[mrenergy]

Hi OpenFOAMers , it is my first post in this forum
I used FLUENT and ICEM in my MSc to simulate the flow around airfoils,
now, I am in my PhD, working on Wind Farm Layout Optimization, I want to simulate the vertical wind speed profile in the Atmospheric BL considering the topology of the farm site, regardless the presence of the turbines,

do you see guys that OpenFOAM can handle this large scale problem better that FLUENT?

does anybody has an experience in both FLUENT and OpenFOAM, or has a fair comparison ?

do you suggest me to start learning OpenFOAM or to use my moderate experience with FLUENT ?

any contribution will be deeply appreciated ...
thanks for reading,
Mamdouh

[Bernhard]

Well, there is no definite answer. There are a few things to consider

- Does your department have access to Fluent licenses (if so, how many?)
- Are you planning to do large parallel simulation? (this related to the previous one)
- How experiences are your direct colleagues with Fluent or OpenFOAM?
- Are you planning to do implementations in your model?

[mrenergy]

Thanks a lot, Bernhard, for your professional reply,

Well, there is no definite answer. There are a few things to consider
I expected that

- Does your department have access to Fluent licenses (if so, how many?)
YES,
- Are you planning to do large parallel simulation? (this related to the previous one)
NO, just I need the initial vertical wind speed profile at the farm site, based on the topology and terrains, to be used in power calculations,

- How experiences are your direct colleagues with Fluent or OpenFOAM?
most of us are FLUENT users, however, there are few OpenFOAMers,

- Are you planning to do implementations in your model?
NO,

I expect that you will direct me to FLUENT, am I right?

Best Regards,
Mamdouh

[Bernhard]

Originally Posted by mrenergy

I expect that you will direct me to FLUENT, am I right?

No, this is up to you to conclude, I just shared some issues that one should consider.

[olivierG]

hello,

Since you are doing a PhD, you need to consider OpenFoam.
- If CFD is only a tools for your PhD, and you will never use CFD after, then the easiest way is certainly to use Fluent.
- If CFD are part of your thesis, you will learn far more things with OpenFoam, even if need to use Fluent afterwards.

regards,
Olivier

[elvis]

Originally Posted by mrenergy

Are you planning to do large parallel simulation? (this related to the previous one)
NO, just I need the initial vertical wind speed profile at the farm site, based on the topology and terrains, to be used in power calculations,

There was "First Symposium on OpenFOAM in Wind Energy " unfortunatly the presentations are not online available anymore!

[mrenergy]

thank you, Olivier, for your contribution,
NO, CFD isn't a part of my thesis, I just want to use a more realistic vertical wind speed profile than the classical logarithmic or power law ones,
I spent a lot of time/effort with CFD in my MSc, I think it is enough

Regards,
Mamdouh

[mrenergy]

thanks, Elvis, for the topic,
I will continue searching for the WindPower/OpenFOAM application to catch any of these publications

Regards,
Mamdouh