The effect of turbulence in the built environment on wind turbine aerodynamics

Vita, Giulio ORCID: 0000-0002-5711-8371 (2020). The effect of turbulence in the built environment on wind turbine aerodynamics. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

Urban Wind Energy is a niche of Wind Energy showing an unstoppable trend of growth in its share in the tumultuous DIY energy market. Urban Wind Energy consists of positioning wind turbines within the built environment. The idea is to match energy production and consumption site so to increase the efficiency of the system as energy losses and costs due to the transportation, conversion and delivery of energy are virtually zeroed. Many aficionados advocate the advantage of such a technology for the environment and argue that a greater diffusion might overcome its flaws as a newborn technology.

However, no urban wind application to date is known to have been successful in providing but a derisory amount of ‘clean’ energy. The reason for this fiasco lies in the way research in urban wind energy is conducted, i.e. mostly concerned either in improving the efficiency of wind energy converters, or the assessment of the available wind resource. Very few works have considered the technical implications of placing a wind energy converter, one of the most complex aerodynamic devices, in a complex inflow such as that found in built environments, of which very little is known in terms of its turbulence environment. In fact, it has long been acknowledged that the power output, the fatigue limit state or the total service-life downtime of a wind turbine is well correlated with turbulence at the inflow.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):