Tuning turbine rotor design for very large wind farms

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new theoretical approach combining multi-scale aerodynamic analysis with classical rotor design to optimize wind turbine performance in very large wind farms, highlighting the importance of farm-specific rotor tuning.

Contribution

It develops a coupled model integrating two-scale momentum analysis with BEM theory for rotor design, enabling exploration of farm-density effects on optimal rotor configurations.

Findings

Optimal rotor design varies with farm density.

Tuned rotors can achieve higher peak power than untuned ones.

The method provides insights for future large wind farm optimization.

Abstract

A new theoretical method is presented for future multi-scale aerodynamic optimisation of very large wind farms. The new method combines a recent two-scale coupled momentum analysis of ideal wind turbine arrays with the classical blade-element-momentum (BEM) theory for turbine rotor design, making it possible to explore some potentially important relationships between the design of rotors and their performance in a very large wind farm. The details of the original two-scale momentum model are described first, followed by the new coupling procedure with the classical BEM theory and some example solutions. The example solutions, obtained using a simplified but still realistic NREL S809 airfoil performance curve, illustrate how the aerodynamically optimal rotor design may change depending on the farm density. It is also shown that the peak power of the rotors designed optimally for a given farm (i.e. 'tuned' rotors) could be noticeably higher than that of the rotors designed for a different farm (i.e. 'untuned' rotors) even if the blade pitch angle is allowed to be adjusted optimally during the operation. The results presented are for ideal very large wind farms and a possible future extension of the present work for real large wind farms is also discussed briefly.