A Simple Model for Wake-Induced Aerodynamic Interaction of Wind Turbines

Abstract

Wind turbine aerodynamic interactions within wind farms lead to significant energy losses. Optimizing the flow between turbines presents a promising solution to mitigate these losses. While analytical models offer a fundamental approach to understanding aerodynamic interactions, further development and refinement of these models are imperative. We propose a simplified analytical model that combines the Gaussian wake model and the cylindrical vortex induction model to evaluate the interaction between wake and induction zones in 3.5 MW wind turbines with 328 m spacing. The model’s validation is conducted using field data from a nacelle-mounted LiDAR system on the downstream turbine. The ‘Direction to Hub’ parameter facilitates a comparison between the model predictions and LiDAR measurements at distances ranging from 50 m to 300 m along the rotor axis. Overall, the results exhibit reasonable agreement in flow trends, albeit with discrepancies of up to 15° in predicting peak interactions. These deviations are attributed to the single-hat Gaussian shape of the wake model and the absence of wake expansion consideration, which can be revisited to improve model fidelity. The ‘Direction to Hub’ parameter proves valuable for model validation and LiDAR calibration, enabling a detailed flow analysis between turbines. This analytical modeling approach holds promise for enhancing wind farm efficiency by advancing our understanding of turbine interactions.

Research on Evaluation Method of Wind Farm Wake Energy Efficiency Loss Based on SCADA Data Analysis

“…Its accuracy has also been proved [49]. Unlike the single theoretical derivation [29][30][31] or statistical research methods [42][43][44], this paper combines the velocity analysis based on the wake model with the power analysis based on SCADA data. It evaluates the wake energy efficiency loss of wind farms from both theoretical and practical perspectives, and the results are more scientific and accurate.…”

“…In addition, they investigated the effects of different incoming turbulent boundary layer flows on large wind farms and found that increasing the intensity of incoming turbulence is favorable to the recovery of wake velocity compared to changing the layout arrangement of wind turbines, which improves the overall power generation [27,28]. Mahmoodi E et al [29] combined the Gaussian wake model and the cylindrical vortex induction model to derive a new model to analyze the interaction of wake and induction zones. The velocity deficit characteristics were analyzed.…”

Modeling of separated flow over tailings storage facility

“…In the article [7], the aerodynamic wake of the side wind is studied with the help of vortex methods, taking into account the different movement for the near and far wake. And in [8], a simplified analytical model is proposed, which combines the Gaussian wake model and the model of the induced cylindrical vortex to evaluate the interaction between the wake zones. The paper [9] studies the characteristics of the speed of movement with consideration of turbulence and taking into account superposition for aligned wakes.…”