Numerical Simulation of the Lightning Leader Development and Upward Leader Initiation for Rotating Wind Turbine

Abstract

Lightning accidents seriously threaten safe operation of wind turbines because the influence mechanisms of wind turbine rotation on corona and upward leader initiation are, so far, not clear. A three-dimensional stochastic evolution model of the lightning downward leader was established by combining the dielectric breakdown model and the lightning current shunt method, according to which the charge density distribution of leader branches was determined. The corona and leader initiation mechanisms of rotating wind turbine were studied based on the 3D drift and diffusion model of ion flow in the neighboring space of a rotating wind turbine. The results show that due to blade rotation, the charged particles are unevenly distributed near the blade tip and the contours are in a strip-like shape. As the rotating speed increases, the blade tip is more susceptible to initiating corona discharge. Combining the three-dimensional stochastic development model of the lightning downward leader and ion distribution model near a rotating wind turbine, the initiation direction of the upward leader was analyzed, and in 66% of cases, the initiation direction of the upward leader on the blade tip was on the back side of the blade rotation.