Effect of hill height relative to boundary layer thickness on Wind energy resources and Turbulent characteristics

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate characteristics of flow over complex terrain and establish a wind prediction system for complex terrain, especially focused on the effect of hill height relative to boundary layer thickness. Wind tunnel experiments have been carried out to measure the mean velocity and turbulence characteristics of flow over 2-dimensional hills. The results from numerical analysis using k-ε model were compared with the wind tunnel experiments. After the verification of the numerical analysis, we have examined large impacts of the hill height relative to boundary layer thickness on the wind energy resources and the turbulence characteristics around hill.