The helix approach

Using dynamic individual pitch control to enhance wake mixing in wind farms

Journal Article (2020)
Author(s)

Joeri A. Alexis Frederik (TU Delft - Team Jan-Willem van Wingerden)

Bart Doekemeijer (TU Delft - Team Jan-Willem van Wingerden)

Sebastiaan Paul Mulders (TU Delft - Team Jan-Willem van Wingerden)

J.W. van Wingerden (TU Delft - Team Jan-Willem van Wingerden)

Research Group
Team Jan-Willem van Wingerden
Copyright
© 2020 J.A. Frederik, B.M. Doekemeijer, S.P. Mulders, J.W. van Wingerden
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1002/we.2513
More Info
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Publication Year
2020
Language
English
Copyright
© 2020 J.A. Frederik, B.M. Doekemeijer, S.P. Mulders, J.W. van Wingerden
Research Group
Team Jan-Willem van Wingerden
Issue number
8
Volume number
23
Pages (from-to)
1739-1751
Reuse Rights

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Abstract

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.