Maximizing wind farm power output with the helix approach --
experimental validation and wake analysis using tomographic PIV
Abstract
Wind farm control can play a key role in reducing the negative impact of
wakes on wind turbine power production. The helix approach is a recent
innovation in the field of wind farm control, which employs individual
blade pitch control to induce a helical velocity profile in a wind
turbine wake. This forced meandering of the wake has turned out to be
very effective for the recovery of the wake, increasing the power output
of downstream turbines by a significant amount. This paper presents a
wind tunnel study with two scaled wind turbine models, of which the
upstream turbine is operated with the helix approach. We used
tomographic particle image velocimetry to study the dynamic behavior of
the wake under influence of the helix excitation. The measured flow
fields confirm the wake recovery capabilities of the helix approach
compared to normal operation. Additional emphasis is put on the effect
of the helix approach on the breakdown of blade tip vortices, a process
that plays an important role in re-energizing the wake. Measurements
indicate that the breakdown of tip vortices, and the resulting
destabilization of the wake is enhanced significantly with the helix
approach. Finally, turbine measurements show that the helix approach was
able to increase the combined power for this particular two turbine
setup by as much as 15%.