Optimal Design of Wind Boosters for Low Speed Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

Abstract

Although Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) are designed for performing mechanical works acceptably at medium wind speed, Standalone VAWTs are still unable to generate mechanical power satisfactorily for best practice at low speed wind. This study presents optimal design of wind booster, by utilizing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). A wind booster is proposed to be implemented with a VAWT in order to not only harvest energy with low availability at low wind speed but also enhance performance of a VAWT at higher wind speed. In CFD-based experiments, guiding and throttling effects of the wind booster are able to increase mechanical power of a VAWT. Optimal alternatives of number and leading angle of guide vanes are determined by maximizing the coefficient of power from the alternating direction method as an optimization technique. The VAWT coupled with the optimal wind booster, which consists of 8 guide vanes and leading angle of 55o, is cable of producing mechanical power higher up to the coefficient of power of 4.8 % than the original design.