Comparative Study on Rime/Glaze Icing Mechanisms and Characteristics of Wind Turbine Blades Based on Rotating Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow
This study investigates the icing mechanisms and characteristics of a 300 kW wind turbine at the Xuefeng Mountain Energy Equipment Safety National Observation and Research Station. A full-scale three-dimensional rotating icing model of wind turbine blades is developed using a rotating reference frame and Eulerian gas-liquid two-phase flow model. The differences between rime and glaze icing are compared through numerical simulation in terms of ice morphology, mass, and temperature effects. Results indicate that: (1) temperature has negligible effect on rime icing but significantly affects the icing region, morphology, and mass of glaze icing; (2) rime forms streamlined ice, while glaze forms horn-shaped ice; as temperature decreases, the glaze icing region shrinks but horn-shaped features become more pronounced; (3) the maximum icing thickness of rime increases monotonically along the blade span, whereas glaze exhibits non-monotonic behavior; at temperatures near 0°C (e.g., -1°C), a special case occurs where the icing thickness at mid-span (0.60R) exceeds that at the blade tip (0.90R); (4) for the same icing duration, rime icing mass exceeds glaze icing mass, and as temperature decreases, glaze icing mass shows a growth trend with decreasing acceleration. These findings provide a reliable model and data support for winter wind farm operation and power prediction.