Received: 11 December 2018 Revised: 10 June 2019 Accepted: 16 June 2019

DOI: 10.1002/ep.13296

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY

On the wind blade's surface roughness due to dust

accumulation and its impact on the wind turbine's
performance: A heuristic QBlade-based modeling assessment

Kalliopi Papadopoulou1 | Christos Alasis2 | George A. Xydis3

1
School of Pure and Applied Sciences, Open
University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
2
Soft Energy Applications & Environmental
Protection Lab, Piraeus University of Applied
Sciences, Athens, Greece
3
Department of Business Development and
Technology, Aarhus University, Herning,
Denmark
Correspondence
George A. Xydis, Department of Business
Development and Technology, Aarhus
University, Birk 9 Centerpark 15, 7400
Herning, Denmark.
Email: gxydis@gmail.com, gxydis@btech.au.dk
Abstract
The development of wind projects requires good knowledge of energy production
that depends on the rotor aerodynamics and its potential of making optimal use of
wind power. It has been noted that dust accumulation across the rotor's blade sur-
faces can seriously affect the overall wind farm (WF) performance and lead to severe
energy losses. In the present work, surface roughness that occurs on the wind blade
surfaces due to dust accumulation and its possible effect on wind turbine's perfor-
mance, are the subjects studied. For this purpose, a heuristic modeling assessment
was conducted by means of the widely used open source tool QBlade. All available
data, pertain to dust accumulation in four different areas, at which, the evolution of
the phenomenon and its effect on the aerodynamic performance regarding energy
production were studied. It was revealed that for low wind speeds (<10 m/s) no sig-
nificant effect on the aerodynamic power was observed. This has led all manufac-
turers, decision makers, and wind farm operators to comprehend phenomena
influencing the wind turbine's performance, which were neglected so far.

KEYWORDS
dust accumulation, QBlade, surface roughness, wind turbine

1 | I N T RO D UC T I O N The main objective of this work was to study the effect of

Renewable energy technologies are playing perhaps the most cru-
cial and much debated role into the modern energy system. By
the end of 2018, the total global capacity of wind power reached
almost 600 GW.1 However, a significant problem wind turbines
face are the contamination agents. Usually dust disposal at wind
turbine blades, dirt, ice, and some insects accumulate on the
blades and generate roughness to varying degrees. This is more
profoundly important for the modern and widely used horizontal
axis wind turbines, and not so much for the vertical axis wind
turbines. These roughness elements, depending on their size,
location, and density disturb the flow and reduce the power pro-
duced by the turbine.
dust transport and disposal on wind turbines electricity produc-
tion (wind blades). In order to evaluate this phenomenon, a stan-
dard NACA 5518 airfoil was used for that purpose in QBlade
software tool. The study consists of a series of simulations for
three different sites in Greece and one in Cyprus. In Greece,
there is a high dust concentration when transported often from
Sahara, and that fact happens several times throughout the year.
It is clear that wind farms installed in Sahara and North African
countries confront this problem a lot more often, than in South-
ern Europe, such as Greece or Cyprus that this study is focused
on. For instance, for a wind turbine installed in Hurghada in
Egypt, for an operational time with dust accumulation of
9 months, the mean power loss can be more that 50%.2,3 It is

1 of 11 © 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ep Environ Prog Sustainable Energy. 2020;39:e13296.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ep.13296
PAPADOPOULOU ET AL. 2 of 11

