Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Characterization Of A Wind Tunnel For Use In Offshore Wind Turbine Development With Mitigation Measures For The Wall Effect Of Proximal Structures, James Newton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis supports the development of the Harold Alfond W² Ocean Engineering Laboratory constructed at the University of Maine through several investigations conducted with a one-third scale wind generation system. The scale wind generator is first tested in what is considered an open-circuit wind tunnel configuration to determine the influence proximal building walls of a facility housing such a device may have on the consistency and capacity of a wind generator. Turbine performance testing with the wind generator to identify any susceptibility to proximal wall influence is also conducted. This is of interest as the full-scale system will operate …