The Effects of Wind Turbine Power Generation When Coated with a Riblet Film

Wind energy continues to be a rapidly growing source of power generation among renewable energy sources. To enhance the capacity of current wind farms, implementing various modifications can significantly boost energy production. Riblets, a type of flow control device, have been shown to effectively reduce drag in turbulent flows and have the potential for improving turbine blade aerodynamic performance. Quantifying the direct effects of riblets on wind turbines remains an area needing further study, as few academic resources currently address this topic. This study aims to quantify the impact of riblets on power generation when a turbine rotor is treated with a riblet coating. A film treated with riblets was applied to the rotor of the G06 turbine, a scale model turbine designed for wind energy research, and power generation measurements were taken using the turbine's torque sensors. The riblets were applied to the outer 50% of the rotor blades, as this section produces 75% of the torque acting on the rotor hub. Two applications were tested: riblets on both sides of the rotor blade and riblets on the suction side only. Tip speed ratio and airspeed velocity at the hub were the variables of interest to quantify power generation. The study found that applying riblets on both sides of the rotor blade resulted in up to a 2.32% increase in power generation, with a constant hub speed velocity. When riblets were applied only to the suction side, a 2.05% improvement was observed. This study highlights the positive impact of riblets on improving wind turbine power generation and demonstrates an effective technique for testing riblets on scale wind turbines.