The CFD Investigation Of Natural Convection Within A Wind Turbine Nacelle

China has a vast area, there are plenty of high-quality wind energy resources in three northern regions and south-east coastal region. However, construction of wind farms and operation of wind turbines are influenced by local climate, especially very high or very low environment temperature, which threatens the safety and stable operation of wind turbines. Therefore, study of the temperature field, nature convection process inner a nacelle and how temperature and flow field will be influenced by location of cold and heat sources is very important.In order to carry out a reasonable analysis of this issue with credible numerical methods, cases similar to the temperature field inside the nacelle is selected, with experimental results to verify numerical methods. The simplified cases include two-dimensional cavity and three-dimensional air-conditioned room. Numerical model of the simplified cabin is built, including ambient temperature and the heat inside the cabin, and change of human body position. Simulation results show that the average temperature inside the nacelle will change linearly with environmental temperature. How uniform the temperature field is will be influenced by position of heating source. Numerical investigation is carried out for inner space of nacelle of a 2.5MW wind turbine. The shape and internal structure of the nacelle are very complex, Geographical simplification is necessary at first step. Temperature and flow field inner the nacelle are calculated and analyzed, the results and conclusion could be used as reference for design of wind turbine nacelle.