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Wind Turbines and Wind Farms Performance Analysis through Numerical and Experimental Methods

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A3: Wind, Wave and Tidal Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 July 2024) | Viewed by 16977

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti 93, 06125 Perugia, Italy
Interests: wind turbines; condition monitoring; fault diagnosis; non-stationary machinery; control and monitoring; vibrations; applied statistics; numerical modelling; mechanical systems dynamics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Greater exploitation of renewable energy is, at present, at the centre of the global policy agenda. In this context, wind turbines represent an extremely promising technology. On the one hand, new installations with large rotors are growing at a remarkable rate, necessitating precise evaluation of their actual capacity. On the other hand, a vast fraction of the wind turbines operating in Europe are presently reaching the end of their expected lifetime, and thus, judicious decisions will need to be taken regarding their repowering, decommissioning and so on.

While wind turbine and wind farm performance research is increasingly relevant, this objective poses several scientific and technological challenges. Wind turbines are complex machines subjected to nonstationary operation conditions, and in real-world plants it is impractical to monitor all the environmental conditions on which the extracted power depends.

Considering this premise, this Special Issue will present high-quality contributions covering all aspects of wind farms and wind turbine performance. While contributions on the following topics are particularly welcome, the list should not be considered exclusive:

  • Wind turbine power curves;
  • SCADA data analysis;
  • Diagnosis of wind turbine under-performance and faults;
  • Wind turbine and wind farm wakes and turbulence;
  • Wind farm blockage;
  • Jets and wind turbine performance;
  • Wind power forecast;
  • Wind turbine life cycle assessment;
  • Wind turbine ageing and end-of-life issues;
  • Wind turbine technology;
  • Wind tunnel testing;
  • LiDAR and anemometry;
  • Wind farm control and wake steering;
  • Yaw and pitch control;
  • Wind turbines in complex terrain;
  • Computational fluid dynamics
  • Large wind turbines;
  • Offshore wind farms;
  • Floating wind turbines;
  • Microwind turbines.

Dr. Davide Astolfi
Guest Editor

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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Editorial

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4 pages, 168 KiB  
Editorial
Wind Turbine Drivetrain Condition Monitoring through SCADA-Collected Temperature Data: Discussion of Selected Recent Papers
by Davide Astolfi
Energies 2023, 16(9), 3614; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16093614 - 22 Apr 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1420
Abstract
Wind energy is going to be the leading renewable source of the next decades [...] Full article
5 pages, 197 KiB  
Editorial
Individuation of Wind Turbine Systematic Yaw Error through SCADA Data
by Davide Astolfi, Ravi Pandit, Linyue Gao and Jiarong Hong
Energies 2022, 15(21), 8165; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15218165 - 1 Nov 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1863
Abstract
Much attention in the wind energy literature is devoted to condition monitoring [...] Full article
4 pages, 179 KiB  
Editorial
Wind Turbine Performance Decline with Age
by Davide Astolfi and Ravi Pandit
Energies 2022, 15(14), 5225; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15145225 - 19 Jul 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2898
Abstract
Wind turbines, as any technical system, are expected to have an efficiency that declines in time [...] Full article

