No abstract

When deployed as large arrays, wind turbines significantly interact among themselves and with the atmospheric boundary layer. In this study, we integrate a three-dimensional large-eddy simulation with an actuator line technique to examine the characteristics of wind-turbine wakes in an idealized wind farm inside a stable boundary layer (SBL). The wind turbines, with a rotor diameter of 112 m and a tower height of 119 m, were "immersed" in a well-known SBL case that bears a boundary layer height of approximately 175 m. Two typical spacing setups were adopted in this investigation. The super-geostrophic low-level jet near the top of the boundary layer was eliminated owing to the energy extraction and the enhanced mixing of momentum. Non-axisymmetric wind-turbine wakes were observed in response to the non-uniform incoming turbulence, the Coriolis effect, and the rotational effects induced by blade motion. The Coriolis force caused a skewed spatial structure and drove a part of the turbulence energy away from the center of the wake. The SBL height was increased, while the magnitude of the surface momentum flux was reduced by more than 30%, and the magnitude of the surface buoyancy flux was reduced by more than 15%. The wind farm was also found to have a strong effect on vertical turbulent fluxes of momentum and heat, an outcome that highlights the potential impact of wind farms on local meteorology.

The subgrid-scale (SGS) parameterization represents a critical component of a successful large-eddy simulation (LES). It is known that in LES of high-Reynolds-number atmospheric boundary layer turbulence, standard eddy-viscosity models poorly predict mean shear in the near-wall region and yield erroneous velocity profiles. In this paper, a modulated gradient model is proposed. This approach is based on the Taylor expansion of the SGS stress, and uses local equilibrium hypothesis to evaluate the SGS kinetic energy. To ensure numerical stability, a clipping procedure is used to avoid local kinetic energy transfer from unresolved to resolved scales. Two approaches are considered to specify the model coefficient: a constant value of 1, and a simple correction to account for the effects of the clipping procedure on the SGS energy production rate. The model is assessed through a systematic comparison with well-established empirical formulations and theoretical predictions of a variety of flow statistics in a neutral atmospheric boundary layer. Overall, the statistics of the simulated velocity field obtained with the new model show good agreement with reference results and a significant improvement compared to simulations with standard eddy-viscosity models. For instance, the new model is capable to reproduce the expected log-law mean velocity profile and power-law energy spectra. Simulations also yield streaky structures and