The 15th International Conference on Wind Engineering

Beijing, China; September 1-6, 2019

A Preliminary Assessment of Potential Wind Power

Utilization in Realistic High-rise Urban Areas
Yu-Hsuan Juan a,b, Wan-Yi Chen b, Chih-Yung Wen a*, An-Shik Yang b
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,
Kowloon, Hong Kong
b
Department of Energy and Refrigerating Air-Conditioning Engineering, National
Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan

ABSTRACT: This study explores potential wind power energy by conducting the macro-
siting investigation around the objective buildings to appraise the suggested position and
suggested height for mounting micro-wind turbines in realistic high-rise urban areas. Af-
terwards, at the micro-siting stage, we analyze the CFD results to determine the potential
mounting areas for turbine installation. IEC Standard 61400-2 is implemented to exclude
those possible mounting sites having a wind turbulence intensity level greater than 18%,
indicating the inappropriate sites for installing micro-turbines. After properly screening
the selected sites by the criteria of the lowest mounting height and the highest power den-
sity, we can conclude the final locations to install the micro-turbines.

KEYWORDS: Urban wind energy; high rise urban areas; CFD; installing micro-turbines

1 INTRODUCTION
Recently, the wind power has become one of the most accessible resources among re-
newable energy alternatives in high-rise and high-density urban areas. Incorporating
wind turbines into the building design are stepping into our lives. Nonetheless, the high-
rise buildings are subject to the significant interaction with the wind power resource. In
high-density urban areas, the high-rise buildings may result in an insufficiency of air ven-
tilation, since the wind can be blocked by terrain structures along the coastal line or
mountains. The number of high-rise buildings has continually increased in recent years.
Those buildings can also impede the flowing of fresh air, which is vital for ventilation
and pollutant dispersal in street canyons [1-2]. Clusters of buildings can obstruct air flow
into the street pass ways and thereby reduce air flow velocity. After determining the suit-
able positions with a stable wind speed supplied, the capacity analysis of wind power
may ensure the best capture of the wind energy for popularization. This paper reports the
results of a case study for estimating the wind power potential between the high-rise
buildings in Hong Kong.
In this study, we take the predicted power density and turbulence intensity into ac-
count for wind resource assessment to identify potential mounting sites of micro-turbines
and estimate the average wind power production. According to the International Electro-
technical Commission (IEC) Standard 61400-2, small wind turbines should not be ex-
posed to the winds with a turbulence intensity greater than 16–18% [3]. In addition,
based on the European Wind Turbine Standards II, the fatigue loads of vertical axis wind
turbines (VAWT) have to be re-evaluated with the actual conditions for turbulence inten-
sity higher than 15%. Hence, a turbulence intensity of 18% is used in this study as the
maximum allowable value in the selection of prospective mounting sites of micro-
turbines. On the other hand, the wind power density, P= 0.5ρv3, can be used to evaluate
the wind power potential, where, P is the wind power per unit area perpendicular to the
wind direction (W/m2), ρ is the air density 1.225 kg/m2, v is instantaneous air speed
(m/s). After properly screening the selected sites by the criteria of the lowest mounting
height and the highest power density, we can then determine the final locations to install
micro-turbines.

2 CFD SIMULATIONS
We have developed and improved a comprehensive 3D numerical model of buildings
to imitate complicated high-density urban architectural structures in Central, Hong Kong
for CFD simulations. The building model forms and the terrain of studied site were spe-
cifically created by reproducing their dimensions and curvature details from 3D contour
maps by the Survey and Mapping Office of the Lands Department. This study used the
CAD design software SolidWorks® to produce the city model consisting of the terrain,
high-rise building structures and surroundings.
In view of the complex flow phenomenon associated with the wind flow across the
urban areas of central, Hong Kong, the realizable k-ε model was adopted for turbulence
closure [4]. In our previous studies [2], we already explored the prediction capability (in
terms of the magnitude and direction of the wind velocity, and turbulence intensity) of
two other conventional high-Reynolds number k-ε turbulence models, i.e. standard k-ε
and RNG k-ε, for comparison purposes. After comparing the predictions with field meas-
urements via ultrasonic anemometers and thermal flow velocity probes to validate the
computational model, a well-known drawback of the standard k–ɛ model is its failure to
reproduce the separation and reverse flow at the roof top of a building as well as over-
prediction of the wake reattachment point. Additionally, the RNG k-ε model significantly
under-predicts the turbulence intensity. It was noted that the realizable k–ɛ model provid-
ed acceptably accurate predictions of the turbulence intensity. Generally, it can be ob-
served that the realizable k–ɛ model is more appropriate for the simulation of swirling
and separating flows than the standard and RNG k–ɛ models in resolving the wind field.
Thus, we used the realizable k-ε turbulence model in this research.
This study examined the details of local micrometeorological data of the wind flow as
well as the features of a complex urban topography to generate a computational model
and the boundary conditions accurately. The microclimate data of wind velocity and di-
rection from the local meteorological stations of Hong Kong Observatory, Central Pier
and Star Ferry, are continually collected and analyzed to dispose the boundary conditions
of final CFD simulations, In calculations, the arrangements of the computational domain,
mesh setup and CFD settings of parameters fully complied with the requirements of the
best practice guidelines. For the boundary conditions, a constant static pressure of 1 atm
was set at the exit of the calculation domain. The zero normal gradients of p, k and ε
were imposed on the solid surface, with log-law wall functions applied for the next-to-
surface grids of buildings. Besides, symmetric boundary conditions were employed to
prescribe the zero normal component of velocity and zero normal derivatives for all flow
variables at the top and lateral boundaries.The arrangements of the domain extent, grid
size and boundary conditions were in compliance with the requirements of the CFD
guidelines.

