Using Regional Climate Center Data to Predict Small Wind Turbine Performance

Abstract

The use of renewable energy systems may be attractive to environmental professionals who are designing and operating groundwater cleanup systems because of potential cost savings and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The energy demands of many remediation systems are relatively small, and wind turbines marketed for domestic use may be suitable for such applications. Collecting site-specific wind velocity data necessary for performance modeling may be cost prohibitive compared to the cost of the small wind turbine system. The feasibility characterization is also complicated by siting the wind turbine according to the location of the groundwater contamination rather than the location of the optimum wind resource. The use of non site-specific wind velocity data, such as that available from a regional database may be a cost-effective means for predicting wind turbine performance. Monte Carlo models were developed to compare wind turbine performance predictions calculated using remote wind velocity data to actual wind turbine performance at a Nebraska Superfund site. The Monte Carlo models may have applications at other sites and for wind turbines used to power other types of loads such as groundwater pumping or remote households.

Department(s)

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering

Keywords and Phrases

Air pollution; Climatic data; Economic factors; Environmental engineering; Groundwater management; Wind energy; Air quality; Cascades (fluid mechanics); Costs; Electric generators; Engines; Environmental engineering; Gas emissions; Global warming; Greenhouse gases; Groundwater pollution; Groundwater resources; Hydraulic machinery; Hydraulic motors; Hydrogeology; Leakage (fluid); Monte Carlo methods; Renewable energy resources; Turbines; Underground reservoirs; Water management; Wind turbines; Applications; Climatic data; Cost prohibitive; Domestic uses; Economic factors; Energy demands; Greenhouse Gas emissions

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1090-025X

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2009 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 2009

Link to Full Text

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