Numerical Investigation on Vertical Axis Wind Turbine in Search for an Efficient Design

Author(s):  
Mosfequr Rahman ◽  
Mohammad Bashar ◽  
Gustavo Molina ◽  
Valentin Soloiu ◽  
Travis Salyers

The continuous improvement of this world is based on technological advancement. And the technological advancement is directly related to the utilization of energy. The demand of energy is creeping up every day due to increase of population, industrial and agricultural advancement. But the conventional energy sources are becoming limited which is ultimately making them more expensive. In addition to this, everyone is concerned about global climate change. This whole scenario is pushing the world to find the alternative sources of energy. Alternative sources involve natural phenomena such as sunlight, wind, tides, plant growth, and geothermal heat. Solar and Wind power are the most popular among the various sources of renewable energy. Wind alone can fulfill most of the energy requirement of the world by its efficient conversion in to energy. Though Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) is more popular but needs high wind speed to extract energy from the wind. On the Other hand Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) can run at low wind speed, independent of wind direction and can be installed anywhere with cheapest cost. The main objective of this research is to improve the design and performance of VAWT to make it more attractive, efficient, durable and sustainable. For a VAWT, the blades perform the main role to extract energy from the wind. Airfoil is considered as the blade for this new design of VAWT. Airfoil has some good aerodynamic characteristics, matches with the characteristics of Savonious type VAWT, such as good stall characteristics and little roughness affect, relatively high drag and low lift coefficient. Three dimensional CAD models of various simple airfoils have been designed in Solidworks. Using these airfoils CFD simulation has been performed for five different VAWT designed models. Moving mesh and fluid flow simulation have been performed using CFD software FLUENT. The findings of these numerical simulations provided pressure contour, velocity contour, drag coefficient, lift coefficient, torque coefficient and power coefficient for all these models. From the results it can be concluded that NACA7510 airfoil VAWT model gives the better performance at higher Tip Speed Ratio (λ) than other models.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hashwini Lalchand Thadani ◽  
Fadia Dyni Zaaba ◽  
Muhammad Raimi Mohammad Shahrizal ◽  
Arjun Singh Jaj A. Jaspal Singh Jaj ◽  
Yun Ii Go

PurposeThis paper aims to design an optimum vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) and assess its techno-economic performance for wind energy harvesting at high-speed railway in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachThis project adopted AutoCAD and ANSYS modeling tools to design and optimize the blade of the turbine. The site selected has a railway of 30 km with six stops. The vertical turbines are placed 1 m apart from each other considering the optimum tip speed ratio. The power produced and net present value had been analyzed to evaluate its techno-economic viability.FindingsComputational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) 0020 blade has been carried out. For a turbine with wind speed of 50 m/s and swept area of 8 m2, the power generated is 245 kW. For eight trains that operate for 19 h/day with an interval of 30 min in nonpeak hours and 15 min in peak hours, total energy generated is 66 MWh/day. The average cost saved by the train stations is RM 16.7 mil/year with battery charging capacity of 12 h/day.Originality/valueWind energy harvesting is not commonly used in Malaysia due to its low wind speed ranging from 1.5 to 4.5 m/s. Conventional wind turbine requires a minimum cut-in wind speed of 11 m/s to overcome the inertia and starts generating power. Hence, this paper proposes an optimum design of VAWT to harvest an unconventional untapped wind sources from railway. The research finding complements the alternate energy harvesting technologies which can serve as reference for countries which experienced similar geographic constraints.


2012 ◽  
Vol 215-216 ◽  
pp. 1323-1326
Author(s):  
Ming Wei Xu ◽  
Jian Jun Qu ◽  
Han Zhang

A small vertical axis wind turbine with wind speed self-adapting was designed. The diameter and height of the turbine were both 0.7m. It featured that the blades were composed of movable and fixed blades, and the opening and closing of the movable blades realized the wind speed self-adapting. Aerodynamic performance of this new kind turbine was tested in a simple wind tunnel. Then the self-starting and power coefficient of the turbine were studied. The turbine with load could reliably self-start and operate stably even when the wind velocity was only 3.6 m/s. When the wind velocity was 8 m/s and the load torque was 0.1Nm, the movable blades no longer opened and the wind turbine realized the conversion from drag mode to lift mode. With the increase of wind speed, the maximum power coefficient of the turbine also improves gradually. Under 8 m/s wind speed, the maximum power coefficient of the turbine reaches to 12.26%. The experimental results showed that the new turbine not only improved the self-starting ability of the lift-style turbine, but also had a higher power coefficient in low tip speed ratio.


