Calculation of Collection Efficiency on NREL Phase VI Blade

Abstract

Icing on wind turbines is a major problem in cold regions. To study blade icing, water droplet collection efficiency is calculated on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) phase VI blade. First, water droplet conservation equations are embedded into ANSYS Fluent, and the results calculated by the Eulerian method are validated. For the two-dimensional (2D) airfoil, the peak collection efficiency error is 3.7%; for the three-dimensional (3D) blade, the peak collection efficiency error is 2.8%. Second, collection efficiency on the NREL phase VI blade is investigated. The results indicate that water droplets mainly impact on the blade leading edge, and the collection efficiency increases along the radial direction. Finally, the 3D rotating effect on collection efficiency is studied. The results demonstrate that, at a wind speed of 7 m/s, the 3D rotating effect has almost no influence on collection efficiency; however, the effect must be considered in water droplet collection at a wind speed of 10 m/s.