Assessment of wind energy potential within through-building openings under twisted wind flows

Abstract

Integrating wind turbines into high-rise buildings can generate renewable energy on-site. Through-building openings can effectively increase the utilization of wind energy in high-rise buildings. However, current research on wind energy potential within these openings is limited to conventional wind conditions. Meteorological observations indicate that cities near mountainous terrain, such as Hong Kong and Tokyo, often experience twisted wind flows due to topography. These wind flows cause changes in the wind direction angle with increasing vertical height, and previous studies have demonstrated significant differences in flow fields around high-rise buildings in twisted wind fields as compared to conventional wind fields. Consequently, the wind energy potential within through-building openings of high-rise buildings may be significantly impacted by twisted winds. This paper applies high-fidelity methods (LES) to evaluate the wind energy potential within through-building openings of buildings with different heights under twisted wind field conditions, and compares the results with those obtained under conventional wind conditions. The results show that the passage near the inflow experiences higher wind speed and wind power compared to the passage far from the inflow under the twisted wind profile. The twisted wind flows cause an increase in local wind power density within the through-building openings, but it also results in an elevation of turbulence intensity, which is unfavorable for enhancing the efficiency of wind turbines. Furthermore, the degree of enhancement in local wind power and local turbulence intensity within the through-building openings gradually intensifies as the wind twisted angle increases.