Richard J.A.M. Stevens

Physics of Fluids · University of Twente

Publication 48 · Wind-farm flow

Flow Structure and Turbulence in Wind Farms

R.J.A.M. Stevens, C. Meneveau, Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, 49, 311-339 (2017).

Main finding

Wind-farm flow is a coupled multiscale problem: turbine wakes interact with atmospheric-boundary-layer momentum supply, farm development, layout, stability, and larger-scale atmospheric conditions.

Coupled wake boundary layer model predictions against large-eddy simulation results
How to read the figure. Coupled wake boundary layer model predictions (lines) against large-eddy simulation results (symbols), for the third turbine row and for the fully developed region of a wind farm. Farm performance depends both on the turbine wakes and on the atmospheric momentum supply that replaces the energy they extract, and a model has to carry both. This is a review figure; the result it summarises comes from the primary work the review surveys. Open the full-resolution figure. Figure 9. R.J.A.M. Stevens and C. Meneveau (2017). No separate licence is stated here; consult the original publication and credited source before reuse.

Why this matters

It provides a coherent map of how individual wakes, whole-farm adjustment, and the atmosphere must be treated together.

Research context

This work builds on Large eddy simulation studies of the effects of alignment…, Coupled wake boundary layer model of wind farms, Dependence of optimal wind-turbine spacing on wind-farm length, Generalized coupled wake boundary layer model, and related wake/ABL studies cited in the review. Later papers that extend or qualify it: Modeling space-time correlations of velocity fluctuations in wind farms, Characterizing the Coherent Structures Within and Above Large Wind…, Modeling dynamic wind direction changes in large eddy simulations…, A three-dimensional dynamic mode decomposition analysis of wind farm…, Turbulence coherence in wind farms, and later finite-farm/blockage work.

Read the article View in the complete publication list Related wind-farm research