The upstream flow of a wind turbine: blockage effect

Abstract The flow upstream a wind turbine is studied in order to investigate blockage effects. We use rotating wind turbine models in a wind tunnel, where velocity measurements have been made both with hot‐wire anemometry up to approximately 4.5 diameters (D) upstream the turbine, as well as laser particle image velocimetry measurements close to the turbine rotor. Also, numerical simulations have been carried out by means of a finite volume code. The measurements show, among other things, that the flow is affected more than 3 D upstream the rotor plane. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.