Improvements in wind turbine design

Propeller blades and wind turbine blades are designed based on aerodynamic principles that were first described mathematically more than a century ago. But engineers have long realized that these formulas do not work in all situations. To compensate, they have added ad hoc “correction factors” based on empirical observations.

Now, for the first time, engineers have developed a new theory for rotor aerodynamics. This theory can be used to determine the forces, flow rates and power of a rotor, whether it extracts energy from the airflow, as in a wind turbine, or applies it to the flow, as in a ship’s or aircraft’s propeller. The theory works in both directions.

And they have turned it into a complete, physics-based model that accurately represents the airflow around the rotors even under extreme conditions, such as when the blades are operating at high forces and speeds, or are tilted in certain directions.

The model could improve the design of the rotors themselves, but also the layout and operation of wind farms.

Regarding the latter, wind farm operators must constantly adjust various parameters, such as the orientation of each turbine, as well as its rotation speed and blade angle, to maximize energy production while maintaining safety margins. The new model can provide a simple and fast way to optimize these factors in real time.

The breakthrough by Liew and his colleagues could improve the way wind turbine blades are designed and controlled. (Photo: research team/MIT. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

This breakthrough is the work of Jaime Liew, Kirby S. Heck and Michael F. Howland, all of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States.

The study is titled “Unified momentum theory for rotor aerodynamics across operating regimes.” It has been published in the academic journal Nature Communications. (Source: NCYT by Amazings)