3 RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

To install the micro-wind turbine, for example, this study first examines the distribu-
tions of velocity magnitude contours over the horizontal section of z= 150m in the Cen-
tral, Hong Kong for the macro-siting survey. As presented in Fig. 1 depicting the macro-
siting analysis results, we choose several featured places of four high-rise buildings. It
The 15th International Conference on Wind Engineering
Beijing, China; September 1-6, 2019

can easily to perceive that the presence of high-rise buildings can make a noticeable
change in wind characteristics when the airflow passes through.
Four Seasons
Hotel

One International
Finance Centre

Gloucester
Tower

Edinburgh
Tower

Figure 1: Selected four high-rise buildings from the Central, Hong Kong

Figure 2 shows the predicted distributions of (a) wind power density and (b) turbulent
intensity contours over the horizontal section of z= 200m around the rooftop height of
the Four Seasons Hotel and One International Finance Centre for turbine installation. The
wind speed over the roof generally grows with the increasing distance between upstream
buildings because of the concentration effect of downstream buildings. To make a com-
parison of the energy yields on the windward side with those in the wake region (Fig.
2(a)), it is obvious that the situations without blockage of upstream buildings can lead to
higher values of velocity and power density. We also identify the site between upstream
building passage under the rooftop as the potential location to install wind turbines for
operation and maintenance of wind power management. Otherwise, the power density in
the wake of wind field cannot exceed 200 W/m2. Figure 2(b) shows the predicted turbu-
lence intensity contours in the representative horizontal sections of z= 200m in winter.
The turbulence intensity amid high-rise buildings is less than that in the wake area of
buildings. The influence of the corner tends to speed up the wind flow with reduced tur-
bulence intensities along the main road.

Gloucester
Tower

Edinburgh
Tower
Figure 2: Predicted distributions of (a) wind power density and (b) turbulent intensity contours over the
horizontal section of z= 200m around the rooftop height of the Four Seasons Hotel and One In-
ternational Finance Centre

Figure 3(a) illustrates the predicted power density contours in the representative hori-
zontal sections of z= 150m in winter. Due to low wind speeds, the power density of sub-
ject buildings is lower than 200 W/m2. However, we can observe more wind power gen-
eration occurred at the locations around the corners of buildings. Fig. 3(b) illustrates the
spatial distributions of turbulence intensity contours in the representative horizontal sec-
tions of z = 150 m in winter. Since the turbulence intensity of the buildings nearby Cen-
tral Building is about 30%, which is higher than 18%, it is surely inappropriate to be de-
termined as the mounting sites of the micro-wind turbines. Hence, none of the marked
places can be the potential locations for wind power generation. This building arrange-
ment further incorporates the Venturi effect into upstream buildings with the building
orientation angle of diverging passageway. It also can be seen that the turbulence intensi-
ty exceeds the maximum allowable 18% (recommended by the IEC standard), indicating
that it is not an acceptable area.

One International
Finance Centre

Four Seasons
Hotel

Figure 3: Predicted distributions of (a) wind power density and (b) turbulent intensity contours over the
horizontal section of z= 200m around the rooftop height of the Gloucester Tower and the Edin-
burgh Tower

Hence, we can locate the possible positions for installing the wind turbine in the areas
between the rooftop height of the Four Seasons Hotel and One International Finance
Centre around the cross sections of z= 200m. This study helps to formulate the maximum
use of the urban wind energy in Hong Kong. The subsequent findings will be beneficial
to the entire sustainable environment.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study represents part of the results obtained under the support of Environment and Conservation Fund, Hong
Kong, ECF 51/2016.

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