Showing papers on "Wind profile power law published in 2007"

On the extension of the wind profile over homogeneous terrain beyond the surface boundary layer

Abstract: Analysis of profiles of meteorological measurements from a 160 m high mast at the National Test Site for wind turbines at Hovsore (Denmark) and at a 250 m high TV tower at Hamburg (Germany) shows that the wind profile based on surface-layer theory and Monin-Obukhov scaling is valid up to a height of 50–80 m. At higher levels deviations from the measurements progressively occur. For applied use an extension to the wind profile in the surface layer is formulated for the entire boundary layer, with emphasis on the lowest 200–300 m and considering only wind speeds above 3 m s−1 at 10 m height. The friction velocity is taken to decrease linearly through the boundary layer. The wind profile length scale is composed of three component length scales. In the surface layer the first length scale is taken to increase linearly with height with a stability correction following Monin-Obukhov similarity. Above the surface layer the second length scale (L MBL ) becomes independent of height but not of stability, and at the top of the boundary layer the third length scale is assumed to be negligible. A simple model for the combined length scale that controls the wind profile and its stability dependence is formulated by inverse summation. Based on these assumptions the wind profile for the entire boundary layer is derived. A parameterization of L MBL is formulated using the geostrophic drag law, which relates friction velocity and geostrophic wind. The empirical parameterization of the resistance law functions A and B in the geostrophic drag law is uncertain, making it impractical. Therefore an expression for the length scale, L MBL , for applied use is suggested, based on measurements from the two sites.

Power Fluctuations From Large Wind Farms

Abstract: This paper deals with power fluctuations from wind farms. The time range in focus is between one minute and up to a couple of hours. In this time range, substantial power fluctuations have been observed during unstable weather conditions. A wind power fluctuation model is described, and measured time series from the first large offshore wind farm, Horns Rev in Denmark, are compared to simulated time series. The comparison between measured and simulated time series focuses on the ramping characteristics of the wind farm at different power levels and on the need for system generation reserves due to the fluctuations. The comparison shows a reasonable agreement between simulations and measurements, although there is still room for improvement of the simulation model.

Modelling and measurements of power losses and turbulence intensity in wind turbine wakes at Middelgrunden offshore wind farm

Abstract: Understanding of power losses and turbulence increase due to wind turbine wake interactions in large offshore wind farms is crucial to optimizing wind farm design. Power losses and turbulence increase due to wakes are quantified based on observations from Middelgrunden and state-of-the-art models. Observed power losses due solely to wakes are approximately 10% on average. These are relatively high for a single line of wind turbines due in part to the close spacing of the wind farm. The wind farm model Wind Analysis and Application Program (WAsP) is shown to capture wake losses despite operating beyond its specifications for turbine spacing. The paper describes two methods of estimating turbulence intensity: one based on the mean and standard deviation (SD) of wind speed from the nacelle anemometer, the other from mean power output and its SD. Observations from the nacelle anemometer indicate turbulence intensity which is around 9% higher in absolute terms than those derived from the power measurements. For comparison, turbulence intensity is also derived from wind speed and SD from a meteorological mast at the same site prior to wind farm construction. Despite differences in the measurement height and period, overall agreement is better between the turbulence intensity derived from power measurements and the meteorological mast than with those derived from data from the nacelle anemometers.The turbulence in wind farm model indicates turbulence increase of the order 20% in absolute terms for flow directly along the row which is in good agreement with the observations. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A simple unified theory for flow in the canopy and roughness sublayer

Abstract: The mean flow profile within and above a tall canopy is well known to violate the standard boundary-layer flux–gradient relationships. Here we present a theory for the flow profile that is comprised of a canopy model coupled to a modified surface-layer model. The coupling between the two components and the modifications to the surface-layer profiles are formulated through the mixing layer analogy for the flow at a canopy top. This analogy provides an additional length scale—the vorticity thickness—upon which the flow just above the canopy, within the so-called roughness sublayer, depends. A natural form for the vertical profiles within the roughness sublayer follows that overcomes problems with many earlier forms in the literature. Predictions of the mean flow profiles are shown to match observations over a range of canopy types and stabilities. The unified theory predicts that key parameters, such as the displacement height and roughness length, have a significant dependence on the boundary-layer stability. Assuming one of these parameters a priori leads to the incorrect variation with stability of the others and incorrect predictions of the mean wind speed profile. The roughness sublayer has a greater impact on the mean wind speed in stable than unstable conditions. The presence of a roughness sublayer also allows the surface to exert a greater drag on the boundary layer for an equivalent value of the near-surface wind speed than would otherwise occur. This characteristic would alter predictions of the evolution of the boundary layer and surface states if included within numerical weather prediction models.