proven that surface roughness, Reynolds number, lift, and drag

coefficients are interacting with each other. Main results are lim-
ited, to prove that rotor's blade surface roughness can affect the
overall energy performance, and to evaluate the power output
and the power losses for selected conditions of wind speed and
orientation. Data on dust concentration were derived from
SKIRON model of the University of Athens.4 The SKIRON model
was developed initially at the University of Athens—currently
operated from there—and according its operational setup based
on atmospheric, terrain and sea-surface (such as topography, veg-
etation, and soil texture) data can provide dust concentration near
the ground, dust load, dry and wet deposition of aerosols, and
dust sources among other output fields.
The effect of dust accumulated on the blades surface is
dependent each time on the specifications of the turbine, speed,
the altitude of the nacelle from the ground and the type of
power regulation (whether it is pitch or stall). The height of
nacelle and rotor in pitch-regulated turbines are higher than stall- F I G U R E 1 The areas for which data were derived from SKIRON
regulated; the impact of the dust accumulation on the perfor- model [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
mance of pitch-regulated wind turbine is usually lower than the
stall-regulated.5 The blade surface roughness is site (dust) 2 | METHODOLOGY
depended, mainly based on the climate parameters, such as wind
speed, number of sandy storms in each month, sand build-up, 2.1 | Data collection and the SKIRON model
insects and sand grains, wind direction, relative humidity, blade
Data collected from SKIRON model are presented in this section and
specifications, rainfall, and salt crust.6 Dust concentration, dirt,
the relevant graphs and tables with the hourly average dust concen-
sand, ice, and insects can be reduced with systematic mainte-
tration per month for the cities of Sitia, Thiva, Alexandroupoli in
nance and cleaning work of the WF. It is an extra cost that must
Greece, and Lemesos (Limassol), in Cyprus (Figure 1) are presented.
be taken into consideration from the beginning of the construc-
Dust accumulation increases with moving towards the Southern
tion of the wind farm for the independent power producer.7 The
and Eastern parts of Greece and towards Cyprus, as it can be noted
blade surface roughness reduces the effectiveness of the airfoil
from the dust accumulation data in the two cities located South and
to extract the useful power from wind and also leads to decreas-
East of the wider region, Limassol and Sitia. Moreover, during August
ing the power output of turbines. The extent to which roughness
and September, the dust accumulation is low (practically zero) due to
has an impact on airfoil performance is dependent on the nature
the summer winds prevailing in the area (etesian winds) (Figure 2). It is
of the roughness, relative size to the boundary layer thickness,
obvious that in Limassol, Cyprus, the dust accumulation is larger than
the Reynolds number, and the airfoil type.8,9 Ren and Ou10 stud-
in any area in Greece, as mentioned above, due to the proximity to
ied the aerodynamic behavior of the blade, under smooth and
the MENA region.
rough surface conditions when running via an uncompressed
cohesive flow.
There is a number of software tools that have been utilized in
2.2 | QBlade and work plan
relation to advanced wind studies, such the WAsP software tool for
the development of various atlases,11,12 or other complex QBlade's development initiated in 2009 as a part of the PhD disserta-
topics.13-16 However, not much have been done with the use of tion of George Pechlivanoglou at the HFI of TU Berlin.19 The motiva-
QBlade. Koç et al17 have compared CFD and QBlade results on small tion was to create a single tool that comprises all functionalities
wind turbines, while Marten et al18 have validated the new needed for aerodynamic wind turbine design and simulation without
aerolastic design code of the tool. On the dust accumulation how- the need to import, convert, or process data from any other source.
ever, QBlade tool has not yet been tried. This work is focusing on In the flow chart (Figure 3), the interaction of design, the tool, and
that aiming at proving—verifying the theory using real life data—that the datasets have been described. The user selects monthly data and
the levels of aerodynamic degradation are related to dust accumula- the wind turbine roughness. The model guides the user to the CL and
tion in wind blade surfaces. The goal was to identify under which CD for the specific month generating forecasting profiles. The user
wind speed, dust accumulation can be tolerable, without having a inserts the characteristics of the wind turbine blades and the expected
significant impact in power production. dust concentration. Then, the simulation is generating the results. The
3 of 11 PAPADOPOULOU ET AL.

FIGURE 2 Average hourly and yearly dust accumulation throughout the year 20144 [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

simulation starts by initializing the blade model by designing it in

QBlade.
There is no much information related to the geometry of the parti-
cles of dust. An uneven layer of dust it is assumed that it is created on
the blade surface. Dust particles are increasing surface roughness.
The increase in surface roughness is processed in the computational
part by reducing the Reynolds number (Re). Re is a dimensionless num-
ber that represents air's behavior, based on the ratio of inertial forces
to viscous forces. The variation of Reynolds number to simulate
soiling impact could be initially seen as an inaccurate way to be taken
into account regarding impact, since Re is a local value calculated
depending on the turbine rotor speed, radial position, axial induction,
inflow velocity, and atmospheric conditions. However, based on trial
and error, the variation of Reynolds number to simulate soiling impact
FIGURE 3 Flowchart illustrating the methodology followed was found to be necessary.
PAPADOPOULOU ET AL. 4 of 11

