Numerical investigations of turbulent natural convection heat transfer within a wind turbine nacelle operating in hot climate

The Algerian Sahara is characterized by severe climate conditions where temperature reaches high levels with large variations during day and season. Nacelles of wind turbines operating in this region are subjected to the overheating problem, in particular the electromechanical components becoming less effective as they heat up during use. In order to maintain an appropriate temperature of the air within the nacelle, an active cooling system has to be set up to reject the generated heat towards the external environment and the resulting heat transfer must be properly controlled. The present work investigates numerically the impact of turbulent natural convection heat transfer on the nacelle thermal behavior. Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes and energy equations have been considered. ANSYS FLUENT code has been employed to solve the resulting mathematical model. Temperature and velocity profiles within the 2D and 3D-configurations of the nacelle have been presented and discussed. Variations of the average temperature inside the nacelle and the required cooling capacity are determined and thoroughly discussed.