Advancing small wind turbine design and testing

该研究计划解决了加拿大风能行业迫切的研究需求。大多数加拿大风力涡轮机制造商生产小型风力涡轮机（容量<50千瓦）;本研究计划侧重于该行业的需求。 风力涡轮机的设计需要充分了解风力涡轮机运行的风气候，包括阵风和湍流的特性。小型风力涡轮机比大型风力涡轮机在更广泛的风气候范围内运行，通常靠近地面或建筑物和树木。一旦了解了风的气候，小型涡轮机的设计就需要知道如何模拟风对涡轮机的影响。保持涡轮机偏航进入风中的尾部系统的设计对于较小的涡轮机是特别重要的设计问题。一旦涡轮机被设计出来，测试其性能的方法就需要比目前使用的方法更快、更经济。 该研究计划将收集和分析极高分辨率的风和涡轮机性能数据，并为小型风力涡轮机设计者提供更详细的风信息。在当前研究的基础上，将开发预测将小型涡轮机定位在建筑物和障碍物附近的性能影响的方法。将系统地研究尾翼系统的设计，目标是开发偏航系统，使涡轮机与风保持一致，即使在阵风和湍流中也能产生动力。将开发表征风力涡轮机性能（“功率曲线”）的新方法。将制定方法，以更充分地利用在传统的塔式功率曲线测量过程中收集的信息，对于非常小的涡轮机，将进行研究，以克服车载测试的局限性，例如塔式涡轮机所经历的阵风再现不准确。

This research program addresses pressing research needs of the Canadian wind energy industry. The majority of Canadian wind turbine manufacturers produce small wind turbines (<50 kW capacity); this research program focuses on the needs of this segment of the industry. The design of wind turbines requires fully understanding the wind climate in which wind turbines operate, including the characteristics of gusts and turbulence. Small wind turbines operate in a much wider range of wind climates than larger ones, often close to the ground or near buildings and trees. Once the wind climate is understood, design of small turbines requires knowing how to model wind effects on the turbine. The design of tail systems that keep the turbine yawed into the wind is a particularly important design issue unique to smaller turbines. And once a turbine is designed, methods of testing its performance are needed that are much faster and more economical than those currently used. This research program will collect and analyze extremely high resolution wind and turbine performance data, and provide more detailed wind information to small wind turbine designers. Building on current research, methods of predicting the performance impact of locating small turbines in proximity to buildings and obstacles will be developed. The design of tail systems will be systematically approached with the goal of developing yaw systems that keep the turbine aligned with the wind and producing power even in gusts and turbulence. New methods of characterizing wind turbine performance ("power curves") will be developed. Methods will be developed to more fully utilize the information collected during traditional tower-based power curve measurements, and for very small turbines, research will be conducted to overcome the limitations of vehicle-based testing, such as inaccurate reproduction of gusts experienced by tower-mounted turbines.