This work examines the effect of flow inclination on the performance of a stand-alone wind turbine and of wind turbines operating in the wakes of upstream turbines. The experimental portion of this work, which includes performance and flowfield measurements, is conducted in the ETH dynamically-scaled wind turbine test facility, with a wind turbine model that can be inclined relative to the incoming flow. The performance of the wind turbine is measured with an in-line torquemeter, and a 5-hole steady-state probe is used to detail the inflow and wake flow of the turbine. Measurements show that over a range of tip-speed ratios of 4–7.5, the power coefficient of a wind turbine with an incoming flow of 15 deg inclination decreases on average by 7% relative to the power coefficient of a wind turbine with a noninclined incoming flow. Flowfield measurements show that the wake of a turbine with an inclined incoming flow is deflected; the deflection angle is approximately 6 deg for an incoming flow with 15 deg inclination. The measured wake profiles are used as inflow profiles for a blade element momentum code in order to quantify the impact of flow inclination on the performance of downstream wind turbines. In comparison to the case without inclination in the incoming flow, the combined power output of two aligned turbines with incoming inclined flow decreases by 1%, showing that flow inclination in complex terrain does not significantly reduce the energy production.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
December 2012
Research-Article
Effect of Flow Inclination on Wind Turbine Performance
Christina Tsalicoglou,
Christina Tsalicoglou
1
e-mail: ctsalico@student.ethz.ch
1Corresponding author.
Search for other works by this author on:
Sarah Barber,
Ndaona Chokani,
Reza S. Abhari
Reza S. Abhari
e-mail: abhari@lec.mavt.ethz.ch
Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering,
Laboratory for Energy Conversion
,Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering,
ETH Zurich
,8092 Zurich
, Switzerland
Search for other works by this author on:
Christina Tsalicoglou
e-mail: ctsalico@student.ethz.ch
Sarah Barber
e-mail: barbers@lec.mavt.ethz.ch
Ndaona Chokani
e-mail: chokani@lec.mavt.ethz.ch
Reza S. Abhari
e-mail: abhari@lec.mavt.ethz.ch
Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering,
Laboratory for Energy Conversion
,Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering,
ETH Zurich
,8092 Zurich
, Switzerland
1Corresponding author.
Contributed by the International Gas Turbine Institute (IGTI) of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING FOR GAS TURBINES AND POWER. Manuscript received June 18, 2012; final manuscript received June 29, 2012; published online October 11, 2012. Editor: Dilip R. Ballal.
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. Dec 2012, 134(12): 122601 (8 pages)
Published Online: October 11, 2012
Article history
Received:
June 18, 2012
Revision Received:
June 29, 2012
Citation
Tsalicoglou, C., Barber, S., Chokani, N., and Abhari, R. S. (October 11, 2012). "Effect of Flow Inclination on Wind Turbine Performance." ASME. J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. December 2012; 134(12): 122601. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4007323
Download citation file:
Get Email Alerts
Accelerating Chemical Kinetics Calculations with Physics Informed Neural Networks
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power
Fully Coupled Analysis of Flutter Induced Limit Cycles: Frequency Versus Time Domain Methods
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power (July 2023)
Impact of Ignition Assistant on Combustion of Cetane 30 and 35 Jet-Fuel Blends in a Compression-Ignition Engine at Moderate Load and Speed
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power (July 2023)
Related Articles
Blade-Wake Interaction Noise for Turbines With Downwind Rotors
J. Sol. Energy Eng (November,2003)
Experimental Investigation on the Wake Characteristics and Aeromechanics of Dual-Rotor Wind Turbines
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power (April,2016)
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Chapters
Wind Turbine Airfoils and Rotor Wakes
Wind Turbine Technology: Fundamental Concepts in Wind Turbine Engineering, Second Edition
Fluidelastic Instability of Tube Bundles in Single-Phase Flow
Flow-Induced Vibration Handbook for Nuclear and Process Equipment
Random Turbulence Excitation in Single-Phase Flow
Flow-Induced Vibration Handbook for Nuclear and Process Equipment