For the Design & Computing module, I designed a wind turbine nacelle using Autodesk Fusion 360 and then evaluated the feasibility of a wind farm using this design based on a MATLAB simulation.
The most important characteristics for the wind farm were formulated based on a stakeholder analysis using a qualitative pairwise comparison matrix. I concluded that power output of the wind farm was the most important characteristic, followed by reliability, environmental and aesthetics etc. The nacelle was designed to accommodate a gearbox, brake and generator to for electricity generation and an active yaw drive system to ensure the nacelle could be rotated to face the wind. To minimise the visual impact of the nacelle, blue anodised aluminium was suggested (However subsequently I have learnt that this would not be effective).
Using the estimated performance of the nacelle, a wind farm was simulated using the FLORIS wake model. This was used to optimise the layout of the wind farm, based on wind speed and direction data throughout the year. For the given scenario, a 12x13 grid of wind turbines was proposed at a cost of £660 million with an annual internal rate of return (IRR) of 23%.