Research

Jump to: Editorial

14 pages, 1713 KiB  
Article
Minimum Risk Quantification Method for Error Threshold of Wind Farm Equivalent Model Based on Bayes Discriminant Criterion
by Yuming Shen, Hao Yang, Jiayin Xu, Kun Li, Jiaqing Wang and Qianlong Zhu
Energies 2024, 17(19), 4793; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17194793 - 25 Sep 2024
Viewed by 370
Abstract
The error threshold is the cornerstone to balance the mathematical complexity and simulation speed of wind farm (WF) equivalent models, and can promote the standardization process of equivalent methodology. Due to differences in power system conditions and model evaluation standards in different countries, [...] Read more.
The error threshold is the cornerstone to balance the mathematical complexity and simulation speed of wind farm (WF) equivalent models, and can promote the standardization process of equivalent methodology. Due to differences in power system conditions and model evaluation standards in different countries, the form and indexes of error thresholds of WF equivalent models have not been unified yet. This paper proposes a theoretical method for quantifying the minimum risk of error threshold of WF equivalent models based on the Bayes discriminant criterion. Firstly, the Euclidean errors of WF equivalent models in different periods are quantified, and the probability density distributions of the errors are fitted by kernel density estimation. Secondly, the real-time weighted prior probability algorithm is used to obtain the prior probability of a valid WF equivalent model, and the different losses caused by the missed judgment and misjudgment of the model validity to power systems are taken into account. Thirdly, the minimum risk quantification model of error threshold is established based on the Bayes discriminant criterion, and the feasibility of the proposed method is verified by an actual WF with numerical examples. Compared with the existing error thresholds, the proposed error threshold can more quickly and accurately determine the validity of WF equivalent models. Full article
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27 pages, 27010 KiB  
Article
Numerical Investigation of Wake Characteristics for Scaled 20 kW Wind Turbine Models with Various Size Factors
by Salim Abdullah Bazher, Juyeol Park, Jungkeun Oh and Daewon Seo
Energies 2024, 17(17), 4528; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17174528 - 9 Sep 2024
Viewed by 669
Abstract
Wind energy is essential for sustainable energy development, providing a clean and reliable energy source through the wind turbine. However, the vortices and turbulence generated as wind passes through turbines reduce wind speed and increase turbulence, leading to significant power losses for downstream [...] Read more.
Wind energy is essential for sustainable energy development, providing a clean and reliable energy source through the wind turbine. However, the vortices and turbulence generated as wind passes through turbines reduce wind speed and increase turbulence, leading to significant power losses for downstream turbines in wind farms. This study investigates wake characteristics in wind turbines by examining the effects of different scale ratios on wake dynamics, using both experimental and numerical approaches, utilizing scaled-down models of the Aeolos H-20 kW turbine at scales of 1:33, 1:50, and 1:67. The experimental component involved wind tunnel tests in an open-circuit tunnel with adjustable wind speeds and controlled turbulence intensity. Additionally, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted using STAR-CCM+ (Version 15.06.02) to numerically analyze the wake characteristics. Prior to the simulation, a convergence test was performed by varying grid density and y+ values to establish optimized simulation settings essential for accurately capturing wake dynamics. The results were validated against experimental data, reinforcing the reliability of the simulations. Despite minor inconsistencies in areas affected by tower and nacelle interference, the overall results strongly support the methodology’s effectiveness. The discrepancies between the experimental results and CFD simulations underscore the limitations of the rigid body assumption, which does not fully account for the deformation observed in the experiment. Full article
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17 pages, 9594 KiB  
Article
Power Production and Blade Fatigue of a Wind Turbine Array Subjected to Active Yaw Control
by Mou Lin and Fernando Porté-Agel
Energies 2023, 16(6), 2542; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16062542 - 8 Mar 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2240
Abstract
This study investigated the power production and blade fatigue of a three-turbine array subjected to active yaw control (AYC) in full-wake and partial-wake configurations. A framework of a two-way coupled large eddy simulation (LES) and an aeroelastic blade simulation was applied to simulate [...] Read more.
This study investigated the power production and blade fatigue of a three-turbine array subjected to active yaw control (AYC) in full-wake and partial-wake configurations. A framework of a two-way coupled large eddy simulation (LES) and an aeroelastic blade simulation was applied to simulate the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) flow through the turbines and the structural responses of the blades. The mean power outputs and blade fatigue loads were extracted from the simulation results. By exploring the feasible AYC decision space, we found that in the full-wake configuration, the local power-optimal AYC strategy with positive yaw angles endures less flapwise blade fatigue and more edgewise blade fatigue than the global power-optimal strategy. In the partial-wake configuration, applying positive AYC in certain inflow wind directions achieves higher optimal power gains than that in the full-wake scenario and reduces blade fatigue from the non-yawed benchmark. Using the blade element momentum (BEM) theory, we reveal that the aforementioned differences in flapwise blade fatigue are due to the differences in the azimuthal distributions of the local relative velocity on blade sections, resulting from the vertical wind shear and blade rotation. Furthermore, the difference in the blade force between the positively and negatively yawed front-row turbine induces different wake velocities and turbulence distributions, causing different fatigue loads on the downwind turbine exposed to the wake. Full article
