Development of a Background-Oriented Schlieren (BOS) System for Thermal Characterization of Flow Induced by Plasma Actuators

Abstract

Cold climate regions have great potential for wind power generation. The available wind energy in these regions is about 10% higher than in other regions due to higher wind speeds and increased air density. However, these regions usually have favorable icing conditions that lead to ice accumulation on the wind turbine blades, which in turn increases the weight of the blades and disrupts local airflow, resulting in a reduction in wind turbine performance. Considering this problem, plasma actuators have been proposed as devices for simultaneous flow control and deicing. These devices transfer momentum to the local airflow, improving the aerodynamic performances of the turbine blades while producing significant thermal effects that can be used to prevent ice formation. Considering the potential application of plasma actuators for simultaneous flow control and deicing, it is very important to investigate the thermal effects induced by these devices. However, due to the significant electromagnetic interference generated by the operation of these devices, there is a lack of experimental techniques that can be used to analyze them. In the current work, a background-oriented Schlieren system was developed and is presented as a new experimental technique for the thermal characterization of the plasma-induced flow. For the first time, the induced flow temperatures are characterized for plasma actuators with different dielectric materials and different dielectric thicknesses. The results demonstrate that, due to the plasma discharge, the temperature of the plasma-induced flow increases with the increase of the applied voltage and may achieve temperatures five times higher than the room temperature, which proves the potential of plasma actuators for deicing applications. The results are presented and discussed with respect to the potential application of plasma actuators for simultaneous flow control and deicing of wind turbine blades.

The Modeling and Control of (Renewable) Energy Systems by Partial Differential Equations—An Overview

“…However, cold-climate regions have more ice, so ice accumulation on wind turbine blades may impair turbine efficiency. Paper [43] proposes designing plasma actuators to combat the icing problem, which improve wind turbine aerodynamic performance and perform deicing. To that end, the paper presents a design based on the solution of Poisson's PDE with the Neumann boundary conditions imposed on the inlet and outlet sides, and the Dirichlet boundary conditions imposed on the other sides.…”

“…To that end, the paper presents a design based on the solution of Poisson's PDE with the Neumann boundary conditions imposed on the inlet and outlet sides, and the Dirichlet boundary conditions imposed on the other sides. Experimental verification was also presented in [43].…”

Flow Separation Control of Nacelle Inlets in Crosswinds by Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuation

“…It has attracted wide attention in recent years and is widely used in biomedicine [12][13][14][15][16], environmental purification [17][18][19][20], catalytic technology [21][22][23][24], material handling [25][26][27], flow control, and other fields. Surface Dielectric Barrier Discharge (SDBD) [28] which has the advantages of easy adhesion, rapid response, and adjustable parameters, has been widely used in the fields of stall control [29][30][31][32][33][34], boundary layer rotation [35][36][37][38][39][40], lift enhancement [41][42][43], anti-icing [44][45][46][47][48] and other flow separation control applications. Surface dielectric barrier discharge is classified as Alternating Current Dielectric Barrier Discharge (AC-DBD), Microsecond Dielectric Barrier Discharge (µS-DBD), and Nanosecond Dielectric Barrier Discharge (NS-DBD), of which AC-DBD and NS-DBD are more widely used than µS-DBD.…”

Development of a Control Unit for the Angle of Attack of a Vertically Axial Wind Turbine

“…By actively controlling the angle, the turbine can optimize power production by adjusting to the wind speed changes. Higher wind speeds may require a lower angle of attack to prevent excessive loads on the blades, while lower wind speeds may require a higher angle of attack to maintain lift and power generation [18]; -Load Mitigation-VAWTs are subjected to cyclic loading as the blades pass through the wind stream [19]. These cyclic loads can lead to fatigue and structural damage over time.…”