The helix approach

The helix approach: Using dynamic individual pitch control to enhance wake mixing in wind farms

Frederik, J.A. (TU Delft Team Jan-Willem van Wingerden)
Doekemeijer, B.M. (TU Delft Team Jan-Willem van Wingerden)
Mulders, S.P. (TU Delft Team Jan-Willem van Wingerden)
van Wingerden, J.W. (TU Delft Team Jan-Willem van Wingerden)

2020

Wind farm control using dynamic concepts is a research topic that is receiving an increasing amount of interest. The main concept of this approach is that dynamic variations of the wind turbine control settings lead to higher wake turbulence, and subsequently faster wake recovery due to increased mixing. As a result, downstream turbines experience higher wind speeds, thus increasing their energy capture. In dynamic induction control (DIC), the magnitude of the thrust force of an upstream turbine is varied. Although very effective, this approach also leads to increased power and thrust variations, negatively impacting energy quality and fatigue loading. In this paper, a novel approach for the dynamic control of wind turbines in a wind farm is proposed: using individual pitch control, the fixed-frame tilt and yaw moments on the turbine are varied, thus dynamically manipulating the wake. This strategy is named the helix approach because the resulting wake has a helical shape. Large eddy simulations of a two-turbine wind farm show that this approach leads to enhanced wake mixing with minimal power and thrust variations.

dynamic induction control
enhanced wake mixing
helix approach
individual pitch control
wake recovery
wind farm control

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:63bb58d8-4e7c-4cc9-bf44-f05b52b0df13

https://doi.org/10.1002/we.2513

1095-4244

Wind Energy, 23 (8), 1739-1751

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2020 J.A. Frederik, B.M. Doekemeijer, S.P. Mulders, J.W. van Wingerden