2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 320-323
Author(s):  
Zhang Lijun ◽  
Liu Hua ◽  
Zhang Mingming ◽  
Hu Yi’e

Tip speed ratio is an important parameter of describing wind turbine performance. Based on vane airfoil profile, the relationship between vane lift coefficient, drag coefficient and angle of attack is calculated by means of Profili software. The corresponding stall angle is also obtained. The relationship between the position angle of vane and angle of attack at different tip speed ratios is drawn by Matlab software and the corresponding best tip speed ratio is determined rapidly. Based on it, the airfoil tangential force is also analyzed for different vane airfoil profiles in the condition of same Reynolds number.


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
I Kade Wiratama ◽  
Made Mara ◽  
L. Edsona Furqan Prina

The willingness of electrical energy is one energy system has a very important role in the economic development of a country's survival. As one energy source (wind) can be converted into electrical energy with the use of a horizontal axis wind turbine. Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS) that we know are two wind turbines in general, ie the horizontal axis wind turbine and vertical axis wind turbine is one type of renewable energy use wind as an energy generator. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the number of blade and the radius chord of rotation (n), Torque (T), Turbine Power (P), Power Coefficient (CP) and Tip Speed Ratio (λ) generated by the horizontal axis wind turbine with form linear taper. The results show that by at the maximum radius of the chord R3 the number blade 4 is at rotation = 302.700 rpm, Pturbine = 7.765 watt, Torque = 0.245 Nm, λ = 3.168 and Cp = 0.403 or 40.3%.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Sobhy Ghoneam ◽  
Ahmed Hamada ◽  
Taha S. Sherif

Abstract This paper presents a comprehensive study of the dynamic behavior of small vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) based on local fabricated Savonius VAWTs, which is suitable for countries that have moderate wind speed. The merits of this design are cleanliness, silent, start-up under low wind speed, independent wind directions, adaptability and ease of manufacturing. Also, this paper presents an experimental validation study for the optimized Savonius VAWT. Four verification test configurations of the optimized VAWT composite blades are designed, simulated and fabricated of Glass – Polyester with different stacking sequence layout for each. Modified mechanical parameters are introduced to improve the scalability, reliability, and accuracy of the developed models. Based on wind energy conversion system basics, aerodynamic characteristics (tip speed ratio (λ) and coefficient of power (Cp)), dynamic characteristics (natural frequencies and mode shapes) of Savonius-rotor models are presented and simulated within SOLIDWORKS Simulation 2020 software. The dynamic characteristics such as frequency, mode shape and damping factor are extensively investigated using Fast Fourier Transformer (FFT) analyzer. The results show that the role of composite material blades in improving the dynamic performance of a wind turbine is significant.


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jobaidur R. Khan ◽  
Mosfequr Rahman

Amidst of high demand of energy, the world is seeking alternative energy sources. Wind alone can fulfill most of the energy requirement of the world by its efficient conversion into energy. On efficiency measurement, Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT) is the popular to the researchers, but it works best in places where the wind is not disturbed and has high wind power. The inherent advantage of facing the wind direction, design simplicity, less expensive technology for construction, lower wind start-up speeds, easier maintenance, and relatively quietness are turning the focus to Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT). The low wind speed and non-smooth wind flow regions are attracted for these machines. Savonius turbine is the simplest form of VAWT and operation is based on the difference of the drag force on its blades. The main objective of this study is to analyze a perfect mixture of new and innovative designs of Savonius turbine blades, which can make VAWT more attractive, efficient, durable and sustainable. This is studied by using blade with different numbers in operating in different wind speed. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis has been used. 2D CAD models of various VAWT geometries are created and tested with CFD software ANSYS/FLUENT with a similar flow-driven motion in a wind tunnel. These simulations provided the aero-dynamic characteristics like shear stress, velocity distribution and pressure distribution. Some physical models with desired properties needed to be fabricated and tested inside tunnel to find the effect of different shapes in real.


