Potential order-of-magnitude enhancement of wind farm power density via counter-rotating vertical-axis wind turbine arrays

Dabiri, John O.

doi:doi:10.1063/1.3608170

Feedback | Help | View MyArticles

Volume/Page
Keyword
DOI
Citation
Advanced

Volume: Page/Article:

Search Content Type

article doi:

Citation:

Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy / Volume 3 / Issue 4 / REGULAR ARTICLES

Previous Article | Next Article

LOG IN or SELECT A PURCHASE OPTION:

Buy PDF

Rent Article

Permissions / Reprints

J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 3, 043104 (2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3608170 (12 pages)

Potential order-of-magnitude enhancement of wind farm power density via counter-rotating vertical-axis wind turbine arrays

John O. Dabiri

Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories and Bioengineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA

View Map

(Received 7 February 2011; accepted 14 June 2011; published online 19 July 2011)

Alerts
- Alert Me When Cited
- Alert Me When Corrected
Tools
Share
- Email Abstract
- Connotea
- CiteULike
- del.icio.us
- BibSonomy
- Tweet this Article
- Add to Facebook

Abstract

References (23)

Article Objects (12)

Related Content

Modern wind farms comprised of horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWTs) require significant land resources to separate each wind turbine from the adjacent turbine wakes. This aerodynamic constraint limits the amount of power that can be extracted from a given wind farm footprint. The resulting inefficiency of HAWT farms is currently compensated by using taller wind turbines to access greater wind resources at high altitudes, but this solution comes at the expense of higher engineering costs and greater visual, acoustic, radar, and environmental impacts. We investigated the use of counter-rotating vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) in order to achieve higher power output per unit land area than existing wind farms consisting of HAWTs. Full-scale field tests of 10-m tall VAWTs in various counter-rotating configurations were conducted under natural wind conditions during summer 2010. Whereas modern wind farms consisting of HAWTs produce 2–3 W of power per square meter of land area, these field tests indicate that power densities an order of magnitude greater can potentially be achieved by arranging VAWTs in layouts that enable them to extract energy from adjacent wakes and from above the wind farm. Moreover, this improved performance does not require higher individual wind turbine efficiency, only closer wind turbine spacing and a sufficient vertical flux of turbulence kinetic energy from the atmospheric surface layer. The results suggest an alternative approach to wind farming that has the potential to concurrently reduce the cost, size, and environmental impacts of wind farms.

Article Outline

INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
1. Field site summary
2. Wind turbine design
3. VAWT positioning and protocols
4. Turbine measurements
5. Meteorological measurements
6. Power coefficient calculation
7. Wind farm power density calculation
RESULTS
DISCUSSION

RELATED DATABASES

To view database links for this article, you need to log in.

KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

aerodynamics, environmental factors, wind power plants, wind turbines

PACS

88.50.J-

Wind farms
88.50.G-

Wind turbines
89.60.-k

Environmental studies

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier

http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3608170

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

1941-7012 (online)

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef

American Institute of Physics

For access to fully linked references, you need to log in.

View in Separate Window/Tab pop up window icon

Selected: Export Citations | Add to MyArticles

Phys. Fluids 22, 015110 (2010)PHFLE6000022000001015110000001

Phys. Fluids 26, 3454 (1983)PFLDAS000026000012003454000001

Figures (10) Tables (2)

Access to article objects (figures, tables, multimedia) requires a subscription; log in to view available files.
(Access to supplementary files, where available, is free for this journal.)