Numerical simulations on static Vertical Axis Wind Turbine blade icing

Abstract

During the last decade, there was an increased interest in wind turbine icing. Most of the icing studies are related to horizontal axis wind turbine icing (HAWT). Vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) icing is seldomly reported in the literature. Compared to the HAWT blade VAWT blade operates under various angles of attack. Therefore, ice accretion shapes on static VAWT blade must be considered under different angles of attack. In the present study, a novel approach to predict ice accretion shapes on VAWT is described. Ice accretion shapes are obtained at a range of angles of attack between −25° and 25° using FENSAP-ICE which is the state-of-art icing simulation tool. Moving reference frame (MRF) was used to consider rotating effect on droplet field. The present method helped to draw the following conclusions. Firstly, the whole leading edge is covered by ice. Secondly, in rime ice conditions smooth ice shape is obtained, which does not significantly affect aerodynamic performance. Whereas in glaze ice conditions bumpy ice shapes causing massive flow separation and lift force degradation. Finally, iced VAWT loses up to 60% of power performance due to rime ice conditions. In glaze ice conditions VAWT is unable to produce power.