Based on the available data set (μgr of dust per m2 of surface), the  
x − 2:5
average height, ha, of the uneven accumulation layer is estimated. This Cf = 2:87 + 1:58
log ð2Þ
εs
height is representative of the roughness height, k. Based on Adams
et al20 approach, the equivalent sand-grain roughness, εs, is estimated
and since Cf is inversely related to Re, as roughness is increasing, Re is
as in Equation (1).
decreasing. The aerodynamic behavior of airfoil has been measured
and the relation between roughness, efficiency results, and the Reyn-
εs = 5:863
k ð1Þ
olds number has been associated proving that drag gets reduced while
the maximum lift is increased.22 It is also known that higher Reynolds
The most commonly used expression for roughness model which
numbers have, in general for thin airfoils, a positive effect on the
applies to sand-grain roughness, at a point x, according to
blade's roughness sensitivity23 and this is where this study comes to
Schlichting21 is:
link it with dust accumulation. It is also proven that the curve of lift-
drag coefficients reveals that the roughness is an important influenc-

FIGURE 4 NACA 5518 in QBlade horizontal blade design working environment [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

F I G U R E 5 Analysis for various Re numbers of Cl/Cd (a), L/D (b), α/position (c), and Cp/TSR (d) [Color figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]
5 of 11
F I G U R E 6 Limassol: Cl/Cd (a), Cp/TSR and aerodynamic power to wind speed (b) for all months [Color figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]
ing factor upon the lift coefficient at attack angle of approximately
10 , where usually lift coefficient will descend and drag coefficient
will ascend because of the rough leading edge at small angles of attack
24
(AoA or Alpha).
Therefore, the work plan included the correlation of dust with
a Reynolds number, linking real data to QBlade input data, then
choose a suitable airfoil, configuration and aerodynamic behavior
analysis, and subsequently rotor design and simulation. NACA
5518 was used in this case. According to Ram et al,25,26 NACA
designed airfoils are considered suitable for operating in a high-
intensity wind environment, small AoA, interference factor (axial
induction factor), α. For the study, a NACA 5518 was selected
(Figure 4).
The study was focused on running simulations with selected Re
numbers to determine the Cl, Cd, Cp, α and investigate possible aero-
dynamic degradation in terms of aerodynamic power P as a function
of wind speed V (in each one of the four areas), where Cl, Cd, Cp are
the lift, drag, and power coefficients respectively. The data used as
PAPADOPOULOU ET AL.
input to QBlade were: various Re numbers, Mach number (constant
and equal to 0.05), flow simulations (with an AoA from −5 to 25 and
a 1 step), and nondimensional simulations, with λ from 1 to 10 (and a
0.5 step), kinematic viscosity, v, equal to 1.647
10−5 m2s and fluid
density pρ, equal to 1.225 kGm3. The wind speed, V, for all cases was
always between 3 and 25 m/s, the tilt angle constant and equal to 5 ,
and the angular rotor speed, ω, 20–50 rpm.
3 | RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
After extensive simulations with the tool, qualitative and quantitative
results are presented showing graphically the results of Cl/Cd, of Cp, of
the L/D (Lift-to-Drag) ratio, of α, focusing on the potential aerody-
namic degradation and the attributable aerodynamic power P at the
end of each monitoring period.
Figure 5 presents the generic analysis for all Cl/Cd (a), L/D (b),
α/position (c), Cp/TSR (d), where TSR is the tip-speed ratio. At low Re
PAPADOPOULOU ET AL.
F I G U R E 7 Sitia: Cl/Cd (a), Cp/TSR and aerodynamic power to wind speed (b) for all months [Color figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]
numbers (approx. at 100,000, which means high dust accumula-
tion)27 the Cl/Cd (Figure 5a) and the L/D (Figure 5b) ratios are also at
very low levels, which has an impact on the power coefficient Cp
(Figure 5d). As it has already been mentioned, the axial induction
factor, α, represents the wind resource exploitation levels on the
