Kyushu University Verifies Correlation between Airflow, Wind Turbine Performance

Visualized airflow at 70 meters above the ground, the height of wind turbine's hub
Coyright Kyushu University

The Research Institute for Applied Mechanics (RIAM), Kyushu University, announced on August 6, 2012, that it has succeeded in visualizing the airflow over wind turbine sites and verifying the correlation between flow conditions and wind turbine performance.

This is the outcome of a two-year research project that RIAM has been conducting since 2010 in collaboration with Kyushu Electric Power Co. and West Japan Engineering Consultants, Inc. RIAM first picked out high-efficiency wind turbines, as well as under-performing ones, by examining actual data obtained at the Nagashima Wind Farm in Kagoshima Prefecture, which started operation in October 2008. It then simulated the airflow over these turbines using RIAM-COMPACT(R) software, a simulator that can predict the effect of structures and terrains on wind flow. As a result, RIAM successfully determined the correlation between complex airflow over wind turbines and their power generation efficiency.

These findings are expected to be applied to the selection of optimal turbine locations for efficient and reliable wind power generation.

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