Optical fluid velocity measurements with application to dynamic transient flow over wind turbine blades

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Energy produced from wind turbines is growing worldwide. Like many energy technologies it is not without concerns such as cost of energy and reliability. Wind energy projects, while relatively new in Canada, have been established in Europe and the US for many years. In these regions, a significant number of engineers and researchers are employed in these industries. Within Canada, there is a current and foreseeable shortage of qualified personnel in renewable energy technologies, wind energy in particular. The overarching goal of this research is to advance the state of knowledge of wind turbine aerodynamics with innovative tools and techniques, ultimately contributing to the increased reliability and cost reduction of wind energy. This research concentrates on improving the understanding of the flow around rotating turbine blades through turbine aerodynamic measurement and modeling, and dynamic airfoil aerodynamic measurements. These detailed measurements around wind turbine blades will be made with innovative laser based optical flow measurement techniques such as flow visualization, laser Doppler velocimetry, and particle image velocimetry (PIV). Studies of turbine performance over realistic conditions, and at a scale that may be useful for modeling, validation and design are not common due to the scale of turbines themselves. In this proposal data will be collected from a wind turbine under various operating conditions in controlled conditions in a large wind facility in order to understand the behaviour of the flow, provide validation data for modeling of the flow and reliably quantify the above effects for inclusion in new tools for design. Detailed, high quality research measurements acquired during the research proposed will have a significant impact on the research community since measurements at the large scale are complex, costly and challenging to obtain. Due to the scale of the turbines studied, researchers trained in this proposal will have a unique opportunity to obtain advanced skills important for future industry or academic opportunities. Industry will benefit from the results obtained in this program since it will allow development of turbine performance models. Industry will also benefit from the knowledge and skills developed by the researchers in this program. There has been a recent focus on wind energy development in Canada and trained researchers with an excellent background in wind energy will make an impact on the investment and development of this energy industry in Canada. The research described here will elevate Canada's standing in the wind energy industry and international research community.