Objectively Determined Resolution-Dependent Threshold Criteria for the Detection of Tropical Cyclones in Climate Models and Reanalyses

Abstract: Objectively derived resolution-dependent criteria are defined for the detection of tropical cyclones in model simulations and observationally based analyses. These criteria are derived from the wind profiles of observed tropical cyclones, averaged at various resolutions. Both an analytical wind profile model and two-dimensional observed wind analyses are used. The results show that the threshold wind speed of an observed tropical cyclone varies roughly linearly with resolution. The criteria derived here are compared to the numerous different criteria previously employed in climate model simulations. The resulting method provides a simple means of comparing climate model simulations and reanalyses.

A Physics-Based Parameterization of Air–Sea Momentum Flux at High Wind Speeds and Its Impact on Hurricane Intensity Predictions

Abstract: A new bulk parameterization of the air–sea momentum flux at high wind speeds is proposed based on coupled wave–wind model simulations for 10 tropical cyclones that occurred in the Atlantic Ocean during 1998–2003. The new parameterization describes how the roughness length increases linearly with wind speed and the neutral drag coefficient tends to level off at high wind speeds. The proposed parameterization is then tested on real hurricanes using the operational Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) coupled hurricane–ocean prediction model. The impact of the new parameterization on the hurricane prediction is mainly found in increased maximum surface wind speeds, while it does not appreciably affect the hurricane central pressure prediction. This helps to improve the GFDL model–predicted wind–pressure relationship in strong hurricanes. Attempts are made to provide physical explanations as to why the reduced drag coefficient affects surface wind speeds but not the central pressure in hurric...

Estimating the potential yield of small building‐mounted wind turbines

Abstract: The wind profile in the urban boundary layer is described as following a logarithmic curve above the mean building height and an exponential curve below it. By considering the urban landscape to be an array of cubes, a method is described for calculating the surface roughness length and displacement height of this profile. Firstly, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model employing a k-ϵ turbulence model is used to simulate the flow around a cube. The results of this simulation are compared with wind tunnel measurements in order to validate the code. Then, the CFD model is used to simulate the wind flow around a simple pitched-roof building, using a semi-logarithmic inflow profile. An array of similar pitched-roof houses is modelled using CFD to determine the flow characteristics within an urban area. Mean wind speeds at potential turbine mounting points are studied, and optimum mounting points are identified for different prevailing wind directions. A methodology is proposed for estimating the energy yield of a building-mounted turbine from simple information such as wind atlas wind speed and building density. The energy yield of a small turbine on a hypothetical house in west London is estimated. The energy yield is shown to be very low, particularly if the turbine is mounted below rooftop height. It should be stressed that the complexity of modelling such urban environments using such a computational model has limitations and results can only be considered approximate, but nonetheless, gives an indication of expected yields within the built environment.

Estimation of Wind Penetration as Limited by Frequency Deviation

Abstract: Wind power fluctuations cause frequency deviation from the 60-Hz standard. Using the composite transfer function G (fw) of a small system of thermal power plants, it is estimated that power fluctuation of 5% of the total thermal plant capacity can be tolerated without exceeding 1% frequency deviation. The technology to filter out the power fluctuations by wind turbine generators for increasing wind power penetration already exists. However, perfect filtering sacrifices as much as 27.6% of the wind power that can otherwise be utilized. The paper presents a method of quantifying wind penetration based on the amount of fluctuating power that can be filtered by wind turbine generators and thermal plants. For optimal wind power acquisition, the penetration level is conservatively estimated to be 50%.

Analysis of Power Enhancement for a Row of Wind Turbines Using the Actuator Line Technique

Abstract: The effect of wake interaction for a row of three wind turbines in a wind farm is analysed using the actuator line technique. Both full wake and half wake situations are considered with the aim of deriving the optimal pitch setting of the foremost turbine, with respect to the total power from the row. The mutual distance between the turbines is 5 diameters and the turbines are considered to operate in a wind shear with an exponent of 0.15, with the rotor centre located at 1.4 radii from the ground. The main findings reveal clear effects of reducing the loading on the foremost turbine towards increased production of turbine 2 and 3 in a row

Wind work in a model of the northwest Atlantic Ocean

Abstract: The work done by the wind over the northwest Atlantic Ocean is examined using a realistic high-resolution ocean model driven by synoptic wind forcing. Two model runs are conducted with the difference only in the way the wind stress is calculated. Our results show that the effect of including ocean surface currents in the wind stress formulation is to reduce the total wind work integrated over the model domain by about 17%. The reduction is caused by a sink term in the wind work calculation associated with the presence of ocean currents. In addition, the modelled eddy kinetic energy decreases by about 10%, in response to direct mechanical damping by the surface stress. A simple scaling argument shows that the latter can be expected to be more important than bottom friction in the energy budget.

