Improving the operational performance of wind turbine rotors, by using vortex-tripping devices as a passive control method

Abstract

Wind energy has become one of the major contributors to renewable and sustainable energy in modern times. Since wind turbines were built to produce electricity commercially, engineers have focused on improving their design and efficiency. An increase in efficiency makes for a shorter return on investment timeline, making it a better investment and allowing electricity to be sold at affordable prices. This research study focused on improving the aerodynamic efficiency of wind turbines, using vortex-tripping devices like boundary layer fences specifically. Using boundary layer fences on wind turbine blades has proven to increase the performance of test turbines by 3 to 9%. This study focuses on finding the most effective placement, quantity, and design dimensions for boundary layer fences (blf) for two commonly used NREL wind turbine rotors. The effective design, placement, and quantity of boundary layer fences aim to increase the wind turbine output performance in each of the wind turbines presented. The results achieved were 11.86% for rotor 1 and 9.33% for rotor 2 using the Single Fence Augmentation (SFA) method, and an added 1% on both rotors if the Dual Fence Augmentation (DFA) method is implemented. The key objective was to derive a standard method of improving modern wind turbine rotor aerodynamic efficiency, as a quick installation method, without requiring extensive research and calculations. These methods can be used on units currently in service, to improve and recover lost efficiency and on newly designed units as improvement methods.