CU-Boulder leading study of wind turbine wakes

The study, called the Turbine Wake and Inflow Characterization Study, or TWICS, also includes researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, or NREL, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif.

Scientists and wind energy developers will use results of the study to better understand power production and increase the productivity of wind farms, according to the researchers.

“Today's massive wind turbines stretch into a complicated part of the atmosphere,” said Lundquist, who also is a joint appointee at NREL. “If we can understand how gusts and rapid changes in wind direction affect turbine operations and how turbine wakes behave, we can improve design standards, increase efficiency and reduce the cost of energy.”

To measure wind shifts and wake behavior, the researchers will monitor a wind turbine at NREL's National Wind Technology Center in south Boulder, using an instrument developed at NOAA called a high-resolution scanning Doppler lidar. The lidar produces three-dimensional portraits of atmospheric activity and can capture a wedge of air up to 3,280 feet from the ground and 4.3 miles long.

Robert Banta, an atmospheric scientist with NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory and a TWICS researcher, has worked with the instrument for several years.

“The wake effect has been modeled in wind tunnel studies and numerical models,” said Banta, “but the atmosphere is different, it's more variable and complicated.”

Researchers also will use a specialized laser called a Windcube lidar and a sonic detection and ranging system, called a Triton sodar, to measure wind and turbulence. In addition, NREL has installed two meteorological towers, each 135 meters tall, which will be used to measure air temperature, as well as wind and turbulence.

“Even fluctuations in air temperature throughout the day can affect wind turbine wakes,” said Lundquist. “The resulting changes in wake behavior can impact the productivity of wind farms with many rows of turbines, so it's important to observe them in detail and understand how to minimize their impacts.”

Other TWICS researchers include Yelena Pichugina, Alan Brewer, Dave Brown, Raul Alvarez and Scott Sandberg of NOAA, Neil Kelley and Andrew Clifton of NREL and Jeff Mirocha of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

CU-Boulder graduate students Matt Aitken, Mike Rhodes, Robert Marshall and Brian Vanderwende of Lundquist's research group also will work on the study.

For more information on the TWICS study and Lundquist's research visit atoc.colorado.edu/~jlundqui/re.html.

Contact

Julie Lundquist, 303-492-8932
julie.lundquist@colorado.edu
Elizabeth Lock, CU media relations, 303-492-3117
elizabeth.lock@colorado.edu

Media Contact

Julie Lundquist EurekAlert!

More Information:

http://www.colorado.edu

All latest news from the category: Power and Electrical Engineering

This topic covers issues related to energy generation, conversion, transportation and consumption and how the industry is addressing the challenge of energy efficiency in general.

innovations-report provides in-depth and informative reports and articles on subjects ranging from wind energy, fuel cell technology, solar energy, geothermal energy, petroleum, gas, nuclear engineering, alternative energy and energy efficiency to fusion, hydrogen and superconductor technologies.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors