we present an analysis of the turbulence intensity to improve the understanding of local winds and contribute to the development of reliable technical solutions. In this work, we experimentally estimate the turbulence intensity of the region and the wind shear exponent in terms of atmospheric stability to analyze the relation of these design parameters with the recommended standard for large and small wind turbines. The results showed that the atmosphere is strongly convective and stable in most of the eleven months studied. The turbulence intensity analysis showed that for a range of wind speeds between 2 and 24 m/s, some values of the variable measured were greater than those recommended by the standard, which corresponds to 388 hours of turbulence intensity being underestimated. This may lead to fatigue loads and cause structural damage to the technologies installed in the zone if they were not designed to operate in these wind speed conditions.

scholarly journals Climatological Features of the Weakly and Very Stably Stratified Nocturnal Boundary Layers. Part I: State Variables Containing Information about Regime Occupation

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (11) ◽  
pp. 3455-3484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carsten Abraham ◽  
Adam H. Monahan
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Turbulence Intensity ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Static Stability ◽  
Wind Component ◽  
State Variables ◽  
Intermittent Turbulence ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
State Variable ◽  
Mean Wind Speed

Abstract The atmospheric nocturnal stable boundary layer (SBL) can be classified into two distinct regimes: the weakly SBL (wSBL) with sustained turbulence and the very SBL (vSBL) with weak and intermittent turbulence. A hidden Markov model (HMM) analysis of the three-dimensional state-variable space of Reynolds-averaged mean dry static stability, mean wind speed, and wind speed shear is used to classify the SBL into these two regimes at nine different tower sites, in order to study long-term regime occupation and transition statistics. Both Reynolds-averaged mean data and measures of turbulence intensity (eddy variances) are separated in a physically meaningful way. In particular, fluctuations of the vertical wind component are found to be much smaller in the vSBL than in the wSBL. HMM analyses of these data using more than two SBL regimes do not result in robust results across measurement locations. To identify which meteorological state variables carry the information about regime occupation, the HMM analyses are repeated using different state-variable subsets. Reynolds-averaged measures of turbulence intensity (such as turbulence kinetic energy) at any observed altitude hold almost the same information as the original set, without adding any additional information. In contrast, both stratification and shear depend on surface information to capture regime transitions accurately. Use of information only in the bottom 10 m of the atmosphere is sufficient for HMM analyses to capture important information about regime occupation and transition statistics. It follows that the commonly measured 10-m wind speed is potentially a good indicator of regime occupation.

The atmospheric turbulence characteristics in a diurnal cycle

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (14n16) ◽  
pp. 2040109
Author(s):  
Yi-Lei Song ◽  
Lin-Lin Tian ◽  
Ning Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Diurnal Cycle ◽  
Wind Shear ◽  
Atmospheric Stability ◽  
Atmospheric Flow ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Mean Wind Speed ◽  
Engineering Models ◽  
Wind Characteristics ◽  
Stability Classification

During a whole-day period, profiles of mean wind speed, wind shear and turbulence level shows great variability due to continuously varying atmospheric stability. Clearly understanding the spatial and temporal behaviors of the atmospheric wind flow is of great importance for science purposes. Large-eddy simulation (LES) technique is employed here to reproduce the evolution of atmospheric flow during a diurnal cycle. With the obtained LES results, wind characteristics in terms of wind speed, wind shear, turbulence intensity and turbulent kinetic energy can be examined referring to the stability classification. Besides, wind profiles obtained using currently available engineering models are also included for comparison. Disparities between the model predictions and the LES results illustrate that the standard engineering models cannot well capture the wind characteristics driven by the varying atmospheric stability solely, and a further improvement in models is highly needed.

Analysis on Influence of Effective Turbulence Intensity on Blade Root Fatigue Load of WTGS

2012 ◽  
Vol 538-541 ◽  
pp. 605-609
Author(s):  
Feng Gai ◽  
An Min Cai ◽  
Da Tong Zhang ◽  
Li Xiang Sun
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Turbulence Intensity ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Fatigue Load ◽  
Blade Root ◽  
Type Selection ◽  
Air Density ◽  
Damage Theory ◽  
Fatigue Loads ◽  
Cumulative Fatigue Damage

Based on the Palmgren-Miner linear cumulative fatigue damage theory, the blade root fatigue loads in different effective turbulence intensities were calculated and analysed. The results show that when the air density and the wind speed are constant, the blade root fatigue loads increase linearly with the effective turbulence intensity increasing, and the slopes increase linearly with the wind speed increasing. According to these results, the main source of the blade root fatigue loads under different wind conditions can be estimated to provide a theoretical basis for WTGS type selection in the special sites.