Small and large scale fluctuations in atmospheric wind speeds

Abstract: Atmospheric wind speeds and their fluctuations at different locations (onshore and offshore) are examined. One of the most striking features is the marked intermittency of probability density functions (PDF) of velocity differences, no matter what location is considered. The shape of these PDFs is found to be robust over a wide range of scales which seems to contradict the mathematical concept of stability where a Gaussian distribution should be the limiting one. Motivated by the non-stationarity of atmospheric winds it is shown that the intermittent distributions can be understood as a superposition of different subsets of isotropic turbulence. Thus we suggest a simple stochastic model to reproduce the measured statistics of wind speed fluctuations.

Developing a high-resolution wind map for a complex terrain with a coupled MM5/CALMET system

Abstract: [1] This study investigates the wind energy potential in Hong Kong, a region with a complex terrain, by coupling the prognostic MM5 mesoscale model with the CALMET diagnostic model to produce high-resolution wind fields. Hourly wind fields were simulated for the entire year of 2004. The MM5 simulations were performed on a nested grid from 40.5 km down to 1.5 km horizontal resolution. The CALMET meteorological model was used in a domain that includes the entire Hong Kong region with a high horizontal resolution of 100 m. The MM5 model wind field (1.5 km horizontal resolution) output was input into the CALMET diagnostic meteorological model every hour along with an objective analysis procedure using all available observations. Verification was achieved through two steps. In the first step, the data from three meteorological surface stations that were not assimilated into the CALMET model were compared horizontally with the simulated wind fields. In the second step, the simulated wind fields were compared vertically with the vertical wind profile collected from two upper air sounding stations. The results of this study identified the locations of the highest wind energy potential in HK down to 100 m resolution.

A Comparative Study of Stationary and Non-stationary Wind Models Using Field Measurements

Abstract: We present a comparative study of the conventional stationary wind speed model and a newly proposed non-stationary wind speed model using field measurements. The concept of, and the differences between, the two wind models are briefly reviewed. Wind data recorded by a field measurement system for wind turbulence parameters (FMS-WTP) of 1-year duration are analyzed using the two wind models. Comparisons were made between the wind characteristics obtained from the two models, including hourly mean wind speed, turbulence intensity, the wind spectrum, integral length scale, root coherence function and probability density function. The effects of wind types (monsoon or typhoon), statistical properties (stationary or non-stationary), and surface roughness (open-sea fetch or overland fetch) on wind characteristics are discussed. The comparative study demonstrates that the non-stationary wind model appears to be more appropriate than the conventional stationary wind speed model for characterizing turbulent winds of one-hour duration over complex terrain.

Wind profiles, momentum fluxes and roughness lengths at Cabauw revisited

Abstract: We describe the results of an experiment focusing on wind speed and momentum fluxes in the atmospheric boundary layer up to 200 m. The measurements were conducted in 1996 at the Cabauw site in the Netherlands. Momentum fluxes are measured using the K-Gill Propeller Vane. Estimates of the roughness length are derived using various techniques from the wind speed and flux measurements, and the observed differences are explained by considering the source area of the meteorological parameters. A clear rough-to-smooth transition is found in the wind speed profiles at Cabauw. The internal boundary layer reaches the lowest k-vane (20 m) only in the south-west direction where the obstacle-free fetch is about 2 km. The internal boundary layer is also reflected in the roughness lengths derived from the wind speed profiles. The lower part of the profile (< 40 m) is not in equilibrium and no reliable roughness analysis can be given. The upper part of the profile can be linked to a large-scale roughness length. Roughness lengths derived from the horizontal wind speed variance and gustiness have large footprints and therefore represent a large-scale average roughness. The drag coefficient is more locally determined but still represents a large-scale roughness length when it is measured above the local internal boundary layer. The roughness length at inhomogeneous sites can therefore be determined best from drag coefficient measurements just above the local internal boundary layers directly, or indirectly from horizontal wind speed variance or gustiness. In addition, the momentum and heat fluxes along the tower are analysed and these show significant variation with height related to stability and possibly surface heterogeneity. It appears that the dimensionless wind speed gradients scale well with local fluxes for the variety of conditions considered, including the unstable cases.