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14 pages, 3951 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Weather Information for Short-Term Wind Power Forecasting with Various Types of Models
by Ju-Yeol Ryu, Bora Lee, Sungho Park, Seonghyeon Hwang, Hyemin Park, Changhyeong Lee and Dohyeon Kwon
Energies 2022, 15(24), 9403; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15249403 - 12 Dec 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1668
Abstract
The rising share of renewable energy in the energy mix brings with it new challenges such as power curtailment and lack of reliable large-scale energy grid. The forecasting of wind power generation for provision of flexibility, defined as the ability to absorb and [...] Read more.
The rising share of renewable energy in the energy mix brings with it new challenges such as power curtailment and lack of reliable large-scale energy grid. The forecasting of wind power generation for provision of flexibility, defined as the ability to absorb and manage fluctuations in the demand and supply by storing energy at times of surplus and releasing it when needed, is important. In this study, short-term forecasting models of wind power generation were developed using the conventional time-series method and hybrid models using support vector regression (SVR) based on rolling origin recalibration. For the application of the methodology, the meteorological database from Korea Meteorological Administration and actual operating data of a wind power turbine (2.3 MW) from 1 January to 31 December 2015 were used. The results showed that the proposed SVR model has higher forecasting accuracy than the existing time-series methods. In addition, the conventional time-series model has high accuracy under proper curation of wind turbine operation data. Therefore, the analysis results reveal that data curation and weather information are as important as the model for wind power forecasting. Full article
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18 pages, 5224 KiB  
Article
Research on Anomaly Detection of Wind Farm SCADA Wind Speed Data
by Wu Wen, Yubao Liu, Rongfu Sun and Yuewei Liu
Energies 2022, 15(16), 5869; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15165869 - 12 Aug 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2419
Abstract
Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are critical for wind power grid integration and wind farm operation and maintenance. However, wind turbines are affected by regulation, severe weather factors, and mechanical failures, resulting in abnormal SCADA data that seriously affect the usage [...] Read more.
Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are critical for wind power grid integration and wind farm operation and maintenance. However, wind turbines are affected by regulation, severe weather factors, and mechanical failures, resulting in abnormal SCADA data that seriously affect the usage of SCADA systems. Thus, strict and effective data quality control of the SCADA data are crucial. The traditional anomaly detection methods based on either “power curve” or statistical evaluation cannot comprehensively detect abnormal data. In this study, a multi-approach based abnormal data detection method for SCADA wind speed data quality control is developed. It is mainly composed of the EEMD (Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition)-BiLSTM network model, wind speed correlation between adjacent wind turbines, and the deviation detection model based on dynamic power curve fitting. The proposed abnormal data detection method is tested on SCADA data from a real wind farm, and statistical analysis of the results verifies that this method can effectively detect abnormal SCADA wind data. The proposed method can be readily applied for real-time operation to support an effective use of SCADA data for wind turbine control and wind power prediction. Full article
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20 pages, 30235 KiB  
Article
Experimental Investigation of the Cooperation of Wind Turbines
by Piotr Wiklak, Michal Kulak, Michal Lipian and Damian Obidowski
Energies 2022, 15(11), 3906; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15113906 - 25 May 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1677
Abstract
The article discusses the wind tunnel experimental investigation of two turbines (the downstream unit placed fully in the wake of the upstream one) at various turbulence intensity levels and wind turbine separation distances, at a Reynolds number of approximately 105. The [...] Read more.
The article discusses the wind tunnel experimental investigation of two turbines (the downstream unit placed fully in the wake of the upstream one) at various turbulence intensity levels and wind turbine separation distances, at a Reynolds number of approximately 105. The velocity deficit due to the upstream turbine operation is reduced as the wake mixes with the undisturbed flow, which may be enhanced by increasing the turbulence intensity. In a natural environment, this may be provoked by natural wind gusts or changes in the wind inflow conditions. Increased levels of turbulence intensity enlarge the plateau of optimum wind turbine operation—this results in the turbine performance being less prone to variations of tip speed ratio. Another important set of results quantifies the influence of the upstream turbine operation at non-optimal tip speed ratio on the overall system performance, as the downstream machine gains more energy from the wake flow. Thus, all power output maximisation analyses of wind turbine layout in a cluster should encompass not only the locations and distances between the units, but also their operating parameters (TSR, but also pitch or yaw control of the upstream turbine(s)). Full article
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