Noise Source Localization Using a Compact Phased Array:Studies on a Full Scale Wind Turbine in a Wind Farm

Locating the dominant noise sources on a wind turbine is an important problem in designing and developing low noise wind turbines. Previously very large microphone arrays were used to locate these sources. The primary focus of this paper is to show that using a compact and mobile microphone array with advanced beamforming algorithms, the noise sources can be successfully located and quantified. The results from the qualification experiments on the microphone array conducted in laboratory using synthetic noise sources show the differences between the various beamforming algorithms used in this study (both frequency and time domain algorithms). The initial experimental results on a full scale wind turbine reveal that it is indeed possible to locate the noise sources using a compact microphone array by successfully locating the two dominant noise sources on the wind turbine namely, aerodynamic noise near the blade tip and mechanical noise from nacelle.