National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology is conducting research on plasma flow control technology to enhance wind turbine power generation efficiency and reduce fluctuating blade loads. In this study, a field experiment was carried out using a full-scale horizontal-axis wind turbine with a rated power output of 300 kW to evaluate the impact of plasma flow control on turbine performance. The results confirmed that its application led to improving and stabilizing turbine rotor speed. To investigate the underlying aerodynamic mechanisms, wind tunnel tests were conducted to examine the effects of plasma flow control on the airfoil's aerodynamic characteristics and surface pressure distribution adopted for the actual turbine. The improvement in turbine performance observed with plasma flow control in the full-scale wind turbine was attributed to the suppression of leading-edge stall by plasma actuation. A comparison of two electrode installation methods showed that, for retrofitting thick plasma actuators under trailing-edge stall conditions, proper electrode thickness design is crucial for enhancing lift coefficient.
Kubo et al. (Wed,) studied this question.