Turbulence and Wind Energy Research in the Wind Tunnel at ForWindTo optimise wind turbines and entire wind farms and extend their lifetime, new technologies and control techniques are being investigated at the University of Oldenburg, Germany, as part of the Center for Wind Energy Research (ForWind). Many turbulent flow phenomena and the resulting problems in the operation of wind turbines can be calculated with computer models only approximately. Therefore, wind energy research in this area is reliant on experiments. For this purpose, a turbulent wind tunnel has been available in the Research Laboratory for Turbulence and Wind Energy Systems in Oldenburg since December 2017. In this wind tunnel, it is possible to test different control concepts very quickly and under different flow conditions.
By Dr Gerd Gülker, Dr Michael Hölling and Dr Vlaho Petrović, ForWind, Germany
