A Colorado-based research team recently completed a major wind study using Second Wind’s Triton Sonic Wind Profiler to learn more about one of wind power’s biggest unknowns, the wake effect, and its impact on turbine productivity.
Triton is one of several remote sensing technologies that TWICS (the Turbine Wake and Inflow Characterization Study) has used to create a detailed, 3D model of the turbulence caused when wind passes over rotating turbine blades. Turbulence can damage turbines downstream and undermine productivity. The project’s goal is to understand how to enhance wind farms' productivity. Turbine inflow and wake observations will be integrated into a wind energy forecasting model. The study is aimed at capturing turbulence and other wake effects in a broad wedge of air up to 7 km (4.3 miles) long and 1 km (3,280 feet) high in front of and behind a multi-MW wind turbine. Triton, along with tower-mounted sensors and other remote sensing systems, profiles the winds in front of and behind a 130-meter high wind turbine located at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL’s) National Wind Technology center near Boulder, Colorado. NREL, the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have teamed up to conduct the study.
Triton is one of several remote sensing technologies that TWICS (the Turbine Wake and Inflow Characterization Study) has used to create a detailed, 3D model of the turbulence caused when wind passes over rotating turbine blades. Turbulence can damage turbines downstream and undermine productivity. The project’s goal is to understand how to enhance wind farms' productivity. Turbine inflow and wake observations will be integrated into a wind energy forecasting model. The study is aimed at capturing turbulence and other wake effects in a broad wedge of air up to 7 km (4.3 miles) long and 1 km (3,280 feet) high in front of and behind a multi-MW wind turbine. Triton, along with tower-mounted sensors and other remote sensing systems, profiles the winds in front of and behind a 130-meter high wind turbine located at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL’s) National Wind Technology center near Boulder, Colorado. NREL, the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have teamed up to conduct the study.
