IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v256y2026ipbs0960148125016970.html

A numerical study of horizonal axis wind turbine blade Contamination: Aerodynamic and sustainable impacts

Author

Listed:
  • Chauhan, Pratham
  • Ja'fari, Mohammad
  • Jaworski, Artur J.

Abstract

Wind turbine blade contamination, particularly on the suction side, can significantly degrade aerodynamic performance and reduce output power, making it essential to understand its effects for efficient wind energy generation. This study investigates the influence of varying contamination extents on the aerodynamic performance of horizontal-axis wind turbine blades and quantifies the resulting environmental and economic impacts. To analyse these effects, computational fluid dynamics simulations were conducted at two Reynolds numbers under both clean and contaminated blade conditions. This was followed by a blade element momentum analysis to assess annual energy production. The results show that contamination increases drag, reduces lift, and shifts the transition onset upstream, thereby decreasing aerodynamic efficiency. The blade element momentum analysis confirms that greater contamination extent up to 10 % reduces annual energy production, contributing to higher carbon emissions and economic losses exceeding 7 % relative to the minimum contamination extent.

Suggested Citation

  • Chauhan, Pratham & Ja'fari, Mohammad & Jaworski, Artur J., 2026. "A numerical study of horizonal axis wind turbine blade Contamination: Aerodynamic and sustainable impacts," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(PB).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:256:y:2026:i:pb:s0960148125016970
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2025.124033
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148125016970
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2025.124033?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Liu, Songyue & Li, Qiusheng & Lu, Bin & He, Junyi, 2024. "Analysis of NREL-5MW wind turbine wake under varied incoming turbulence conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    2. Moon, Hyeongi & Jeong, Junhee & Park, Sunho & Ha, Kwangtae & Jeong, Jae-Ho, 2023. "Numerical and experimental validation of vortex generator effect on power performance improvement in MW-class wind turbine blade," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 443-454.
    3. Sagol, Ece & Reggio, Marcelo & Ilinca, Adrian, 2013. "Issues concerning roughness on wind turbine blades," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 514-525.
    4. Bagheri Nia, Mohammadsaeid & Edalat, Pedram, 2025. "Strategic decision-making in offshore oil and gas platform-to-wind turbine conversion: An integrated analysis of structural integrity into retrofit lifecycle costs and climate change impacts," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 389(C).
    5. Nugent, Daniel & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2014. "Assessing the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from solar PV and wind energy: A critical meta-survey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 229-244.
    6. Han, Woobeom & Kim, Jonghwa & Kim, Bumsuk, 2018. "Effects of contamination and erosion at the leading edge of blade tip airfoils on the annual energy production of wind turbines," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 817-823.
    7. Özkan, Musa & Erkan, Onur, 2022. "Control of a boundary layer over a wind turbine blade using distributed passive roughness," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 421-429.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Eleni Douvi & Dimitra Douvi, 2023. "Aerodynamic Characteristics of Wind Turbines Operating under Hazard Environmental Conditions: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-43, November.
    2. Herring, Robbie & Dyer, Kirsten & Martin, Ffion & Ward, Carwyn, 2019. "The increasing importance of leading edge erosion and a review of existing protection solutions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    3. Yang, Muchen & Xiao, Zhixiang, 2019. "Distributed roughness induced transition on wind-turbine airfoils simulated by four-equation k-ω-γ-Ar transition model," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 1166-1177.
    4. Ge, Mingwei & Sun, Haitao & Meng, Hang & Li, Xintao, 2024. "An improved B-L model for dynamic stall prediction of rough-surface airfoils," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    5. Pugh, K. & Nash, J.W. & Reaburn, G. & Stack, M.M., 2021. "On analytical tools for assessing the raindrop erosion of wind turbine blades," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    6. de Oliveira Nogueira, Tiago & Palacio, Gilderlânio Barbosa Alves & Braga, Fabrício Damasceno & Maia, Pedro Paulo Nunes & de Moura, Elineudo Pinho & de Andrade, Carla Freitas & Rocha, Paulo Alexandre C, 2022. "Imbalance classification in a scaled-down wind turbine using radial basis function kernel and support vector machines," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(PC).
    7. Dollinger, Christoph & Balaresque, Nicholas & Gaudern, Nicholas & Gleichauf, Daniel & Sorg, Michael & Fischer, Andreas, 2019. "IR thermographic flow visualization for the quantification of boundary layer flow disturbances due to the leading edge condition," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 709-721.
    8. Rajanna, S. & Saini, R.P., 2016. "Modeling of integrated renewable energy system for electrification of a remote area in India," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 175-187.
    9. Emblemsvåg, Jan, 2022. "Wind energy is not sustainable when balanced by fossil energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    10. Kumar, Indraneel & Tyner, Wallace E. & Sinha, Kumares C., 2016. "Input–output life cycle environmental assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from utility scale wind energy in the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 294-301.
    11. Zhang, Zumeng & Ding, Liping & Wang, Chaofan & Dai, Qiyao & Shi, Yin & Zhao, Yujia & Zhu, Yuxuan, 2022. "Do operation and maintenance contracts help photovoltaic poverty alleviation power stations perform better?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    12. Liang, Yushi & Wu, Chunbing & Ji, Xiaodong & Zhang, Mulan & Li, Yiran & He, Jianjun & Qin, Zhiheng, 2022. "Estimation of the influences of spatiotemporal variations in air density on wind energy assessment in China based on deep neural network," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PC).
    13. Deshun Li & Ting He & Qing Wang, 2023. "Experimental Research on the Effect of Particle Parameters on Dynamic Stall Characteristics of the Wind Turbine Airfoil," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-15, February.
    14. Hasager, C. & Vejen, F. & Bech, J.I. & Skrzypiński, W.R. & Tilg, A.-M. & Nielsen, M., 2020. "Assessment of the rain and wind climate with focus on wind turbine blade leading edge erosion rate and expected lifetime in Danish Seas," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 91-102.
    15. Dixon, Christopher & Reynolds, Steve & Rodley, David, 2016. "Micro/small wind turbine power control for electrolysis applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(P1), pages 182-192.
    16. Piotr Olczak & Małgorzata Olek & Dominika Matuszewska & Artur Dyczko & Tomasz Mania, 2021. "Monofacial and Bifacial Micro PV Installation as Element of Energy Transition—The Case of Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-22, January.
    17. Qi, Xiaoyan & Yao, Xilong & Guo, Pibin & Han, Yunfei & Liu, Lin, 2024. "Applying life cycle assessment to investigate the environmental impacts of a PV–CSP hybrid system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    18. Mishnaevsky, Leon & Hasager, Charlotte Bay & Bak, Christian & Tilg, Anna-Maria & Bech, Jakob I. & Doagou Rad, Saeed & Fæster, Søren, 2021. "Leading edge erosion of wind turbine blades: Understanding, prevention and protection," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 953-969.
    19. Lu, Qing & Yu, Hao & Zhao, Kangli & Leng, Yajun & Hou, Jianchao & Xie, Pinjie, 2019. "Residential demand response considering distributed PV consumption: A model based on China's PV policy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 443-456.
    20. Bonou, Alexandra & Laurent, Alexis & Olsen, Stig I., 2016. "Life cycle assessment of onshore and offshore wind energy-from theory to application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 327-337.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:256:y:2026:i:pb:s0960148125016970. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.