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Prof. Dr. Shigeo Yoshida

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Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University, Kasuga, 816-8580, Japan
Interests: aerodynamics, aeroelastics, design/optimization, control of wind turbines, large scale wind turbines, floating offshore wind turbines

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the history of commercial wind power production in the past decades, wind turbines have increased in size, performance, and function, aiming at lowering the cost of energy. The installation of wind energy has been increasing continuously, and its role in power supply has become more important in recent years. The technical approaches are also diverse, such as aerodynamics, structure, and engineering, as well as materials, electrical, control, and civil engineering, and so on, since wind power generation itself is a complex technology. Although wind turbine technologies are maturing to some extent and the cost of energy is decreasing, further cost reduction is required to cope with the strong competition with other non-sustainable technologies in the market. Innovations in the design methods and technologies of wind turbines are expected to address this.

In the above circumstances, this Special Issue invites papers on the following topics with regard to improving the economic efficiency and deployment of commercial wind turbines:

-New design methods;

-Innovative wind turbine technologies; and

-New wind turbine concepts.

The present Special Issue is expected to share the knowledge, experiences, and perspectives in commercial wind turbines between academic researchers and technical professionals.

Prof. Dr. Shigeo Yoshida
Guest Editor

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Keywords

Commercial Wind Turbine
Concept
Design
Technology

Published Papers (1 paper)

Research

17 pages, 6545 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimal Wind Turbine Operation by Artificial Neural Network-Based Active Gurney Flap Flow Control

by Aitor Saenz-Aguirre, Unai Fernandez-Gamiz, Ekaitz Zulueta, Alain Ulazia and Jon Martinez-Rico

Sustainability 2019, 11(10), 2809; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11102809 - 16 May 2019

Cited by 24 | Viewed by 3097

Abstract

Flow control devices have been introduced in the wind energy sector to improve the aerodynamic behavior of the wind turbine blades (WTBs). Among these flow control devices, Gurney flaps (GFs) have been the focus of innovative research, due to their good characteristics which enhance the lift force that causes the rotation of the wind turbine rotor. The lift force increment introduced by GFs depends on the physical characteristics of the device and the angle of attack (AoA) of the incoming wind. Hence, despite a careful and detailed design, the real performance of the GFs is conditioned by an external factor, the wind. In this paper, an active operation of GFs is proposed in order to optimize their performance. The objective of the active Gurney flap (AGF) flow control technique is to enhance the aerodynamic adaption capability of the wind turbine and, thus, achieve an optimal operation in response to fast variations in the incoming wind. In order to facilitate the management of the information used by the AGF strategy, the aerodynamic data calculated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are stored in an artificial neural network (ANN). Blade element momentum (BEM) based calculations have been performed to analyze the aerodynamic behavior of the WTBs with the proposed AGF strategy and calculate the corresponding operation of the wind turbine. Real wind speed values from a meteorological station in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, have been used for the steady BEM calculations. The obtained results show a considerable improvement in the performance of the wind turbine, in the form of an enhanced generated energy output value and a reduced bending moment at the root of the WTB. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Design, Technologies, and Concepts of Commercial Wind Turbines)

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