blade.28 According to theory the largest part of the energy produced
is taking place from the middle until the tip of the blade
(Figure 5c).
Four graphs will follow (Figures 6–9) presenting the aerodynamic
parameters and power results for each one of the four cities for
selected wind speeds, V, and estimated power losses.
Figure 6 presents the results for Limassol in Cyprus, Figure 7
for Sitia, Figure 8 for Thiva, and Figure 9 for Alexandroupoli. It
was proven that for AoA up to 10 , January showed significantly
higher Cl/Cd results and December presented the lowest. Beyond
these AoA (and below 0), in every month the same behavior was
noticed. Practically the same patent was followed for the ratio
Cp/TSR.
6 of 11
It can be seen that the estimated losses reach—in both tested
pitch angles—their peak approximately at 15 m/s and then until the
speed of 25 m/s they decrease again (Table 1).
In Table 2, the maximum and minimum aerodynamic power for
selected wind speed speeds, at 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 m/s (the latter is
the speed, in which most wind turbines brake or operate in an fully
29
supervised manner) at pitch angles at 0 and 5 for the city of Sitia.
The estimation of power losses is also shown. Similarly to Limassol,
Sitia (Table 3) and Alexandroupoli (Table 4), present their peak in esti-
mated losses at approximately at 15-20 m/s and then until 25 m/s
they decrease again.
For Sitia, for AoA between 0 and 10 , January showed the highest
Cl/Cd results and December the lowest. The same happened for the
ratio Cp/TSR.
It was also proven for Thiva that for AoA between 5 and 7 , so for
a shorter opening, January showed the highest Cl/Cd results and
December the lowest. Beyond these AoA (before and after), in every
month the same behavior was observed.
7 of 11
F I G U R E 8 Thiva: Cl/Cd (a), Cp/TSR and aerodynamic power to wind speed (b) for all months [Color figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]
It was proven for Alexandoupoli that for AoA between 0 and
10 , January showed the highest cl/cd results and December the
lowest. Beyond these AoA (before and after), in every month the
same behavior was observed. While for the other three cities a
difference in aerodynamic power was observed for January com-
pared to the other months, for Alexandroupoli, this small differ-
ence is not present.
In Figure 10 and Table 5, the aerodynamic losses are presented in
each one of the four cities. By increasing the Re number, an increase of
the max of the Cl coefficient and a decrease of the min value of the Cd
coefficient is noted. As the AoA increases the ratio Cl/Cd increases up to
a max point and then asymptotically decreases (Figures 6a, 7a, 8a, 9a).
Based on the qualitative analysis, it is prominent that the reduc-
tion of the Re number, results in the reduction of the axial induction
coefficient, α, which directly means aerodynamic degradation.30,31
In most of the cases, the differences between values of the coeffi-
cients for each Re are smaller at AoAs from −5 to 12 . However, the
phenomenon becomes more profound when the AoA exceeds 12 . It
PAPADOPOULOU ET AL.
is well known that in order to increase the energy efficiency of the
blade the ratio L/D needs to be maximised.30 Therefore, the more the
ratio Cl/Cd decreases (by the dust accumulation which alters the Re
number) the less efficient the blade is. Based on the comparative anal-
ysis presented in Figure 10, there was no significant impact from dust
accumulation observed with speeds less than 9 m/s. Table 5 summa-
rizes the comparative results for the aerodynamic losses for various
wind speeds.
Based on the comparative figures (Figures 6–10) it is shown that:
• the graphs of Limassol, Thiva and Alexandroupolis follow the
same pattern while Sitia differs slightly for wind speeds
above 22 m/s
• the pattern of Thiva and Alexandroupolis are almost identical for
the months between February and October
• Limassol's graph curve is always lower than Sitia's wind speeds up
to 22 m/s
• all power curves are identical for wind speeds up to 9 m/s
PAPADOPOULOU ET AL. 8 of 11

