Abstract
The building-integrated wind turbine is a new technology for the utilization of wind energy in cities. Previous studies mainly focused on the wind turbines mounted on the roofs of buildings. This paper discusses the performance of Savonius wind turbines which are mounted on the edges of a high-rise building. A transient CFD method is used to investigate the performance of the turbine and the interaction flows between the turbine and the building. The influence of three main parameters, including the turbine gap, wind angle, and adjacent turbines, are considered. The variations of the turbine torque and power under different operating conditions are evaluated and explained in depth. It is found that the edge-mounted Savonius turbine has a higher coefficient of power than that operating in uniform flows; the average Cp of the turbine under 360-degree wind angles is 92.5% higher than the turbine operating in uniform flows. It is also found that the flow around the building has a great impact on turbine performance, especially when the turbine is located downwind of the building.
Highlights
Renewable energies have attracted increasing attention thanks to diminishing global fossil fuel reserves
This study focuses on investigating the performances of the building-integrated turbines with three key factors taken into consideration, including the turbine gap, the adjacent turbines, and the wind direction
In order to study the performance characteristics of the building-integrated Savonius turbines and to reveal the flow coupling mechanism between the building and the turbines, the simulation and to reveal the flow coupling mechanism between the building and the turbines, the simulation results are respectively discussed from three aspects: the turbine gap (l), adjacent turbines, and wind results are respectively discussed from three aspects: the turbine gap (l), adjacent turbines, and wind direction (φ)
Summary
Renewable energies have attracted increasing attention thanks to diminishing global fossil fuel reserves. Wind flow around buildings provides one of the potentially low-cost renewable sources of energy in cities [1]. With sustainable development becoming the driving force for more and more new buildings, it is expected that environmentally-friendly buildings with integrated wind turbines will increase in number [2]. Unlike common wind turbines on farms, building-integrated wind turbines experience more complex wind flows with low mean wind speeds and high levels of turbulence [3]. Both the speeds and directions of the wind flows around buildings are significantly affected by the urban environment. Comprehensive efforts have been made to investigate the wind flow distributions around buildings [5]
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