Should wind turbines go the other way round?

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bmforre
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Should wind turbines go the other way round?

Post by bmforre » Fri Aug 21, 2020 7:50 am

From Wind Energy Science:
Reverse turning give more power less turbulence
Wind turbine blades rotate in clockwise direction seeing from an upstream position. This rotational direction impacts the wake in a stably stratified atmospheric boundary layer, in which the wind profile is characterised by a veering or a backing wind. Here, we challenge the arbitrary choice of the rotational direction of the blades by investigating the interaction of the rotational direction with veering and backing winds in both hemispheres by means of large-eddy simulations. Likewise we quantify the sensitivity of the wake to the strength of stratification, the strength and type of wind veer, and the wind speed in the Northern Hemisphere. A veering wind in combination with counterclockwise rotating blades would result in a power output increase of 11.5 % ...
If this holds up it sure shows that basic physics can pay its way when applied.

Picked up this morning in the Frankfurter Allgemeine.

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lpm
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Re: Should wind turbines go the other way round?

Post by lpm » Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:52 am

Weird.

Why has nobody noticed the difference in real world outcomes in the southern hemisphere? If their turbines are 11.5% better, wouldn't it be noticeable?
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Martin Y
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Re: Should wind turbines go the other way round?

Post by Martin Y » Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:14 am

lpm wrote:
Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:52 am
Weird.

Why has nobody noticed the difference in real world outcomes in the southern hemisphere? If their turbines are 11.5% better, wouldn't it be noticeable?
You'd notice the difference at any wind farm every time the wind was veering versus backing. Not followed the link yet but a real world difference of 11.5% ought to be really obvious.

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Martin Y
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Re: Should wind turbines go the other way round?

Post by Martin Y » Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:44 am

Ugh. Might have to read that properly when I have time and inclination because I'm having real trouble envisioning what the wake interaction they're describing actually is.

Anyway, I remember it's already well-known that wind farms can generate a decent improvement in power by steering the front rank of turbines so their wake doesn't rob power from the second rank. They're set a bit off-axis from their own optimal angle for power generation but that's more than made up for by the improved output from subsequent ranks.

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bolo
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Re: Should wind turbines go the other way round?

Post by bolo » Fri Aug 21, 2020 12:51 pm

Measuring wake turbulence from a wind turbine, and how it dropped off with distance, was BoloJr's 11th grade science fair project last year.

As you were.

Holylol
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Re: Should wind turbines go the other way round?

Post by Holylol » Fri Aug 21, 2020 1:09 pm

bmforre wrote:
Fri Aug 21, 2020 7:50 am
From Wind Energy Science:
Reverse turning give more power less turbulence
Wind turbine blades rotate in clockwise direction seeing from an upstream position. This rotational direction impacts the wake in a stably stratified atmospheric boundary layer, in which the wind profile is characterised by a veering or a backing wind. Here, we challenge the arbitrary choice of the rotational direction of the blades by investigating the interaction of the rotational direction with veering and backing winds in both hemispheres by means of large-eddy simulations. Likewise we quantify the sensitivity of the wake to the strength of stratification, the strength and type of wind veer, and the wind speed in the Northern Hemisphere. A veering wind in combination with counterclockwise rotating blades would result in a power output increase of 11.5 % ...
If this holds up it sure shows that basic physics can pay its way when applied.

Picked up this morning in the Frankfurter Allgemeine.
Be careful that the paper so far is "Accepted for review".
You can read the reviews on the website on the Discussion tab. I had a very brief look at it and they do not seem very positive.

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Martin Y
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Re: Should wind turbines go the other way round?

Post by Martin Y » Fri Aug 21, 2020 2:02 pm

Seems I had at least one basic misunderstanding of terminology:

When they say "veering" they mean the wind direction varies clockwise with height. Nothing to do with wind direction varying over time which is the only use of veering and backing I knew. This is presumably obvious to anyone who deals with wind power, but it left me wondering WTF it had to do with anything.

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