Efficient assessment of ice growth on wind turbine performance
This thesis presents a comprehensive analysis of the effects of ice accretion on the leading edge of wind turbine blades, focusing on the aerodynamics and, ultimately, the efficiency of the turbines in a specific location and environment; particularly, in this thesis case, alpine environment is cons...
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| Tipo de recurso: | tesis de maestría |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/428067 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/428067 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Turbines Aerodynamics Ice growth Aeroelasticity Rotors Wind turbines Atmospheric boundary layer Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Blade Element Momentum (BEM) Panel method Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) Turbine efficiency loss Aerodinàmica Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Aeronàutica i espai |
| Sumario: | This thesis presents a comprehensive analysis of the effects of ice accretion on the leading edge of wind turbine blades, focusing on the aerodynamics and, ultimately, the efficiency of the turbines in a specific location and environment; particularly, in this thesis case, alpine environment is considered. The NREL 5 MW wind turbine is used as a reference model for all the studies conducted in this research. To fulfil the scope of this thesis, a model of the geometry and distribution of ice accretion was developed, on the basis of wind tunnel test results and a review of the literature on ice formation observed on field-deployed wind turbines. Based on the collected data and insights from the literature, a rime ice accretion (i.e., a geometry that closely follows the shape of the airfoil) was chosen for analysis, as the wind turbine's environment is characterized by cold and dry conditions that favour the formation of rime ice on the blade's leading edge. The analysis of the effects on the turbine's power production required dividing the blade into a finite number of airfoil sections along its span. Each airfoil section had a specific ice accretion profile, determined by its position along the span relative to the turbine's hub centre. The airfoils' polars were generated with the Xfoil software, using the panel method. Then, the polars were extrapolated to angles of attack ranging from ¿180° to 180° to allow the use of the Blade Element Momentum (BEM) theory to generate the power curve. The panel method showed that the creation of a defect at the leading edge (in this case, ice accretion) caused an increase in drag of around 66% and a decrease in lift in the range of [9% ¿14%]. Nonetheless, the limitations of the panel method proved that prediction of friction drag was more difficult than if we used a computational fluid dynamics code, such as RANS-omega. The subsequent BEM theory analysis showed a drop in the turbine power production causing a corresponding drop in turbine efficiency of 16.6% in between the wind speed of 0 m / s and 11.4 m / s and 11.14% at the rate wind speed. This highlights the challenges of operating a wind turbine in cold climates. However, these findings are not just restricted to only alpine environments, as these findings can also be interpreted for other locations such as polar environments or even offshore environments. Furthermore, these findings highlight the importance of proper maintenance of wind turbines as well as the need for solutions to prevent ice formation on turbine blades. |
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