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Description
This study investigates how atmospheric turbulence is modified within and downstream
of a parabolic trough solar collector array using full-scale field measurements from
Nevada Solar One (USA). The measurement setup included one mast outside the array and
three masts downstream of the first three collector rows. Each mast carried three 3D
sonic anemometers at 3.5 m, 5 m, and 7 m above ground, while inclinometers measured
collector tilt, corresponding to trough top heights between 3.8 m and 5.5 m. The
analysis focuses on westerly, near-perpendicular inflow cases under stationary
conditions. The results show that the collectors do not produce a simple sheltering
effect. The first row reduces the mean wind speed and horizontal turbulence below
5 m, with reductions in the horizontal velocity standard deviation reaching 25%.
In contrast, the vertical velocity standard deviation increases downstream of all
trough rows, with amplification reaching 100%. The inflow is already non-Gaussian,
and the first rows further modify the velocity distributions without necessarily
making the fluctuations more Gaussian. These findings indicate that the wake is
three-dimensional and that dynamic wind loading may vary between rows.
| Topic Area | Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics |
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