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Multimodel validation of single wakes in neutral and stratified atmospheric conditions

Journal Article · · Wind Energy
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/we.2543· OSTI ID:1660136
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  1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  2. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States)
  3. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  4. Technical Univ. of Denmark, Roskilde (Denmark)
  5. Technical Univ. of Denmark, Lyngby (Denmark)
  6. Univ. Oldenburg (Germany)
  7. IFP Energies Nouvelles (France)
  8. ProPlanEn GmbH (Germany)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Previous research has revealed the need for a validation study that considers several wake quantities and code types so that decisions on the trade-off between accuracy and computational cost can be well informed and appropriate to the intended application. In addition to guiding code choice and setup, rigorous model validation exercises are needed to identify weaknesses and strengths of specific models and guide future improvements. Here, we consider 13 approaches to simulating wakes observed with a nacelle-mounted lidar at the Scaled Wind Technology Facility (SWiFT) under varying atmospheric conditions. We find that some of the main challenges in wind turbine wake modeling are related to simulating the inflow. In the neutral benchmark, model performance tracked as expected with model fidelity, with large-eddy simulations performing the best. In the more challenging stable case, steady-state Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulations were found to outperform other model alternatives because they provide the ability to more easily prescribe noncanonical inflows and their low cost allows for simulations to be repeated as needed. Dynamic measurements were only available for the unstable benchmark at a single downstream distance. These dynamic analyses revealed that differences in the performance of time-stepping models come largely from differences in wake meandering. This highlights the need for more validation exercises that take into account wake dynamics and are able to identify where these differences come from: mesh setup, inflow, turbulence models, or wake-meandering parameterizations. In addition to model validation findings, we summarize lessons learned and provide recommendations for future benchmark exercises.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Wind Energy Technologies Office (EE-4W)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1660136
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1638876
OSTI ID: 1778898
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA--5000-75771; MainId:6700; UUID:a0c30718-6d31-ea11-9c2f-ac162d87dfe5; MainAdminID:15177
Journal Information:
Wind Energy, Journal Name: Wind Energy Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 23; ISSN 1095-4244
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

17 WIND ENERGY
lidar
swift
validation
wake