Model Rotor Experiments under Controlled Conditions (MEXICO)

MEXICO is funded by the European Commission. The aim of the project was defined as the creation of a well documented database of aerodynamic measurements, which are taken under controlled and hence known conditions, and which will be used to validate or improve calculational methods (BEM methods, free wake methods and CFD methods).
Thereto an extensive measurement program has been carried out on a model rotor in the largest European Wind Tunnel, the "German Dutch Wind Tunnel DNW", with a test cross section of 9.5 x 9.5 m. Measurements were taken of the pressure distributions at 5 positions along the blade, where Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements provided unique details of the flow upstream and downstream of the rotor.
The project started in January 2001 and ended in December 2006.

DNW wind tunnel, the Netherlands, in which the experiment has been performed.

ECN was the project co-ordinator and the partners were:

• Aeronautical Research Institute of Sweden, FFA (SE)
• Centre for Renewable Energy Systems, CRES (GR)
• Danish Technical University, DTU (DK)
• Delft University of Technology, DUT (NL)
• Israel Institute for Technology Technion (IL)
• National Aerospace Laboratory, NLR (NL)
• National Technical University of Athens, NTUA (GR)
• RISOE, National Laboratory (DK)
• Israel Institute for Technology Technion (IL)

The project was performed in close co-operation with NREL (USA), which performed similar measurements on a rotor in the NASA-AMES wind tunnel.

Movie: Wind turbine experiments MEXICO-project

Additional information can be found in the summary.

The project was finished ad December 31, 2006. It is worth nothing that analysis of the data is currently performed within IEA Task 29 "Mexnext" in which 16 institutes from 11 different countries participate, see www.mexnext.org. This site also lists the most important references under its "results/status" page.

Contact:
 
J.G. (Gerard) Schepers (schepers@remove-this-part-ecn.nl) 

Publications

Model Experiments in Controlled Conditions
Schepers, J.G.; Snel, H.
ECN-E--07-042