Numerical investigation of wind turbine blade considering different pitch angle and rotor rotational velocities

Abstract

The present work incorporates a study of the impact of varying pitch angles and angular velocities on the performance parameters of a horizontal axis wind turbine using computational fluid dynamics. Simulations were carried out using commercial software Ansys 15. Eight pitch angles chosen for the study 0⁰, 4⁰, 8⁰, 12⁰, 16⁰, 20⁰, 24⁰, and 28⁰ and two angular velocities that are 1.57 rad/sec and 2.22 rad/sec are implemented to execute the simulation. The turbulence model used is k-ω SST. The lift/Drag ratio for different pitch angle is calculated. The pressure distribution curve is highlighted. The effect of pitch angle on power and torque performance has been observed. For a given wind velocity, the power generated by the turbine is maximum for its corresponding optimum pitch angle. Moreover, it has been found that torque and power show random variation with an increase in wind velocity and pitch angle. The optimum pitch angle is obtained for maximum power generation.