Abstract
To analyze the interaction between wind turbines and the atmospheric boundary layer, we integrated a large-eddy simulation with an actuator line model and examined the characteristics of wind-turbine loads and wakes with reference to a corresponding experiment in Gansu. In the simulation, we set the wind turbine to have a rotor diameter of 14.8 m and a tower height of 15.4 m in the center of an atmospheric boundary layer with a 10.6° yaw angle. The results reveal an obviously skewed wake structure behind the rotor due to the thrust component normal to the flow direction. The power spectra of the inflow fluctuation velocity exhibit a region of −5/3 slope, which confirms the ability of large-eddy simulations to reproduce the energy cascade from larger to smaller scales. We found there to be more energy in the power spectrum of the axial velocity, which shows that coherent turbulence structures have more energy in the horizontal direction. By the conjoint analysis of atmospheric turbulence and windturbine loads, we found that when the inflow wind direction changes rapidly, the turbulence kinetic energy and coherent turbulence kinetic energy in the atmospheric turbulence increase, which in turn causes fluctuations in the wind turbine load. Furthermore, anisotropic atmospheric turbulence causes an asymmetric load cycle, which imposes a strike by the turbine blade on the shaft, thereby increasing the fatigue load on the shaft. Our main conclusion is that the atmospheric boundary layer has a strong effect on the evolution of the wake and the structural response of the turbine.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
R. Vautard, F. Thais, I. Tobin, F. M. Bréon, J. G. Devezeaux de Lavergne, A. Colette, P. Yiou, and P. M. Ruti, Nat. Commun. 5, 3196 (2014).
J. D. Mirocha, B. Kosovic, M. L. Aitken, and J. K. Lundquist, J. Renew. Sustain. Energy 6, 013104 (2014).
M. Z. Jacobson, C. L. Archer, and W. Kempton, Nat. Clim Change 4, 195 (2014).
H. Lu, and F. Porté-Agel, Phys. Fluids 23, 065101 (2011).
S. B. Roy, S. W. Pacala, and R. L. Walko, J. Geophys. Res. 109, D19101 (2004).
S. Shamsoddin, and F. Porté-Agel, Bound.-Layer Meteorol. 163, 1 (2017).
L. P. Chamorro, and F. Porté-Agel, Bound.-Layer Meteorol. 136, 515 (2010).
M. A. Carper, and F. Porté-Agel, Bound.-Layer Meteorol. 126, 157 (2007).
M. A. Carper, and F. Porté-Agel, Bound.-Layer Meteorol. 127, 73 (2008).
M. Bastankhah, and F. Porté-Agel, Energies 10, 908 (2017).
M. J. Churchfield, S. Lee, J. Michalakes, and P. J. Moriarty, J. Turbul 13, N14 (2012).
G. España, S. Aubrun, S. Loyer, and P. Devinant, J. Wind Eng. Industrial Aerodyn. 101, 24 (2012).
S. Shamsoddin, and F. Porté-Agel, J. Fluid Mech. 837, R3 (2018).
R. E. Keck, M. de Maré, M. J. Churchfield, S. Lee, G. Larsen, and H. Aagaard Madsen, Wind Energ. 17, 1689 (2015).
M. Abkar, and F. Porté-Agel, Phys. Fluids 27, 035104 (2015).
J. Hong, M. Toloui, L. P. Chamorro, M. Guala, K. Howard, S. Riley, J. Tucker, and F. Sotiropoulos, Nat. Commun. 5, 4216 (2014).
M. S. Adaramola, and P. Å. Krogstad, Renew. Energy 36, 2078 (2011).
L. A. Martínez-Tossas, M. J. Churchfield, and S. Leonardi, Wind Energ. 18, 1047 (2015).
K. Nilsson, S. Ivanell, K. S. Hansen, R. Mikkelsen, J. N. Sørensen, S. P. Breton, and D. Henningson, Wind Energ. 18, 449 (2015).
C. Q. Liu, and X. S. Cai, Sci. China-Phys. Mech. Astron. 60, 084731 (2017).
Y. Q. Wang, and C. Q. Liu, Sci. China-Phys. Mech. Astron. 60, 114712 (2017).
Q. Hu, Y. Li, Y. Di, and J. Chen, J. Renew. Sustain. Energy 9, 064501 (2017).
G. Wang, and X. Zheng, J. Fluid Mech. 802, 464 (2016).
L. J. Vermeer, J. N. Sørensen, and A. Crespo, Prog. Aerosp. Sci. 39, 467 (2003).
F. Porté-Agel, Y. T. Wu, H. Lu, and R. J. Conzemius, J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 99, 154 (2011).
M. Calaf, C. Meneveau, and J. Meyers, Phys. Fluids 22, 015110 (2010).
A. Jimenez, A. Crespo, E. Migoya, and J. Garcia, Environ. Res. Lett. 3, 015004 (2008).
N. Marjanovic, J. D. Mirocha, B. Kosovic, J. K. Lundquist, and F. K. Chow, J. Renew. Sustain. Energy 9, 063308 (2017).
L. A. Martínez-Tossas, M. J. Churchfield, and C. Meneveau, Wind Energ. 20, 1083 (2017).
M. Shives, and C. Crawford, Renew. Energy 92, 273 (2016).
M. F. Howland, J. Bossuyt, L. A. Martínez-Tossas, J. Meyers, and C. Meneveau, J. Renew. Sustain. Energy 8, 043301 (2016).
J. N. Sørensen, and W. Z. Shen, J. Fluids Eng. 124, 393 (2002).
N. Troldborg, J. N. Sørensen, and R. Mikkelsen, J. Phys.-Conf. Ser. 75, 012063 (2007).
D. Li, T. Guo, Y. Li, J. Hu, Z. Zheng, Y. Li, Y. Di, W. Hu, and R. Li, Sci. China-Phys. Mech. Astron. doi: 10.1007/s11433-018-9219-y.
A. S. Ghate, and S. K. Lele, J. Fluid Mech. 819, 494 (2017).
N. Troldborg, Actuator Line Modeling of Wind Turbine Wakes, Dissertation for the Doctoral Degree (Technical University of Denmark, Denmark, 2009), p. 13.
C. H. Moeng, J. Atmos. Sci. 41, 2052 (1984).
C. M. Rhie, and W. L. Chow, AIAA J. 21, 1525 (1983).
I. H. Abbott, and A. E. Von Doenhoff, Theory of Wing Sections. Including a Summary of Airfoil Data (Dover, NewYork, 1959).
L. A. Viterna, and R. D. Corrigan, Fixed Pitch Rotor Performance of Large Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines, Technical Report (NASA, 1982).
P. K. Kundu, and I. M. Cohen, Fluid Mechanics (Elsevier, Burlington, 2010), pp. 541–564.
R. P. Coleman, A. M. Feingold, and C. W. Stempin, Evaluation of the Induced-Velocity Field of an Idealized Helicoptor Rotor, Technical Report (NASA, 1945).
J. M. Jonkman, and M. L. Buhl, FAST User’s Guide, Technical Report (NREL, 2005).
Y. Li, J. H. Yi, H. Song, Q. Wang, Z. Yang, N. D. Kelley, and K. S. Lee, Appl. Phys. Lett. 105, 023902 (2014).
B. J. Jonkman, TurbSim User’s Guide, Technical Report (NREL, 2009).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zheng, Z., Gao, Z., Li, D. et al. Interaction between the atmospheric boundary layer and a stand-alone wind turbine in Gansu—Part II: Numerical analysis. Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. 61, 94712 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-018-9214-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-018-9214-1