Experimental and Numerical Study of the Aerodynamic Characteristics of an Archimedes Spiral Wind Turbine Blade

Ho Ji,Yoon Kim,Qian Lu,Rinus Mieremet,Joon Baek,Kyung Kim

doi:10.3390/en7127893

Abstract

A new type of horizontal axis wind turbine adopting the Archimedes spiral blade is introduced for urban-use. Based on the angular momentum conservation law, the design formula for the blade was derived using a variety of shape factors. The aerodynamic characteristics and performance of the designed Archimedes wind turbine were examined using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The CFD simulations showed that the new type of wind turbine produced a power coefficient (Cp) of approximately 0.25, which is relatively high compared to other types of urban-usage wind turbines. To validate the CFD results, experimental studies were carried out using a scaled-down model. The instantaneous velocity fields were measured using the two-dimensional particle image velocimetry (PIV) method in the near field of the blade. The PIV measurements revealed the presence of dominant vortical structures downstream the hub and near the blade tip. The interaction between the wake flow at the rotor downstream and the induced velocity due to the tip vortices were strongly affected by the wind speed and resulting rotational speed of the blade. The mean velocity profiles were compared with those predicted by the steady state and unsteady state CFD simulations. The unsteady CFD simulation agreed better with those of the PIV experiments than the steady state CFD simulations.

Highlights

To secure energy supply issues and address climate change, reductions of Greenhouse Gas (GHG)emissions, biodiversity protection, development of renewable technologies, energy conservation, and efficiency improvements are becoming increasingly important
The aerodynamic characteristics and evolution of the tip vortex structures in the near wake of the Archimedes spiral wind turbine were examined by quantitative flow visualization experiments using the conventional two-dimensional particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique
There are several methods to predict the aerodynamic characteristics of wind turbines [21,22]

Summary

Introduction

To secure energy supply issues and address climate change, reductions of Greenhouse Gas (GHG). Emissions, biodiversity protection, development of renewable technologies, energy conservation, and efficiency improvements are becoming increasingly important. Wind energy is a relatively mature technology with enormous potential for commercialization and mass production. The major application of wind power is electricity generation from large grid-connected wind farms [1]. With the expansion of the power grid and the reduction of electricity scarce areas, small-scale wind turbines are being applied in several countries and in many fields, such as city road lighting, mobile communication base stations, offshore aquaculture, and sea water desalination [2]. Small scale wind turbines installed within the built environment are classified as micro generation technology. Some studies into urban energy generation have been performed in the United Kingdom

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Results

Conclusion