Dynamic wind farm flow control using free-vortex wake models

Dynamic wind farm flow control using free-vortex wake models

van den Broek, M.J. (TU Delft Team Jan-Willem van Wingerden)

van Wingerden, J.W. (promotor)
Sanderse, Benjamin (copromotor)

Delft University of Technology

2024-01-26

In the current state of model-based wind farm flow control, the implementation of yaw-based wake steering based on steady-state models has demonstrated potential for improving wind farm power production. However, for realistic, time-varying wind directions, the dynamics of wake propagation may impact the effectiveness of wake redirection. This dissertation presents the development of an economic model-predictive wind farm flow control strategy and assesses the potential for improved power production from wake steering in wind farms under time-varying conditions.

At the core of such a model-based control strategy is a control-oriented model of the wind farm flow. A free-vortex wake model is formulated based on an actuator-disc representation of the wind turbine rotor. A validation study is included for power predictions in the mid to far wake of turbines operating under yaw misalignment using data from wind tunnel experiments. Finally, a distributed strategy for control optimisation is constructed to provide a scalable solution for dynamic wind farm flow control which is tested in a large-eddy simulation environment under realistic conditions. This novel controller yields additional gains in power production during wind direction transients and reduces the increase in yaw actuator usage from wake steering.

wake steering
yaw misalignment
wind farm flow control
adjoint optimisation
economic model-predictive control
free-vortex wake

https://doi.org/10.4233/uuid:8d2b92dc-51e9-4d8e-b1d8-c9e7bac211e7

978-94-6366-798-2

Institutional Repository

doctoral thesis

© 2024 M.J. van den Broek