An Experimental Investigation on the Wake Interference of Multiple Wind Turbines in Atmospheric Boundary Layer Winds

In this study, an investigation was carried out in an atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) wind tunnel to investigate the wake interferences of multiple wind turbines sited over a flat terrain in order to elucidate the underlying physics to optimize the design of wind turbines layout in wind farm for higher power yield and better durability. Firstly, the effects of the turbine spacing and the wind farm layout on the wake interferences were investigated among multiple wind turbines sited over a flat terrain. The characteristics of the surface winds (both mean velocity and turbulence profiles) were quantified to elucidate the interaction between atmospheric boundary layer and wind farms. The detailed flow field measurements were correlated with the dynamic wind loads as well as the power outputs of the wind turbine models in both aligned and staggered wind farms. In addition, the effects of different characteristics of the incoming atmospheric boundary layer on the performance of the individual wind turbines and on the array efficiency of different wind farm layouts were also investigated. The results obtained from the present study shed light on how complex aerodynamics and efficiency of different wind farms could be affected by different factors such as the wind farm configuration, turbine spacing, as well as incoming flow turbulence level.