Ground-Based Velocity Track Display (GBVTD) Analysis of W-Band Doppler Radar Data in a Tornado near Stockton, Kansas, on 15 May 1999

Abstract: On 15 May 1999, a storm intercept team from the University of Oklahoma collected high-resolution, W-band Doppler radar data in a tornado near Stockton, Kansas Thirty-five sector scans were obtained over a period of approximately 10 min, capturing the tornado life cycle from just after tornadogenesis to the decay stage A low-reflectivity “eye”—whose diameter fluctuated during the period of observation—was present in the reflectivity scans A ground-based velocity track display (GBVTD) analysis of the W-band Doppler radar data of the Stockton tornado was conducted; results and interpretations are presented and discussed It was found from the analysis that the axisymmetric component of the azimuthal wind profile of the tornado was suggestive of a Burgers–Rott vortex during the most intense phase of the life cycle of the tornado The temporal evolution of the axisymmetric components of azimuthal and radial wind, as well as the wavenumber-1, -2, and -3 angular harmonics of the azimuthal wind, are a

Output Power Leveling of Wind Turbine Generator by Pitch Angle Control Using H ∞ Control

Abstract: Effective utilization of renewable energies such as wind energy is expected instead of the fossil fuels. Wind energy is not constant and windmill output is proportional to the cube of wind speed, which causes fluctuating power of wind turbine generator (WTG). In order to reduce the fluctuating power of WTG, this paper presents an output power leveling technique of WTG by pitch angle control using H ∞ control, and the control input of WTG linear model is separated from the disturbance. The simulation results using actual detailed model for WTG show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Behaviour of guyed transmission line structures under downburst wind loading

Abstract: Past experience indicates that the majority of failures of electrical transmission tower structures occurred during high intensity wind events, such as downbursts. The wind load distribution associated with these localized events is different than the boundary layer wind profile that is typically used in the design of structures. To the best of the authors` knowledge, this study represents the first comprehensive investigation that assesses the effect of varying the downburst parameters on the structural performance of a transmission line structure. The study focuses on a guyed tower structure and is conducted numerically using, as a case study, one of the towers that failed in Manitoba, Canada, during a downburst event in 1996. The study provides an insight about the spatial and time variation of the downburst wind field. It also assesses the variation of the tower members` internal forces with the downburst parameters. Finally, the structural behaviour of the tower under critical downburst configurations is described and is compared to that resulting from the boundary layer normal wind load conditions.

Influence of different wind profiles due to varying atmospheric stability on the fatigue life of wind turbines

Abstract: Offshore wind energy is being developed on a very large scale in the European seas. The objective of developing wind energy offshore is to capture greater wind speeds than are encountered onshore and as a result more energy. With this also come more challenges in the design of wind turbines due to the hostile offshore environment. Currently the standards for offshore wind turbines prescribe a site specific design for the support structures and the design for the rotor nacelle assembly according to onshore standards. Wind turbines are designed to withstand fatigue and ultimate loads. For the fatigue loading several input conditions have been prescribed, amongst which wind profile is one of them. Wind profile is represented by power law or logarithmic law as given in the standards. A neutral stability of the atmosphere is considered while obtaining the wind profile using the logarithmic law. In this paper the atmospheric stability is varied in order to estimate different wind profiles and simulations are run in Bladed to check its influence on the fatigue damage at the blade root. The variations in the atmospheric stability has been taken into account by using some typical values of Obukhov length. From steady state simulations it has been found that atmospheric stability is important for fatigue damage. The analysis showed that variation in the distribution of atmospheric stability causes large variations in the fatigue damage for different sites. Thus, it is worthwhile to carry out a full scale study using the turbulent winds and real data for wind turbine and environmental conditions.

Macromodel of Spatial Smoothing in Wind Farms

Abstract: Departing from aerodynamics (micromodel), the macromodel begins with the power output of a single wind turbine generator (WTG). The N units of WTGs in a wind farm are characterized by the time delays it takes wind, at average velocity, to traverse the distances separating them. Predictions from simulations are in agreement with recorded wind farm data. Smoothing of high-frequency power components is by a factor close to N-1/2. Smoothing of low-frequency harmonic power components is small because the wind farm is limited in size. A theory, based on Fourier analysis, is presented to explain how the macromodel simultaneously copes with: 1) the high-frequency components of wind velocity (which have poor correlation) even for short distances and 2) the low-frequency components (which have some correlation)