scholarly journals Using wind speed from a blade-mounted flow sensor for power and load assessment on modern wind turbines

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 547-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mads M. Pedersen ◽  
Torben J. Larsen ◽  
Helge Aa. Madsen ◽  
Gunner Chr. Larsen
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Power Production ◽  
Flow Sensor ◽  
Pitot Tube ◽  
Assessment Time ◽  
Aeroelastic Simulations ◽  
Power Curves

Abstract. In this paper an alternative method to evaluate power performance and loads on wind turbines using a blade-mounted flow sensor is investigated. The hypothesis is that the wind speed measured at the blades has a high correlation with the power and loads such that a power or load assessment can be performed from a few hours or days of measurements.In the present study a blade-mounted five-hole pitot tube is used as the flow sensor as an alternative to the conventional approach, where the reference wind speed is either measured at a nearby met mast or on the nacelle using lidar technology or cup anemometers. From the flow sensor measurements, an accurate estimate of the wind speed at the rotor plane can be obtained. This wind speed is disturbed by the presence of the wind turbine, and it is therefore different from the free-flow wind speed. However, the recorded wind speed has a high correlation with the actual power production as well as the flap-wise loads as it is measured close to the blade where the aerodynamic forces are acting.Conventional power curves are based on at least 180 h of 10 min mean values, but using the blade-mounted flow sensor both the observation average time and the overall assessment time can potentially be shortened. The basis for this hypothesis is that the sensor is able to provide more observations with higher accuracy, as the sensor follows the rotation of the rotor and because of the high correlation between the flow at the blades and the power production. This is the research question addressed in this paper.The method is first tested using aeroelastic simulations where the dependence of the radial position and effect of multiple blade-mounted flow sensors are also investigated. Next the method is evaluated on the basis of full-scale measurements on a pitch-regulated, variable-speed 3.6 MW wind turbine.It is concluded that the wind speed derived from the blade-mounted flow sensor is highly correlated with the power and flap-wise bending moment and that the method has advantages over the traditional approach where the met-mast wind speed is used as reference, e.g. the capability of measuring the shear, veer and turbulence. The aeroelastic simulations show that the assessment time can be reduced, but this reduction cannot be confirmed from the current measurement database due to sensor problems and practical circumstances. Measuring the wind speed at the rotor plane comes with a price as the wind speed is affected by the induction which may be sensitive to the changes you want to evaluate, e.g. different vortex generator configurations. Furthermore it is concluded that a robust instrument and measurement system is required to obtain accurate and reliable wind speed recordings from pitot-tube measurements.

scholarly journals Spreadsheet solution for the computation of the mean wind speed and turbulence intensity profiles according to the Romanian standard

2019 ◽  
Vol 85 ◽  
pp. 03002
Author(s):  
Elena-Alexandra Chiulan ◽  
Andrei-Mugur Georgescu ◽  
Costin-Ioan Coşoiu ◽  
Anton Anton
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Turbulence Intensity ◽  
Structural Design ◽  
Input Data ◽  
Wind Speed Profile ◽  
Wind Action ◽  
Design Engineers ◽  
Mean Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Characteristics ◽  
The Mean

The presented paper focuses on the computation of the mean wind speed and turbulence intensity profiles for all the cities from Romania. The calculation of both, the mean wind speed profile and the turbulence intensity profile, had as mathematical support the equations presented in the Romanian design standard for wind action CR 1-1-4/2012. The main objective of this paper was to provide a tool for the computation of the two wind action features. This method was based on creating a spreadsheet in Excel with which, in just a few seconds, a user could correctly obtain the two wind characteristics. This Excel dashboard can be used as a teaching material for students as well as input data for structural design engineers in the process of modelling and observing the behaviour of a building excited by wind action on a particular city in Romania.

scholarly journals Can LiDARs Replace Meteorological Masts in Wind Energy?

