Author(s): Costa, Paula Silva ; Cataldo, José ; Mazaira, Leorlen ; González, Daniel ; Costa, Alexandre ; Simões, Teresa
Date: 2022
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.9/4034
Origin: Repositório do LNEG
Subject(s): Wind energy; Wind resource; Wind flow; Urban areas; Wind tunnel; Simulation
ABSTRACT: In the framework of the wind energy network for distributed generation in urban environments for most South American countries, wind resource assessment studies have been carried out in activities to establish a suitable methodology to assess the wind potential in urban environments. Some methodologies are already published in research studies, and the wind tunnel is the most accurate solution to obtain insight into the wind resource when measurements are unavailable, which is the most frequent case. Nevertheless, besides its validity, one cannot disregard the high cost of producing a scaled urban model and access to a wind tunnel. In this sense, this paper compares results from a wind tunnel experiment and different numerical modeling approaches. Two commercial models (WindSim and Wasp Engineering) and one open-source CFD code (OpenFOAM) are used. The results from the modeling simulation concluded that CFD models could achieve lower deviations for the mean wind speed and turbulence intensity when compared with non-CFD models. With such results, CFD modeling is a promising tool for reliably evaluating wind potential in urban environments.
