Case Study: Korea Institute of Energy Research assesses high-rise wind turbine feasibility with Hexagon Cradle CFD

Assessing wind turbines in Korean skyscrapers with Cradle CFD

Researchers at the Korea Institute of Energy Research, or KIER, sought to assess the feasibility of integrating wind turbines into the Lotte World Tower, a new 555-meter skyscraper in Seoul, to generate renewable energy. The challenge was to perform a detailed wind resource assessment at such a great height in an inland city with complex urban wind patterns, where traditional in-situ measurements were impossible. To tackle this, they turned to computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software from the vendor, Hexagon.

Hexagon's Cradle CFD software, specifically the SC/Tetra solver, was used to create a massive 90-million-element model of the 6 km area around the tower. This solution simulated wind flow from 16 directions to map wind resources and predict turbine performance. The results definitively showed that, despite the building's height, the wind resource was too poor for economic power generation, with the best predicted capacity factor being only 7%. Consequently, the turbines were not installed. However, Hexagon's technology was crucial in establishing a powerful and validated assessment procedure, saving significant investment in an unviable project and providing valuable insights for future building-integrated wind turbine designs.

Korea Institute of Energy Research