Wind Turbine Micrositing: Comparison of Finite Difference Method and Computational Fluid Dynamics Samina Rajper 1 and Imran J. Amin 2 1 Department of Computing, SZABIST Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan 2 Department of Computing, SZABIST Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan Abstract For smooth and optimal operation of wind turbines the location of wind turbines in wind farm is critical. Parameters that need to be considered for micrositing of wind turbines are topographic effect and wind effect. The location under consideration for wind farm is Gharo, Sindh, Pakistan. Several techniques are being researched for finding the most optimal location for wind turbines. These techniques are based on linear and nonlinear mathematical models. In this paper wind pressure distribution and its effect on wind turbine on the wind farm are considered. This study is conducted to compare the mathematical model; Finite Difference Method with a computational fluid dynamics software results. Finally the results of two techniques are compared for micrositing of wind turbines and found that finite difference method is not applicable for wind turbine micrositing. Keywords: Wind farm, Finite Difference Method, Wind turbine micrositing, wind pressure, computational fluid dynamics. 1. Introduction Arrhenius gave an idea about a century ago that emission of carbon dioxide from the fossil fuels will be the reason of Earth warming [1]. At present, the globe is looking for the alternate solutions instead of expensive and polluted fossil fuel or any other medium that discharge CO2. Unfortunately, Pakistan depends upon fossil fuels for producing electricity, which is costly and polluted source of energy. However, fossil fuel is one of the major imports of Pakistan to meet the energy requirements of country, as 64.12% of country’s total electricity production is obtained using fossil fuels [2]. Wind energy is used as the main source of producing electricity in many countries, such as Germany, Spain, United States, China, India [3]. At present, Wind turbine technology is the most mature and pollution free renewable technology available [4, 5]; because wind exists everywhere on the earth and it has been used as a source of mechanical energy for many decades, furthermore there is a technological capacity also [5] .This study is conducted to optimize wind turbine micrositing. For this purpose, a research is being conducted to study wind pressure distribution and its effect on wind turbines, comparison between two techniques, i.e. computational fluid dynamics software VIZIFLOW 2.0 and discretized form of Laplace equation is made. The main objective of wind turbine micrositing is to gain the maximum result (net revenue) and to minimize the overall cost for energy. Systematical approach to wind turbine placement is a technical issue and was first been proposed by Moseti et al. and gradually worked and been improved by Grady et al.; genetic algorithm was used to find the optimal solution of the problem [6, 7]. Whereas, Computational fluid Dynamics techniques based on linear and nonlinear equations were used for the optimal placement of wind turbines in complex terrain [8]. The present study deals with the analysis of Gharo wind corridor which is the main site for installation of wind farm to meet the requirements of energy in Pakistan. Gharo, is a small town near the coast of Sindh, Pakistan. It is 1,046 Km long coastline, average wind speed is more than 7.4 m/s in Gharo and the estimated wind potential from this site is 50,000 MW [9, 10]. The site is shown in figure 1. 2. Methodology The methodology that is used to conduct this study is based on the comparison of two models to analyze the results of wind pressure distribution and its effects on the wind turbine on wind farm. The experiment Design can be viewed thoroughly using figure 2. The purpose of adopting this methodology is to study the two models and analyze the results of the proposed mathematical model that whether it can be applicable for the problem or not. Suppose the terrain is a square grid and is supposed to be IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, Vol. 9, Issue 1, No 1, January 2012 ISSN (Online): 1694-0814 www.IJCSI.org 247 Copyright (c) 2012 International Journal of Computer Science Issues. All Rights Reserved.