The Poul la Cour wind Tunnel from the outside

AeroLoop

Objective:
The AeroLoop-project is a natural continuation of the establishment of the Poul la Cour Tunnel, where the wind tunnel facility with its hardware is established and provided. DTU is the main driver with development of tools to improve wind tunnel tests and to support the development of the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance of wind turbine airfoils.

The aim of this project is to improve the performance of the blade sections for each partner as fast as possible. To do so it is necessary to develop and implement new measurement methods, benchmark the tunnel against other tunnels, and demonstrate and tailor the design loops for each manufacturer. In this process, the efficiency of the tests will be in focus, where both the quality of the tests and the short turnaround cycles are important.

Expected outcome:
The outcome of the project will be a general increase of the rotor efficiency, where higher structural stiffness, lower noise and higher aerodynamic efficiency potentially can increase the Annual Energy Production (AEP) with 1%. 

In addition, the losses due to surface roughness or manufacturing uncertainties will be smaller and AeroLoop will reduce these losses from e.g. 5% to 4%. 

Lastly, Aeroloop targets a reduction of the noise emission from an airfoil by 3 dB. These improvements will potentially lead to a decrease in CO2 emission of 715 tons/year and a higher competitiveness. 

The Poul la Cour Tunnel will be improved and include many features needed for wind turbine manufacturers. This will be due to the combination of size, acoustic features, increased measurement quality and the reduced time in the turnaround cycles that will result in a faster aerodynamic and aeroacoustic design loop.

This project began October 2018 and runs for 3 years.

Total project budget: 17.84 mio. DKK.

Contact

Christian Bak
Professor
DTU Wind
+45 46 77 50 91

THE PROJECT IS FUNDED BY