Low-noise wind turbine design

Stefan Oerlemans, Peter Fuglsang

Siemens Wind Power A/S
email: stefan.oerlemans@siemens.com

Siemens AG 2012. All rights reserved

Outline
Sound characteristics
Noise sources
Rotor design considerations
Design tools

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Sound characteristics
Which sound characteristics need to be considered for
low-noise wind turbine design?
Noise regulations usually based on sound imission
Different regulations for different countries
Noise limits may depend on wind speed, background noise,
Imission at neighbour depends on site details, meteo conditions,

Acoustic wind turbine design based on sound emission

Regulations often use overall sound level, tonality, low-frequency noise
Other parameters: impulsiveness, directivity, infrasound, modulation
Sound emission may depend on site and meteo conditions, such as wind
speed, wind shear, atmospheric turbulence, blade soiling,
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Outline
Sound characteristics
Noise sources
Rotor design considerations
Design tools

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Sources of wind turbine noise

Modern large turbines

trailing edge

Mechanical noise from nacelle

Mainly caused by gearbox and generator
May generate tones and low-frequency noise
Gearless turbines quieter than geared turbines

rotor hub
leading edge

blade tip

Aerodynamic noise from blades

Usually dominant noise source
Inflow turbulence noise
Tip noise
Airfoil self noise trailing edge noise
Wind Turbine Noise (MultiScience, 2011)
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Wind Turbine Noise (Springer, 1996)

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Airfoil self-noise mechanisms

High Reynolds number, low Mach number flow
Self-noise mechanisms
Blunt trailing edge noise
Laminar boundary layer vortex shedding
Separated flow
Trailing edge noise: lower limit
p2~U5*L/r2
f~U/*

SPL

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Wind Turbine Noise (MultiScience, 2011)

U2>U1
U1
f

NASA-RP-1218 (1989)
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Wind turbine noise sources

Noise sources in rotor plane
Averaged over many revolutions
Noise radiation towards the ground

Observations
Turbine noise dominated by blades
Noise radiated from outer part of blade
Noise mainly produced during downstroke

Wind Turbine Noise (MultiScience, 2011)

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Outline
Sound characteristics
Noise sources
Rotor design considerations
Rotor size and tip speed
Blade shape
Blade add-ons
Control strategies

Design tools
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Turbine size
The most dramatic historical design trend is SIZE

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SWT-6.0-154 with an Airbus A380

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Rotor diameter and tip speed

Development of sound power level over time
Compare population of wind turbines with different size
Level clearly increases with diameter and tip speed
Sound Power Level vs. Tip Speed

115

115

110

110

SPL (dB(A))

SPL (dB(A))

Sound Power Level vs Rotor

Diameter

105
100

105
100

95

95

90

90
40,0

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50
100
Rotor diameter (m)

150

60,0
80,0
Tip speed (m/s)

100,0

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Sound and energy production

Clear relation between rotor size and energy production
Relation between sound level and AEP illustrates the
value of 1 dB noise reduction
Annual Energy Production vs.
Sound Power Level

30000

16000

25000

14000

Annual energy
production (MWh)

Annual energy production

(MWh)

Annual energy production vs

Rotor Diameter

20000
15000
10000
5000

12000
10000

20%

8000

1dB(A)

6000
4000
2000
0

0
0,0

50,0

100,0

150,0

Rotor diameter (m)

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Result of
1 dB(A)
innovation

200,0

90

95

100

105

110

SPL (dB(A))
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Blade shape
Development of blade shape scaled to same size
Solidity changed from ~10% to much less than 5%
Airfoils changed from 1930s aircraft types to modern custom-made types
Blade add-ons yield noise reduction of several dBs
Blade tip shape designs eliminate tip noise
Airfoils

Tip shape

Trailing edge
thickness

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Planform
and
solidity

Trailing edge
add-ons
Add-ons in
general

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Low-noise blade design

Braun et al. (EWEC 1996)

Tip shape
Current design practice developed early 1990s
No excess noise with right planform and inflow

Trailing edge thickness

Prevent bluntness tones by thin trailing edge

Airfoils
Optimized wind turbine airfoils (loads, power, noise)

Planform and solidity

Trend to slender thick blades affects trailing edge noise

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Blade add-ons
Add-ons used to improve blade performance
Increase power output
Reduce noise
Lay-out may depend on site conditions

Vortex generators
Delay separation: no excess stall noise
May generate self-noise if placed wrongly

Trailing edge serrations / DinoTails

Reduce trailing edge noise if properly applied
May increase power by flap effect

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Low-noise controls
Smart controls reduce noise at minimum energy loss
Stall regulation now replaced by pitch regulation and variable speed
Control settings can be tailored to specific site conditions
Cyclic pitch can alleviate azimuthal variations in inflow angle, which can
reduce noise by preventing partial separation
1 dB noise reduction costs 2-4% annual energy production
Annual energy production vs.
Noise curtailment

Annual energy
production (MWh)

9000
8800
8600
8400
8200
8000
7800
7600
0

Noise reduction (dB(A))

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Outline
Sound characteristics
Noise sources
Rotor design considerations
Design tools
Advanced experiments
Noise prediction tools

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Acoustic wind tunnel testing

Assess acoustic performance for controlled conditions
2D airfoil sections and model rotors
Acoustic and aerodynamic measurements
Clean and turbulent inflow conditions
Smooth and rough blade surface
Vary flow speed and angle attack
Design and test different add-on concepts

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AIAA-2004-3042

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Field testing: downstroke

Fast acoustic assessment of different configurations
Relative comparison of different add-ons for identical conditions
Measurements can be done at different positions - directivity
Focus on noise during downstroke
Upwind pos., Power > 1100 kW

Baseline rotor

Overall Noise Level [dB(A) re. 20 uPa]

72
70

Baseline
Add-on 1
Add-on 2

68
66
64
62
60
58
56
0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

300

350

Azimuth Angle []
Upwind pos.,
Power > 1100 kW

Different add-ons

70

Overall Noise Level [dB(A) re. 20 uPa]

68
66
64
62
60
58
56
54

50

100

200

150

250

Azimuth Angle []

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Field testing: microphone array

Acoustic assessment of complete rotor plane
Azimuthal and radial distribution of noise sources
Measurements can be done at different positions
Frequency dependence of noise sources

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Field testing: microphone array

Comparison of noise from different blades
Azimuthal and radial distribution of noise sources for each blade
Compare blades/ add-ons for identical conditions
blade1

blade2

blade3

blade1

blade2

blade3

1250 Hz, complete

revolution

2 kHz, 1 oclock

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Noise prediction tools

Global rules of thumb
Rough estimate based on size and speed
Cannot be used for rotor design

U,

p
Wind Turbine Noise (MultiScience, 2011)

Semi-analytical, semi-empirical prediction methods

Fast and reliable estimate of rotor noise
Useful for blade design studies
Not all flow details are included

Numerical prediction methods

All flow details can be included
Long computational turn-around times
Accuracy to be verified
AIAA-2012-2290
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Conclusion
Wind turbines have many potential noise sources
Mechanical noise, tip noise, inflow noise, airfoil self-noise

Many noise sources can be suppressed by good design

For modern turbines the dominant noise source is
trailing edge noise from the outer part of the blades
Several design options for further noise reduction
Blade add-ons
Smart control strategies
Blade shape (planform, airfoils, tip design)

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