Applied Research Group - Wind Energy

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This movie presents the flow field about a two bladed wind turbine tested by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Intelligent Light's staff and collaborators are active in the industry and continue to develop new CFD technology for wind energy.

Wind Energy investments are rapidly expanding and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques are increasingly being used to optimize system design and operation, improve overall site selection, and to support troubleshooting. Contributions by Intelligent Light's Applied Research Group are speeding the development and deployment of new, productive wind energy projects and arereducing the cost of generation. We providing expertise and resources to help projects advance to success and to develop an organizational capabilities that produce leading edge results in a highly demanding market.

Wind Energy Experience

Dr. Duque has specialized in CFD simulations of helicopter and Wind Turbine Aerodynamics performing the first Navier-Stokes Simulations of Wind Turbine Rotor Wake Interaction in 1997. He continues his Wind Energy efforts through the Applied Research Group at Intelligent Light through sponsored government research as well as consulting projects:

  • Sandia National Laboratory and Pennsylvania State University Wind Turbine Aero-Acoustics
  • Micro-scale Modeling of Wind Patterns
  • Simulation of Wind Turbine Aerodynamic Performance
  • Arizona Wind Working Group
FieldView image of a wind turbine simulation.

Micrositing research involves modeling behavior over large terrain areas. This image is from an analysis of wind patterns at Aubrey Cliffs, Arizona.