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 3680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Prakash Goit ◽  
Susumu Shimada ◽  
Tetsuya Kogaki
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
Turbulence Intensity ◽  
Regression Line ◽  
Sonic Anemometer ◽  
Bending Moments ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
Acceptable Accuracy ◽  
Sonic Anemometers ◽  
Measured Wind Speed

This paper discusses whether profiling LiDARs can replace meteorological tower-based wind speed measurement for wind energy applications without severely compromising accuracy. To this end, the accuracy of LiDAR is evaluated in a moderately complex terrain by comparing long-term wind data measured by a profiling LiDAR against those obtained from tower-mounted cup and sonic anemometers. The LiDAR-measured wind speeds show good agreement with those measured using the sonic anemometer, with the slope of regression line being 1.0 and R 2 > 0.99 . Furthermore, the turbulence intensity obtained from the LiDAR has better agreement with that from the sonic anemometer compared to the cup anemometer which showed the lowest turbulence intensities among the three devices. A comparison of the turbulence intensity obtained from the 90th percentile of the standard deviation distribution shows that the LiDAR-measured turbulence intensities are mostly larger (by 2% or less) than those measured by the sonic anemometer. The gust factors obtained from both devices roughly converged to 1.9, showing that LiDAR is able to measure peak wind speed with acceptable accuracy. The accuracy of the wind speed and power distributions measured using the profiling LiDAR are then evaluated by comparing them against the corresponding distributions obtained from the sonic anemometer. Furthermore, the annual capacity factor—for the NREL 5-MW wind turbine—from the LiDAR-measured wind speed is 2% higher than that obtained from the sonic anemometer-measured wind speed. Numerical simulations are performed using OpenFAST in order to compute fatigue loads for the wind speed and turbulence distributions for the LiDAR and the sonic anemometer measurements. It is found that the 20 years lifetime Damage Equivalent Loads (DELs) computed for the LiDAR wind speed were higher than those for the sonic anemometer wind speeds, by 2%–6% for the blade root bending moments and by 11%–13% for the tower base bending moments. This study shows that even with some shortcomings, profiling LiDARs can measure wind speeds and turbulence intensities with acceptable accuracy. Therefore, they can be used to analyze wind resource and wind power potential of prospective sites, and to evaluate whether those sites are suitable for wind energy development.

scholarly journals Investigation of Marine Wind Veer Characteristics Using Wind Lidar Measurements

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1178
Author(s):  
Zhenru Shu ◽  
Qiusheng Li ◽  
Yuncheng He ◽  
Pak Wai Chan
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Atmospheric Stability ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Hilly Terrain ◽  
Open Sea ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Lidar Measurements ◽  
Mean Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Characteristics ◽  
Wind Lidar

A proper understanding of marine wind characteristics is of essential importance across a wide range of engineering applications. While the offshore wind speed and turbulence characteristics have been examined extensively, the knowledge of wind veer (i.e., turning of wind with height) is much less understood and discussed. This paper presents an investigation of marine wind field with particular emphasis on wind veer characteristics. Extensive observations from a light detection and ranging (Lidar) system at an offshore platform in Hong Kong were examined to characterize the wind veer profiles up to a height of 180 m. The results underscored the occurrence of marine wind veer, with a well-defined two-fold vertical structure. The observed maximum wind veer angle exhibits a reverse correlation with mean wind speed, which decreases from 2.47° to 0.59° for open-sea terrain, and from 7.45° to 1.92° for hilly terrain. In addition, seasonal variability of wind veer is apparent, which is most pronounced during spring and winter due to the frequent occurrence of the low-level jet. The dependence of wind veer on atmospheric stability is evident, particularly during winter and spring. In general, neutral stratification reveals larger values of wind veer angle as compared to those in stable and unstable stratification conditions.

Research the Influencing Factors of the Low Wind Speed Wind Turbine Fatigue Loads

2014 ◽  
Vol 1008-1009 ◽  
pp. 164-168
Author(s):  
Fa Ming Wu ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Dian Wang ◽  
Jia Bao Jing
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Turbulence Intensity ◽  
Fatigue Load ◽  
Annual Average ◽  
Average Wind Speed ◽  
Low Wind Speed ◽  
Air Density ◽  
Average Wind ◽  
Fatigue Loads

This paper analyzes three main factors (turbulence intensity, air density, annual average wind speed ) that influence the low wind speed wind turbine fatigue loads, In order to analyze the influence of each main parameters how to affect the fatigue load of low wind speed wind turbine, using a 2000kW wind turbine as an example on the simulation test , 3 turbulence, 4 air density and 7 annual average wind speed were employed. The results show that, with the air density, turbulence intensity and the annual average wind speed increases, the wind turbine of fatigue load increase in rule approximately. Based on the above rule, it can reduce fatigue loads and prolong the life of wind turbine in design optimization of low wind speed wind turbine and sit choice.

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