Project outline
In an increasingly decarbonised world, wind energy offers a clean and renewable energy source. However, noise generated by a wind turbine presents a significant regulatory barrier to mass adoption. In the case of large modern onshore wind turbines, power outputs are commonly capped to meet strict noise regulations aimed at limiting noise exposure to nearby residents. Studies have shown that increasing the noise threshold by 1dB would allow for a 2-3% increase in power output per annum.
The dominant noise source on modern wind turbines is aerodynamic noise (often described as a “whooshing” noise) which this project will focus on. Through thoughtful design, noise sources such as tip vorticity noise can be attenuated out, thus leaving aerofoil self-noise as the remaining dominant noise mechanism. This project will focus on experimentally mitigating this self-noise. The University of Bristol’s aeroacoustic facilities will be heavily utilised over the course of the project to investigate various novel passive treatments (e.g. serrations, brushes, vortex generators, porous materials e.c.t.). At the conclusion of this project, it is hoped that a fundamental understanding of the underlying physics of such mitigations will be made, informing industry, and next generation wind turbine design.
Project Partners
This project is hosted at the University of Bristol and supported by Siemens Gamesa.
Student
Ahmed Khan