Simulation Research on Inception of Upward Leader of Lightning Receptor in Wind Turbine

Lightning poses a huge threat to wind turbine operation, and it is essential to clarify the factors that affect the lightning protection capability of the lightning receptor at the blade tips of wind turbines. A 3MW wind turbine model was established, and COMSOL was used to solve the background potential. Based on the solved background potential, a simplified physical model was used to evaluate the inception of upward leader. Verify model parameters through sensitivity study, the lightning receptor is used as the lightning strike object to analyze the inception of the upward leader, so as to determine the lightning strike distance. Result shows that striking distance is not a constant value and with the increase of the blade rotation angle, the protection ability of the lightning receptor to the wind turbine decrease.