Evaluation of the Fitch Wind-Farm Wake Parameterization with Large-Eddy Simulations of Wakes Using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model

Peña, Alfredo; Mirocha, Jeffrey D.; van der Laan, M. Paul

doi:10.1175/MWR-D-22-0118.1

Title: Evaluation of the Fitch Wind-Farm Wake Parameterization with Large-Eddy Simulations of Wakes Using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model

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Abstract

Abstract Wind-farm parameterizations in weather models can be used to predict both the power output and farm effects on the flow; however, their correctness has not been thoroughly assessed. We evaluate the wind-farm parameterization of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model with large-eddy simulations (LES) of the wake performed with the same model. We study the impact on the velocity and turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) of inflow velocity, roughness, resolution, number of turbines (one or two), and inversion height and strength. We compare the mesoscale with the LES by spatially averaging the LES within areas correspondent to the mesoscale horizontal spacing: one covering the turbine area and two downwind. We find an excellent agreement of the velocity within the turbine area between the two types of simulations. However, within the same area, we find the largest TKE discrepancies because in mesoscale simulations, the turbine-added TKE has to be highest at the turbine position to be advected downwind. Within the downwind areas, differences between velocities increase as the wake recovers faster in the LES, whereas for the TKE both types of simulations show similar levels. From the various configurations, the impact of inversion height and strength is small for these heightsmore »« less

Authors:

^[1]; Mirocha, Jeffrey D. ^[2]; van der Laan, M. Paul ^[1]

a DTU Wind and Energy Systems, Technical University of Denmark, Roskilde, Denmark
b Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California

Publication Date:: Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 EDT 2022

Research Org.:: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Wind Energy Technologies Office; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

OSTI Identifier:: 1898709

Alternate Identifier(s):: OSTI ID: 2005112

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL-839103
Journal ID: ISSN 0027-0644

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344

Resource Type:: Published Article

Journal Name:: Monthly Weather Review

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Name: Monthly Weather Review Journal Volume: 150 Journal Issue: 11; Journal ID: ISSN 0027-0644

Publisher:: American Meteorological Society

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 17 WIND ENERGY; Boundary layer; Wind; Large eddy simulations; Mesoscale models; Model evaluation/performance; Numerical weather prediction/forecasting

Citation Formats


                    Peña, Alfredo, Mirocha, Jeffrey D., and van der Laan, M. Paul. Evaluation of the Fitch Wind-Farm Wake Parameterization with Large-Eddy Simulations of Wakes Using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model.  United States: N. p., 2022. 
Web.  doi:10.1175/MWR-D-22-0118.1.

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                    Peña, Alfredo, Mirocha, Jeffrey D., & van der Laan, M. Paul. Evaluation of the Fitch Wind-Farm Wake Parameterization with Large-Eddy Simulations of Wakes Using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-22-0118.1

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                    Peña, Alfredo, Mirocha, Jeffrey D., and van der Laan, M. Paul. Tue .  
"Evaluation of the Fitch Wind-Farm Wake Parameterization with Large-Eddy Simulations of Wakes Using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-22-0118.1.

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@article{osti_1898709,

  title        = {Evaluation of the Fitch Wind-Farm Wake Parameterization with Large-Eddy Simulations of Wakes Using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model},

  author       = {Peña, Alfredo and Mirocha, Jeffrey D. and van der Laan, M. Paul},

  abstractNote = {Abstract Wind-farm parameterizations in weather models can be used to predict both the power output and farm effects on the flow; however, their correctness has not been thoroughly assessed. We evaluate the wind-farm parameterization of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model with large-eddy simulations (LES) of the wake performed with the same model. We study the impact on the velocity and turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) of inflow velocity, roughness, resolution, number of turbines (one or two), and inversion height and strength. We compare the mesoscale with the LES by spatially averaging the LES within areas correspondent to the mesoscale horizontal spacing: one covering the turbine area and two downwind. We find an excellent agreement of the velocity within the turbine area between the two types of simulations. However, within the same area, we find the largest TKE discrepancies because in mesoscale simulations, the turbine-added TKE has to be highest at the turbine position to be advected downwind. Within the downwind areas, differences between velocities increase as the wake recovers faster in the LES, whereas for the TKE both types of simulations show similar levels. From the various configurations, the impact of inversion height and strength is small for these heights and inversion levels. The highest impact for the one-turbine simulations appears under the low-speed case due to the higher thrust, whereas the impact of resolution is low for the large-eddy simulations but high for the mesoscale simulations. Our findings demonstrate that higher-fidelity simulations are needed to validate wind-farm parameterizations.},

  doi          = {10.1175/MWR-D-22-0118.1},

  journal      = {Monthly Weather Review},

  number       = 11,

  volume       = 150,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 EDT 2022},

  month        = {Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 EDT 2022}

}

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