UCLan Wind Energy Engineering Research Group

Harnessing the energy from the wind

At UCLan we are committed to provide research and education excellence and knowledge transfer in wind energy engineering. This is achieved by our professional expertise, innovative technology and advanced facilities – and in close collaboration with our partners in higher education and industry worldwide.

UCLan aims to develop a research and education centre of excellence in wind energy engineering. Established in early 2008, UCLan's research into wind energy has experienced sustained growth.

People

Dr Xiongwei Liu, Reader and Director of Wind Energy Engineering Research Group
Professor Lik-Kwan Shark, Head of Applied Digital Signal and Image Processing Research Centre
Professor Ian Sherrington, Director of Jost Institute for Tribology
Dr Javad Yazdani, Senior Lecturer in Power Electronics and Power Communication
Dr Justin Whitty, Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering (Composites Structure Design)
Mr Tony Broad, Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering (Composites Manufacture)

Research

Wind turbine blade design
The research activities in this area focus on wind turbine blade aerofoil design and aerodynamics analysis, structural design and dynamics analysis, using both CFD and FEA modelling and analysis.

  
Wind turbine blade manufacture
The research activities in this area focus on vacuum infusion resin transfer molding (RTM) process.

Wind turbine 3D aerodynamics analysis
The research activities in this area aim to better understand the aerodynamic behaviours of the rotor, wind shear and turbulence, tower shadow and nacelle disturbance (for downwind), and yaw angles (away from the wind direction)  through 3D CFD modeling and analysis.

Wind turbine control
The research activities in this area investigate the control strategies and algorithms of wind turbine generator control and yaw control using computer simulation and lab facilities.

Wind turbine structural health monitoring
It is planned to investigate the wind turbine blade structural health monitoring using our field testing wind turbines.

Lubrication and wear of wind turbine bearings and gears
It is planned to investigate the lubrication and wear of wind turbine bearings and gears using our field testing wind turbines.

Smart applications of renewable energy
The research activities in this area explore the reliable solutions for the integration of different renewable sources and applications, so as to minimise the dependence of grid supply and fossil fuels, and at the same time, to reduce cost.

Facility

Wind turbine R&D lab
PC workstations with GH-Bladed, GH-WindFarmer, CATIA, ANSYS (inc Workbench), LS-DYNA, CFX and FLUENT, Matlab and Labview software packages.

Composites and manufacturing workshop
In Wharf Building, there is a dedicated composites and manufacturing workshop at UCLan.

20kW wind turbine generator dynamometer
The facility is under development and will be used to test wind turbine generators against their specifications and relevant standards, to test wind turbine generator controller and power electronics for grid connection. It will be also used for wind turbine controller and power electronics research and development.

10kW field testing research wind turbine
The facility is under development by working with industrial partners. The 10kW direct-driven variable-speed fixed-pitch wind turbine with synchronous permanent magnet generator will be used for R&D and T&L purposes.

UCLan Sport Arena wind monitoring mast
The wind mast aims to monitor the wind resources on the site so as to investigate the potentiality for a small wind farm development to power the Sports Arena.

5kW demonstration wind turbine at UCLan Westlakes Campus
The wind turbine is for demonstration purpose and will be used for R&D and T&L purposes as well.

Jost Institute for Tribology 
Applied Digital Signal and Image Processing Research Centre

Our services

Teaching and learning

Short courses in wind energy engineering

• Fundamentals of wind energy systems
• Small wind energy systems
• Modern wind turbine technologies
• Wind turbine aerodynamics
• Wind turbine blade design
• Wind turbine selection and performance analysis
• Wind turbine site-specific design and integration
• Wind turbine control
• Smart applications of small wind turbines

Research based postgraduate study:

• MSc and MPhil/PhD by research: wind energy system and wind energy engineering, innovative wind turbine technologies, renewable energy systems, energy storage.

Consultancy

• Site identification and wind resources assessment
• Wind resources monitoring
• Independent performance analysis of small wind turbine system
• Site-specific small wind turbine system design, integration and smart application
• Feasibility study of small wind farm

Knowledge transfer

• Small wind turbine system design
• Small wind turbine blade design and manufacture
• Small wind turbine control system design and development
• Small wind turbine field testing
• Smart solutions of small wind turbine applications
• Integration of small wind energy system with other renewables into a micro-generation system or micro grid.

Our financial supporters and partners

Northwest Development Agency / ERDF
Joule Centre 
New and Renewable Energy Centre Ltd 
GL Gerrad Hassan 
XEMC-Wind Co. Ltd 
Xiangtan University 
North China University of Technology 

Contact:

Dr Xiongwei Liu
Reader and Director of
Wind Energy Engineering Research Group
School of Computing, Engineering and Physical Sciences
University of Central Lancashire
Preston, PR1 2HE
UK
Phone: 0044-1772-895177
Email: xliu9@uclan.ac.uk