Aerodynamic Performance Of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Research Articles

Multiple boundary layer suction slots technique for performance improvement of vertical-axis wind turbines: Conceptual design and parametric analysis

Vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) are gaining attention for urban and offshore applications. However, their development is hindered by suboptimal power performance, primarily attributable to the complex aerodynamic characteristics of the blades. Flow control techniques are expected to regulate the flow on the blade surface and improve blade aerodynamics. In the present study, an effective active flow control technique, multiple boundary layer suction slots (MBLSS), is designed for VAWTs performance improvement. The impact of MBLSS on the aerodynamic performance of VAWTs is examined using high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics simulations. The response surface methodology is employed to identify the relatively optimal configuration of MBLSS. Three key parameters are considered, i.e., number of slots (n), distance between slots (d), and slot length (l), which vary from 2 to 4, 0.025c to 0.125c, and 0.025c to 0.075c, respectively. The results show that MBLSS positively affects the power performance and aerodynamics of VAWTs. Parameter n has the most significant effect on VAWT power performance and the importance of d and l is determined by tip speed ratios (TSRs). Tight and loose slot arrangements are recommended for high and low TSRs, respectively. The relatively optimal configuration (n = 2, d = 0.025c, l = 0.05c) results in a remarkable 31.02% increase in the average net power output of the studied TSRs. The flow control mechanism of MBLSS for VAWT blade boundary layer flow has also been further complemented. MBLSS can prevent the bursting of laminar separation bubbles and avoid the formation of dynamic stall vortices. This increases the blade lift-to-drag ratio and mitigates aerodynamic load fluctuations. The wake profiles of VAWTs with MBLSS are also investigated. This study would add value to the application of active flow control techniques for VAWTs.

Univariate analysis of scaling effects on the aerodynamics of vertical axis wind turbines based on high-resolution numerical simulations: The Reynolds number effects

The scale effect on aerodynamics determines, to some extent, the development trend and limitation of large vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs). Among many factors, Reynolds number is an important one affected by such effects and is therefore often used as a criterion to distinguish between small-scale and large-scale wind turbines. In this paper, a dimensionless analysis was first conducted, and the results showed that scaling the wind turbine as a whole only led to a change in Reynolds number, while other key factors remained constant. Based on such understanding, a univariate analysis was then carried out to investigate the effect of Reynolds number variation due to scaling effects on the aerodynamic performance of VAWTs. In the study, a series of high-resolution numerical simulations were performed on a simplified single-bladed VAWT model. By directly scaling the model size, the operating Reynolds number of the wind turbine was made to vary in the range of 1×104 to 5×106 at a specific solidity and reduced frequency. The analysis shows that over the range of Reynolds number investigated, as the size of the wind turbine model increases, the flow separation nearby the blade decreases, the strength of the dynamic stall vortex becomes weaker, and the power coefficient of wind energy extraction generally tends to increase, thus indicating that large-scale wind turbine is generally beneficial aerodynamically. Specifically, when VAWTs operate in a Reynolds number ranging from 5×104 to 5×105, the power coefficient increases significantly as the size of wind turbine increases, while when operating in the range of 5×105∼5×106, the power coefficient still tends to increase, but in a decreasing increment ratio.

Effect of Helix Angle on the Performance of Helical Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

The energy crisis has forced researchers to look for various non-conventional energy sources. Wind energy is one of the potential sources, and researchers have invested resources in developing different kinds of wind turbines. Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) have received less attention than their horizontal-axis counterparts. A helical-bladed VAWT is preferred because it makes perfect sense as an improvement in design, as they have higher azimuth angles of power generation capabilities. This paper studies the effects of the helix angle of blades in the aerodynamic performance of VAWT using 3D numerical simulations. Three different helix angles of 60°, 90°, and 120° of a three-bladed VAWT operating across different tip speed ratios were studied. Turbulence is modelled using a four-equation transition SST k-ω model (shear stress transport). The 60° helical-bladed VAWT was found to be better performing in comparison with all other helical-bladed and straight-bladed VAWT. The ripple effects on the shaft are also analysed using a standard deviation plot of the moment coefficient generated by a single blade over one complete cycle of its rotation. It was observed that the greater the helix angle, the lower the standard deviation. The paper also tries to analyse the percentage of power generated by each quartile of flow and the contribution of each section of the blade. Ansys FLUENT was employed for the entire study. A comparative study between different helical-bladed VAWT and straight-bladed VAWT was carried out along with wake structure analysis and flow contours for a better understanding of the flow field.

Electric Circuit Model for the Aerodynamic Performance Analysis of a Three-Blade Darrieus-Type Vertical Axis Wind Turbine: The Tchakoua Model

The complex and unsteady aerodynamics of vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) pose significant challenges for simulation tools. Recently, significant research efforts have focused on the development of new methods for analysing and optimising the aerodynamic performance of VAWTs. This paper presents an electric circuit model for Darrieus-type vertical axis wind turbine (DT-VAWT) rotors. The novel Tchakoua model is based on the mechanical description given by the Paraschivoiu double-multiple streamtube model using a mechanical‑electrical analogy. Model simulations were conducted using MATLAB for a three-bladed rotor architecture, characterized by a NACA0012 profile, an average Reynolds number of 40,000 for the blade and a tip speed ratio of 5. The results obtained show strong agreement with findings from both aerodynamic and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models in the literature.