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A review of wind turbine-oriented active flow control strategies

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Abstract

To reduce the levelized cost of energy, the energy production, robustness and lifespan of horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs) have to be improved to ensure optimal energy production and operational availability during periods longer than 15–20 years. HAWTs are subject to unsteady wind loads that generate combinations of unsteady mechanical loads with characteristic time scales from seconds to minutes. This can be reduced by controlling the aerodynamic performance of the wind turbine rotors in real time to compensate the overloads. Mitigating load fluctuations and optimizing the aerodynamic performance at higher time scales need the development of fast-response active flow control (AFC) strategies located as close as possible to the torque generation, i.e., directly on the blades. The most conventional actuators currently used in HAWTs are mechanical flaps/tabs (similar to aeronautical accessories), but some more innovative concepts based on fluidic and plasma actuators are very promising since they are devoid of mechanical parts, have a fast response and can be driven in unsteady modes to influence natural instabilities of the flow. In this context, the present paper aims at giving a state-of-the-art review of current research in wind turbine-oriented flow control strategies applied at the blade scale. It provides an overview of research conducted in the last decade dealing with the actuators and devices devoted to developing AFC on rotor blades, focusing on the flow phenomena that they cause and that can lead to aerodynamic load increase or decrease. After providing some general background on wind turbine blade aerodynamics and on the atmospheric flows in which HAWTs operate, the review focuses on flow separation control and circulation control mainly through experimental investigations. It is followed by a discussion about the overall limitations of current studies in the wind energy context, with a focus on a few studies that attempt to provide a global efficiency assessment and wind energy-oriented energy balance.

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Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Reprinted from Jukes (2015), original figure 4; with permission from Elsevier

Fig. 5

Original figure 26 reproduced from Cooney et al. (2016); reprinted by permission of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc

Fig. 6

Original figure 1 reproduced from Cooperman et al. (2014)

Fig. 7

Original figure 2 reproduced from Nikoueeyan et al. (2014b); reprinted by permission of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc

Fig. 8

Original figure 2 reproduced from Cooperman et al. (2014)

Fig. 9

Original figure 8 reproduced from Baleriola et al. (2016)

Fig. 10

Original figure 20 reproduced from Troshin and Seifert (2013) with permission of Springer

Fig. 11

Original figure 9 reproduced from Barlas and van Kuik (2010) with permission from Elsevier

Fig. 12

Table reproduced from Pechlivanoglou (2013), page 111. Courtesy of Pechlivanoglou

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Abbreviations

\( a \) :

Axial velocity reduction factor on blade airfoil

\( a' \) :

Radial velocity increment on blade airfoil

\( c\left( r \right) \) :

Local airfoil chord at radial position r (m)

\( c_{\mu } \) :

Momentum coefficient

\( \dot{m}_{\text{inj}} \) :

Injected mass flow rate (kg/s)

\( v_{\text{inj}} \) :

Injection velocity (m/s)

\( r \) :

Radial position on the blade (m)

\( C_{\text{D}} \left( r \right) \) :

Local airfoil drag coefficient value at radial position r

\( C_{\text{L}} \left( r \right) \) :

Local airfoil lift coefficient value at radial position r

\( C_{{{\text{L}}\alpha }} \left( r \right) \) :

Lift curve slope in the linear region of \( C_{\text{L}} \left( r \right) \)

\( C_{\text{T}} \) :

Thrust coefficient

\( D \) :

Wind turbine rotor diameter (m)

\( L\left( r \right) \) :

Local airfoil lift value at radial position r (N/m)

\( R = \frac{D}{2} \) :

Wind turbine rotor radius (m)

\( T \) :

Thrust force (N)

\( U_{\infty } \) :

Upstream time-averaged velocity (m/s)

\( U_{\text{hub}} \) :

Upstream time-averaged velocity at hub height (m/s)

\( U_{\text{rel}} \left( r \right) \) :

Relative incoming flow velocity on airfoil at radial position r (m/s)

\( \alpha \left( r \right) \) :

Aerodynamic airfoil angle of attack at radial position r (°)

\( \alpha_{0} \left( r \right) \) :

Airfoil zero lift angle of attack at radial position r (°)

\( \beta_{\text{twist}} \left( r \right) \) :

Blade twist (°)

\( \beta_{\text{pitch}} \) :

Collective blade pitch setting (°)

\( \lambda = \frac{\varOmega R}{{U_{\infty } }} \) :

Wind turbine tip speed ratio

\( \varOmega \) :

Wind turbine rotor rotational velocity (rad/s)

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Author notes

  1. Sandrine Aubrun

    Present address: Ecole Centrale de Nantes, LHEEA, 1, rue de la Noe, 44300, Nantes, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Univ. Orléans, INSA-CVL, PRISME, EA 4229, 8, RUE Léonard de Vinci, 45072, Orléans cedex 2, France

    Sandrine Aubrun, Annie Leroy & Philippe Devinant

Authors
  1. Sandrine Aubrun
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  2. Annie Leroy
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  3. Philippe Devinant
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Correspondence to Sandrine Aubrun.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 1

Table 1 Summary of the main cited experimental works related to active flow control and dedicated to wind energy applications
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Aubrun, S., Leroy, A. & Devinant, P. A review of wind turbine-oriented active flow control strategies. Exp Fluids 58, 134 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-017-2412-0

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