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Mesoscale to microscale wind farm flow modeling and evaluation: Mesoscale to Microscale Wind Farm Models

Journal Article · · Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Energy and Environment
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/wene.214· OSTI ID:1345354
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [4];  [6];  [7]
  1. National Renewable Energy Centre (CENER), Sarriguren Spain
  2. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden CO USA
  3. National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder CO USA
  4. Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Roskilde Denmark
  5. Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Lyngby Denmark
  6. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore CA USA
  7. DNV GL, San Diego CA USA
+ Show Author Affiliations
The increasing size of wind turbines, with rotors already spanning more than 150 m diameter and hub heights above 100 m, requires proper modeling of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) from the surface to the free atmosphere. Furthermore, large wind farm arrays create their own boundary layer structure with unique physics. This poses significant challenges to traditional wind engineering models that rely on surface-layer theories and engineering wind farm models to simulate the flow in and around wind farms. However, adopting an ABL approach offers the opportunity to better integrate wind farm design tools and meteorological models. The challenge is how to build the bridge between atmospheric and wind engineering model communities and how to establish a comprehensive evaluation process that identifies relevant physical phenomena for wind energy applications with modeling and experimental requirements. A framework for model verification, validation, and uncertainty quantification is established to guide this process by a systematic evaluation of the modeling system at increasing levels of complexity. In terms of atmospheric physics, 'building the bridge' means developing models for the so-called 'terra incognita,' a term used to designate the turbulent scales that transition from mesoscale to microscale. This range of scales within atmospheric research deals with the transition from parameterized to resolved turbulence and the improvement of surface boundary-layer parameterizations. The coupling of meteorological and wind engineering flow models and the definition of a formal model evaluation methodology, is a strong area of research for the next generation of wind conditions assessment and wind farm and wind turbine design tools. Some fundamental challenges are identified in order to guide future research in this area.
Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Wind and Water Technologies Office (EE-4W)
DOE Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1345354
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA--5000-66589
Journal Information:
Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Energy and Environment, Journal Name: Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Energy and Environment Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 6; ISSN 2041-8396
Publisher:
Wiley
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Mesoscale to microscale wind farm flow modeling and evaluation
Journal Article · Tue Aug 30 20:00:00 EDT 2016 · Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Energy and Environment · OSTI ID:1682526

Related Subjects

17 WIND ENERGY
atmospheric boundary layer
atmospheric modeling
mesoscale
microscale