Comparison of Rotor Wake Identification and Characterization Methods for the Analysis of Wake Dynamics and Evolution

Journal Article · 01 January 2020 · Journal of Physics. Conference Series

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1452/1/012070 · OSTI ID:1603920

Quon, E. W. ^[1]; Doubrawa, P. ^[1]; Debnath, M. ^[1]

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1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Optimal wind power plant design requires understanding of wind turbine wake physics and validation of engineering wake models under wake-controlled operating conditions. In this work, we have developed and investigated several different wake identification and characterization methods for analyzing wake evolution and dynamics. The accuracy and robustness of these methods, based on Gaussian function fitting and adaptive contour identification, have been assessed by application to a large-eddy simulation data set. A new contour-based method based on downstream momentum deficit has been considered. Uncertainties arising from wake-identification errors result in characterizations of the wake expansion, recovery, and meandering motion that differ by 19% of the rotor area, 4% of the freestream, and 15% rotor diameter, respectively.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Wind and Water Technologies Office (EE-4W)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1603920
• Report Number(s): NREL/JA-5000-74643
• Journal Information: Journal of Physics. Conference Series, Vol. 1452; ISSN 1742-6588
• Publisher: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English