Flow Turbulence and Renewable Energy

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Renewable energies such as wind and solar are verily at the mercy of the environmental turbulent wind that they are subject to. Strong and steady wind can furnish abundant clean energy via the promising wind turbines. The roles of flow fluctuations, however, are less obvious. Flow turbulence may break down the well-organized vortical flow structures of the wake, and hence, possibly mitigate the adverse effects of the wake on the downstream wind turbines. In fact, some turbulent flow can delay the aerodynamic stall and improve airfoil performance. On the other hand, pronounced fluctuations in the wind can lead to significant structural fatigue along with reduced wind power capturing. Similarly, the structures housing solar panels need to withstand the wind loads, among which the fluctuating drag and lift are of primal importance. While wind may be undesirable from the standpoint of structural integrity, it is needed to keep the solar panel cool, especially on a hot summer afternoon, to capitalize higher energy conversion efficiency. Overcoming these and other practical challenges requires both engineering ingenuities and improved fundamental understanding of the ever-perplexing, omnipresent flow turbulence. At the fundamental level, clean, isotropic turbulence remains a critical element which demands better understanding. Extreme diligence both in experimentation and in data reduction, along with improved analyses, are necessary in enhancing progress along this path. The proposed research consists of coupled parallel fundamental-application approaches specifically aimed at continuous improvement of the aforementioned clean energy technologies and progressive revelation of engineering turbulence.