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https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-51
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-51
04 Apr 2025
 | 04 Apr 2025
Status: this preprint is currently under review for the journal WES.

Synchronized Helix Wake Mixing Control

Aemilius Adrianus Wilhelmus van Vondelen, Marion Coquelet, Sachin Tejwant Navalkar, and Jan-Willem van Wingerden

Abstract. Wind farm control optimizes wind turbines collectively, implying that some turbines operate suboptimally to benefit others, resulting in a farm-level performance increase. This study presents a novel control strategy to optimize wind farm performance by synchronizing the wake dynamics of multiple turbines using an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF)-based phase estimator in a Helix control framework. The proposed method influences downstream turbine wake dynamics by accurately estimating the phase shift of the upstream periodic Helix wake and applying it to its downstream control actions with additional phase offsets. The estimator integrates a dynamic Blade Element Momentum model to improve wind speed estimation accuracy under dynamic conditions. The results, validated through turbulent large-eddy simulations in a three-turbine array, demonstrate that the EKF-based estimator reliably tracks the phase of the incoming Helix wake, with slight offsets attributed to model discrepancies. When integrated with the closed-loop synchronization controller, significant power enhancement with respect to the single-turbine Helix can be attained (up to +10 % on the third turbine), depending on the chosen phase offset. Flow analysis reveals that the optimal phase offset sustains the natural Helix oscillation throughout the array, whereas the worst phase offset creates destructive interference with the incoming wake, which appears to negatively impact wake recovery.

Competing interests: At least one of the (co-)authors is a member of the editorial board of Wind Energy Science.

Publisher's note: Copernicus Publications remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims made in the text, published maps, institutional affiliations, or any other geographical representation in this preprint. The responsibility to include appropriate place names lies with the authors.
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Aemilius Adrianus Wilhelmus van Vondelen, Marion Coquelet, Sachin Tejwant Navalkar, and Jan-Willem van Wingerden

Status: open (until 02 May 2025)

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Aemilius Adrianus Wilhelmus van Vondelen, Marion Coquelet, Sachin Tejwant Navalkar, and Jan-Willem van Wingerden
Aemilius Adrianus Wilhelmus van Vondelen, Marion Coquelet, Sachin Tejwant Navalkar, and Jan-Willem van Wingerden

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Short summary
Wind farms suffer energy losses due to wake effects between turbines. We present a new control strategy that synchronizes turbine wakes to enhance power output. By estimating and aligning the phase shifts of periodic wake structures using an advanced filtering method, downstream turbines recover more energy. Simulations show up to 10 % increased power at the third turbine. These results offer a promising path to improving wind farm efficiency while mixing wakes.
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