“Immediate and direct impact potential”

Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a new physics-based model of airflow around rotors that could help optimize turbine and wind farm design.

Just as a boat cutting through water leaves a trail behind it, wind turbines affect the airflow behind them, which can then reduce the efficiency of subsequent turbines in clustered installations.

Now, as Renewable Energy Magazine reports, MIT researchers have pinpointed the physics behind airflow to help existing wind farms get the most out of their configurations and inform new installations about optimal layouts.

“We have developed a new theory of rotor aerodynamics,” Michael Howland, an MIT assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, shared in the report.

“This theory can be used to determine the forces, flow speeds, and power of a rotor, whether the rotor is extracting energy from the air flow, as in a wind turbine, or transferring energy to the flow, as in a ship or airplane propeller. The theory works both ways “

He added: “This has immediate and direct potential to impact the entire wind energy value chain.”

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As Howland noted in the report, previously wind turbine power outputs were calculated solely based on empirical corrections, such as observations and experience. He said there is “no theory for this,” but current work at MIT is providing detailed information on “how a wind turbine should actually be operated to maximize its power.”

A 2019 study from Stanford University found that turbine excitation can result in a 40% loss in efficiency of generators downstream, but slightly angling the lead turbine can make a drastic difference.

“With wake steering, the front turbine produced less power than we expected,” mechanical engineering graduate student Michael Howland, lead author of the study, said in a press release. “However, we found that due to the reduced wake effect, the turbines below generated significantly more power.”

In 2021, the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory developed FAST.Farm, an open-source modeling tool for predicting power and efficiency under structural loads in wind farms.

The report shows that the Unified Momentum Model, as MIT engineers call their new theory, exists as a set of mathematical formulas that can be plugged into open-source software tools to improve existing methods.

“It is an engineering model developed for rapid prototyping, inspection and optimization tools,” Howland shared.

“The goal of our modeling is to position the wind energy research field to be more aggressive in developing the wind capacity and reliability needed to respond to climate change.”

Although sustainable solar energy is growing at a fantastic pace around the world, wind energy is still the largest renewable energy source, at least in the US, accounting for 10% of the country’s supply.

Making the most of these clean energy sources can help us achieve net zero emissions goals by 2050. They help reduce planet-warming gases, improve air quality, create new jobs and lower utility costs.

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