Investigation of Single Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuator Effect on Separation Control of a Critical Section of Wind Turbine Blade

Wind turbines are one of the most important renewable energy production devices and improving their efficiency leads to more effective exploitation of clean energies. Flow separation on wind turbine blade is one of the major reasons of performance loss in wind turbines. The present paper investigates the effect of single dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator (SDBD) placement on a critical section of wind-electric wind turbine blade (660kW)) designed inside country. An experimental investigation for assuring the validity of the numerical simulations has been performed. Then, two dimensional simulations were extended to evaluate the effect of plasma actuator performance on flow characteristics. Numerical simulations are based on the latest enhanced electrostatic plasma actuator models. The fluid flow is incompressible and the free stream velocity is about 20m/s. The results clearly indicate that frequency and voltage increase can significantly correct the flow pattern in post stall condition. A linear pattern has been achieved between the frequency and aerodynamic coefficients variations. The best improvement for the range under investigation is more than 800% for aerodynamic performance and approximately 50% for separation point delay.