A novel approach to performance improvement of a VAWT using plasma actuators

Abstract

The numerous advantages of Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) have made them suitable for urban areas compared to other types of wind turbines; however, the occurrence of phenomena such as vortices and flow separation around the blades which have adverse effects on the turbine performance, indicates the necessity of using control methods to improve the behavior of the flow around the blades. This study numerically examines the effect of different installation positions and activation timing of plasma actuators and presents new strategies for flow control and turbine performance improvement. The model presented by Shyy et al. was used for the numerical modeling of the plasma actuator. The results showed that applying actuators in ten different positions from 10% to 90% of the airfoil chord length on the outer and inner edges of the blades, can lead to an increase in the turbine production power; however, the high-power consumption of the actuator clarifies the necessity of reducing the actuator activity time to smaller azimuthal intervals. The results revealed that applying the actuators under the optimal combined strategy in a 90° interval, increases the turbine power coefficient by 29.2%, while it leads to the lowest power consumption of the actuator.