F I G U R E 9 Alexandroupoli: Cl/Cd (a), Cp/TSR and aerodynamic power to wind speed (b) for all months [Color figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]

T A B L E 1 Limassol: Maximum and minimum aerodynamic power for selected wind speed speeds at pitch angles at 0 and 5 . Estimation of
power losses for a stall regulated turbine

Power (kW) Losses

Limassol Wind speed V (m/s) Max Month Min Month kW %

Pitch angle: 0 5 14.02 May 14.02 December 0.01 0.04
10 56.10 January 52.72 December 3.38 6.03
15 75.36 January 69.68 December 5.69 7.54
20 94.99 January 88.68 December 6.31 6.64
25 125.39 January 118.70 December 6.69 5.34

Pitch angle: 5 5 12.32 January 12.17 December 0.15 1.20
10 58.42 January 56.34 December 2.08 3.56
15 92.01 January 85.48 December 6.52 7.09
20 114.88 January 107.21 December 7.67 6.67
25 148.62 January 140.38 December 8.24 5.54
9 of 11 PAPADOPOULOU ET AL.

T A B L E 2 Sitia: Maximum and minimum aerodynamic power for selected wind speed speeds at pitch angles at 0 and 5 and estimation of
power losses

Power (kW) Losses

Sitia Wind speed V (m/s) Max Month Min Month kW %


Pitch angle: 0 5 14.01 March 13.99 June 0.02 0.16
10 58.55 January 55.07 December 3.48 5.95
15 86.62 January 78.48 March 8.13 9.4
20 102.46 January 88.37 March 14.09 13.75
25 113.51 January 94.97 March 18.54 16.33
Pitch angle: 5 5 12.34 January 12.20 December 0.14 1.13
10 59.32 January 57.29 December 2.03 3.42
15 97.17 January 89.42 December 7.75 7.98
20 124.86 January 110.91 March 13.95 11.17
25 139.60 January 119.62 March 19.98 14.31

T A B L E 3 Thiva: Maximum and minimum aerodynamic power for selected wind speed speeds at pitch angles at 0 and 5 and estimation of
power losses

Power (kW) Losses

Sitia Wind speed V (m/s) Max Month Min Month kW %


Pitch angle: 0 5 13.88 January 13.74 December 0.01 0.06
10 58.84 January 56.65 December 2.19 3.71
15 80.98 January 75.04 November 5.94 7.33
20 101.24 January 93.08 November 8.16 8.06
25 132.40 January 122.82 November 9.58 7.24
Pitch angle: 5 5 12.44 January 12.33 December 0.10 0.83
10 60.01 January 58.72 December 1.29 2.15
15 97.67 January 92.58 November 5.09 5.21
20 122.12 January 113.36 November 8.76 7.17
25 156.96 January 145.97 November 10.99 7.00

T A B L E 4 Alexandroupoli: Maximum and minimum aerodynamic power for selected wind speed speeds at pitch angles at 0 and 5 and
estimation of power losses

Power (kW) Losses

Alexandroupoli Wind speed V (m/s) Max Month Min Month kW %


Pitch angle: 0 5 13.92 January 12.32 December 0.09 0.65
10 59.24 January 58.34 December 3.27 5.52
15 79.94 January 91.76 December 4.77 5.97
20 98.08 January 114.64 December 3.28 3.34
25 128.20 January 148.38 December 2.99 2.33
Pitch angle: 5 5 12.46 January 12.33 December 0.14 1.15
10 60.30 January 58.72 December 1.96 3.25
15 97.72 January 92.58 December 5.96 6.10
20 119.47 January 113.36 December 4.83 4.04
25 152.56 January 145.97 December 4.18 2.74
PAPADOPOULOU ET AL. 10 of 11

FIGURE 10 Estimated aerodynamic power for wind speed V = 5, 10, 15, 20 m/s [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

T A B L E 5 Average aerodynamic losses, ΔP, for wind speed V= 5, 10 m/s no significant impact on the aerodynamic power was
10, 15, 20 m/s noticed, though above this speed the consequences are consider-

Aerodynamic losses ΔP (kW) able. The power losses in some cases reached even at 10%,
Wind speed which lead to the conclusion that the uncontrolled accumulation
V (m/s) Limassol Sitia Thiva Alexandroupoli
of dust could create large gaps in electricity generation of a
5 0.15 0.14 0.11 0.14 wind farm.
10 2.08 2.03 1.29 1.96
15 6.52 7.76 5.09 5.96
20 7.66 12.72 8.76 4.83 ACKNOWLEDG MENTS

Aerodynamic losses ΔP (%) The authors would like to thank the members of the regional weather
5 1.20 1.13 0.85 1.15 forecasting system SKIRON for providing the dust accumulation data
10 3.56 3.42 2.15 3.25 for each one of the four cities.
15 7.09 7.98 5.21 6.10
20 6.67 10.19 7.17 4.04
OR CID

George A. Xydis https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3662-1832

4 | CO NC LUSIO N

RE FE RE NCE S
In this work, a bibliographic (desk research) and a computational (via
QBlade tool) approach was followed in order to investigate the
impact of accumulated dust in the wind production. A case study
which included real data from three cities in Greece and one in
Cyprus did support the analysis and based on the simulations, the
levels of aerodynamic degradation were estimated. The accumula-
tion of dust on the surface of wind turbines results in energy losses.
In depth knowledge of the expected losses of a wind farm, it is
known that leads to more accurate and detailed technoeconomic
analyses.32,33 In wind farms, any reduction in energy yield threatens
the whole investment and has an impact on the operation of the
wind turbines.
The calculations verified the theory and proved the interac-
tion between surface roughness, Reynolds number, and the Lift-
Drag ratio. It was proven that for wind speeds lower than
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How to cite this article: Papadopoulou K, Alasis C, Xydis GA.
On the wind blade's surface roughness due to dust
accumulation and its impact on the wind turbine's
performance: A heuristic QBlade-based modeling assessment.
Environ Prog Sustainable Energy. 2020;39:e13296. https://doi.
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