Simulating effects of a wind-turbine array using LES and RANS

Vanderwende, Brian J.; Kosović, Branko; Lundquist, Julie K.; Mirocha, Jeffrey D.

doi:10.1002/2016MS000652

Simulating effects of a wind-turbine array using LES and RANS

Journal Article · Sat Aug 27 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2016MS000652· OSTI ID:1377803

Vanderwende, Brian J. ^[1]; Kosović, Branko ^[2]; Lundquist, Julie K. ^[3]; Mirocha, Jeffrey D. ^[4]

Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)
Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Growth in wind power production has motivated investigation of wind-farm impacts on in situ flow fields and downstream interactions with agriculture and other wind farms. These impacts can be simulated with both large-eddy simulations (LES) and mesoscale wind-farm parameterizations (WFP). The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model offers both approaches. We used the validated generalized actuator disk (GAD) parameterization in WRF-LES to assess WFP performance. A 12-turbine array was simulated using the GAD model and the WFP in WRF. We examined the performance of each scheme in both convective and stable conditions. The GAD model and WFP produced qualitatively similar wind speed deficits and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) production across the array in both stability regimes, though the magnitudes of velocity deficits and TKE production levels were underestimated and overestimated, respectively. While wake growth slowed in the latter half of the WFP array as expected, wakes did not approach steady state by the end of the array as simulated by the GAD model. A sensitivity test involving the deactivation of explicit TKE production by the WFP resulted in turbulence levels within the array well that were below those produced by the GAD in both stable and unstable conditions. Finally, the WFP overestimated downwind power production deficits in stable conditions because of the lack of wake stabilization in the latter half of the array.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308; AC52-07NA27344

OSTI ID:: 1377803

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1842419

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL--823166; NREL/JA-5000-70007; MainId:22261; UUID:cd057672-5289-e711-9c0f-2c44fd93e385; MainAdminID:10737

Journal Information:: Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Journal Name: Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 8; ISSN 1942-2466

Publisher:: American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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17 WIND ENERGY
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Simulating effects of a wind-turbine array using LES and RANS

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