Aerodynamic optimisation of wind farms

Supervisors: Professor Mohamed Pourkashanian, Professor Lin Ma and Professor Derek Ingham.

Wind farms, as a main technology to convert wind energy into electricity faces challenges in improving its efficiency and reducing costs. Aerodynamically, the overall performance of a wind farm is significantly influenced by the wind conditions and the arrangement of the wind turbines.

The proposed research will focus on the aerodynamic design of the wind farm to reduce the turbine wake effects and maximise the wind farm power output. Advanced mathematical and computational fluid dynamics modeling techniques will be employed with supplementary experimental investigations. Strategies on wind and hydro power integration for energy storage will also be investigated.

The research will improve our knowledge of wind farm aerodynamics and develop a predictive tool for large scale wind farm optimisation.

For further information contact Professor Derek B Ingham (d.ingham@sheffield.ac.uk).