ME EN 6740 - Wind Energy

This course will consist in a theoretical and numerical analysis of the science of making torque out of wind. The course will begin with a brief historical review of the evolution of wind energy harvesting and its future role in the new mix of renewable energies. An introduction to the aerodynamics of horizontal wind turbines will follow next with a short review of lift and drag of airfoils. The actuator disk concept, the rotor disk and rotor blade theory, the breakdown of momentum theory, blade geometry and the effect of discrete number of blades will be studied. The fundamentals of wind characteristics and resources with an emphasis on wind farm sitting will be presented, together with a short review of the atmospheric boundary layer concepts. The different numerical approaches used to model and design wind farms, both from an industry perspective and an academic approach, will also be introduced. Finally, the economical and environmental aspects and impacts of wind harvesting will analyzed.