In the numerical simulation of wind farms, an adequate resolution of the incoming wind profile is necessary for an accurate prediction of the working condition of the wind turbines. At the same time, the accurate description of the aerodynamics of the wind turbines wakes is paramount to assess the energy resource available to wind turbines downstream of front-row turbines in the wind farms.
The aim of the presented project is two-fold. One aim is to use high-resolution computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to resolve the full-rotor aerodynamics and the wake formation and propagation for misaligned wind conditions. These results would represent a valuable knowledge base to investigate the accuracy of modern numerical approaches used to assess turbine power production and the reliability of wake predictions, key to assess wind farm power losses due to rotor/wake interactions. The second aim is the application of high-resolution CFD for the accurate prediction of the wind field at wind farm installation sites. Here, the spatial resolution and accuracy of the wind field obtained with numerical weather prediction tools (mesoscale simulations), is enhanced by including local-scale features as resolved wind shear and waves motion.
Dr. Castorrini is research fellow at the School of Engineering of the University of Basilicata (Italy) and Visiting Researcher at Lancaster University.
This online session is open to all. It will use the Blackboard Collaborate platform.