An Experimental Study on the Effects of Winglets on the Wake and Performance of a Model Wind Turbine

Energies

Nicolas Tobin¹  Ali M. Hamed¹  Leonardo P. Chamorro¹ 

[1] Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; E-Mails:

关键词: tip vortices;    turbulent wake;    wind energy;    wind turbine;    winglet;   

DOI  :  10.3390/en81011955

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Wind tunnel experiments were performed to investigate the effects of downstream-facing winglets on the wake dynamics, power and thrust of a model wind turbine. Two similar turbines with and without winglets were operated under the same conditions. Results show an increase in the power and thrust coefficients of 8.2% and 15.0% for the wingletted case. A simple theoretical treatment of a two-turbine system suggests a possible positive tradeoff between increasing power and thrust coefficients at a wind farm scale. The higher thrust coefficient created a region of enhanced mean shear and turbulence in the outer portion of the wake. The winglets did not significantly change the tip-vortex strength, but higher levels of turbulence in the far wake decreased the tip-vortex strength. Because of the increased mean shear in the wingletted turbine’s wake, the Reynolds stresses were higher, potentially leading to a higher energy flux downstream.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.