Turbine Inflow Characterization at the National Wind Technology Center
Abstract
Utility-scale wind turbines operate in dynamic flows that can vary significantly over timescales from less than a second to several years. To better understand the inflow to utility-scale turbines, two inflow towers were installed and commissioned at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) National Wind Technology Center near Boulder, Colorado, in 2011. These towers are 135 m tall and instrumented with a combination of sonic anemometers, cup anemometers, wind vanes, and temperature measurements to characterize the inflow wind speed and direction, turbulence, stability and thermal stratification to two utility-scale turbines. Herein, we present variations in mean and turbulent wind parameters with height, atmospheric stability, and as a function of wind direction that could be important for turbine operation as well as persistence of turbine wakes. Wind speed, turbulence intensity, and dissipation are all factors that affect turbine performance. Our results show that these all vary with height across the rotor disk, demonstrating the importance of measuring atmospheric conditions that influence wind turbine performance at multiple heights in the rotor disk, rather than relying on extrapolation from lower levels.
- Authors:
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Wind and Water Technologies Office (EE-4W)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1047967
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/CP-5000-56043
TRN: US201216%%590
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- Resource Type:
- Conference
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Presented at the 50th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting Including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition, 9-12 January 2012, Nashville, Tennessee; Related Information: Paper No. AIAA 2012-0658
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 17 WIND ENERGY; ANEMOMETERS; EXTRAPOLATION; PERFORMANCE; ROTORS; STABILITY; STRATIFICATION; TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT; TURBINES; TURBULENCE; VANES; VELOCITY; WIND TURBINES; wind energy; wind turbine performance
Citation Formats
Clifton, Andrew, Schreck, Scott, Scott, George, Kelley, Neil, and Lundquist, Julie K. Turbine Inflow Characterization at the National Wind Technology Center. United States: N. p., 2012.
Web. doi:10.2514/6.2012-658.
Clifton, Andrew, Schreck, Scott, Scott, George, Kelley, Neil, & Lundquist, Julie K. Turbine Inflow Characterization at the National Wind Technology Center. United States. https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2012-658
Clifton, Andrew, Schreck, Scott, Scott, George, Kelley, Neil, and Lundquist, Julie K. 2012.
"Turbine Inflow Characterization at the National Wind Technology Center". United States. https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2012-658.
@article{osti_1047967,
title = {Turbine Inflow Characterization at the National Wind Technology Center},
author = {Clifton, Andrew and Schreck, Scott and Scott, George and Kelley, Neil and Lundquist, Julie K.},
abstractNote = {Utility-scale wind turbines operate in dynamic flows that can vary significantly over timescales from less than a second to several years. To better understand the inflow to utility-scale turbines, two inflow towers were installed and commissioned at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) National Wind Technology Center near Boulder, Colorado, in 2011. These towers are 135 m tall and instrumented with a combination of sonic anemometers, cup anemometers, wind vanes, and temperature measurements to characterize the inflow wind speed and direction, turbulence, stability and thermal stratification to two utility-scale turbines. Herein, we present variations in mean and turbulent wind parameters with height, atmospheric stability, and as a function of wind direction that could be important for turbine operation as well as persistence of turbine wakes. Wind speed, turbulence intensity, and dissipation are all factors that affect turbine performance. Our results show that these all vary with height across the rotor disk, demonstrating the importance of measuring atmospheric conditions that influence wind turbine performance at multiple heights in the rotor disk, rather than relying on extrapolation from lower levels.},
doi = {10.2514/6.2012-658},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1047967},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2012},
month = {Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2012}
}