Design and aerodynamic performance of new Floating H-Darrieus Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

Abstract

In the last decade, several countries started work on the development of Floating Vertical Axis Wind Turbines, which have significant advantages over Floating Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines. In the present work, we expose a brief history of the use of this type of wind turbines, and we contribute to understanding the existing technologies and we also propose a new design of Floating H-Darrieus Vertical Axis Wind Turbine with three stage rotors. This design solves the problem of starting a large turbine and facilitates maintenance by adopting three mechanisms Bearing Swivel Rollers at each stage. We use the Double Multiple StreamTube method for aerodynamic simulations. The numerical results of the aerodynamic performance analysis show that variable radius rotors maximize the power generated.