Author(s):  
Dygku. Asmanissa Awg. Osman ◽  
Norzanah Rosmin ◽  
Aede Hatib Mustaamal ◽  
Siti Maherah Hussin ◽  
Md Pauzi Abdullah

<span>This paper presents the performance of a fabricated small-sized Savonious wind turbine with two blades. The design of Savonius vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) was based on Malaysia wind speed condition. Meanwhile, the design of wind concentrator was based on the dimensions and the constant airflow of an air compressor. From the experimental testing in a laboratory, it was found that the proposed Savonious turbine has best performance when tested using wind concentrator. To conclude, airflow from air compressor can be increased when the proposed wind concentrator is used and hence increasing the proposed VAWT performance in terms of its angular speed (ω), tip speed ratio (TSR) and the generated electrical power (PE).</span>


2021 ◽  
Vol 926 (1) ◽  
pp. 012093
Author(s):  
Y Kassem ◽  
H Çamur ◽  
M A H A Abdalla ◽  
B D Erdem ◽  
A M R Al-ani

Abstract The grid-connected system can be an attractive solution to reduce electricity consumption, dependence on utility power, and increase electricity generation from renewable energy resources like wind energy for residential electricity users. Based on 33-year wind data (1983-2020), this study investigates the potential of wind energy at different locations ((Akkar, Baalbek, Beirut, Zahlé, Baabda, Nabatieh, Tripoli, and Sidon) in Lebanon using the Weibull distribution function. Monthly NASA wind speed data during the period (1983-2020) were used to estimate the wind energy potential. The result showed that the averaged wind speeds at the selected regions are varied from 3.695m/s to 4.457m/s at the height of 10m. Furthermore, the annual wind power density was estimated at various heights (10m, 30m, and 50m). The results demonstrated that small-scale wind turbines are recommended to be used for generating electricity from wind in the selected regions. Finally, the performance of WRE.060 / 6 kW (vertical axis wind turbine) and Proven WT 6000 (horizontal axis wind turbine) was done based on the monthly NASA wind speed database.


2019 ◽  
Vol 889 ◽  
pp. 410-417
Author(s):  
Quang The Phan ◽  
Thị Thu Hà Phan ◽  
Ahmed Sherif El-Gizawy ◽  
Thị Hồng Mai Phan

Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) can perform better than Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) because VAWTs are relatively simple, quiet, and easy to install. It can take wind from any directions, and operate efficiently in urban areas where turbulent wind conditions usually happen. The weakest point for its configuration, however, is its low efficiency so more intensive research is required.Actual VAWT performance can be predicted based on a determination of the forces acting on blades that produce the turbine’s torque. Thus, this paper proposed a new model of force analysis for calculation of VAWT’s performance and a way to enhance the efficiency of VAWT through proper variations of the pitch angles. Additionally, in order to increase the efficiency of the VAWT for a given tip speed ratio, the solidity in term of blade’s number can be adjusted.Results show that right changes in the value of pitch angles and proper selection of the number of blades can considerably increase the efficiency of the turbine and reduce amplitude of turbine’s torque variation. The new model of force analysis can be helpful for aerodynamic analysis of the VAWT turbine for its better design.


2019 ◽  
Vol 125 ◽  
pp. 14003
Author(s):  
Eflita Yohana ◽  
MSK. Tony Suryo U ◽  
Binawan Luhung ◽  
Mohamad Julian Reza ◽  
M Badruz Zaman

The Wind turbine is a tool used in Wind Energy Conversion System (WECS). The wind turbine produces electricity by converting wind energy into kinetic energy and spinning to produce electricity. Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) is designed to produce electricity from winds at low speeds. Vertical wind turbines have 2 types, they are wind turbine Savonius and Darrieus. This research is to know the effect of addition wind booster to Savonius vertical wind turbine with the variation 2 blades and 3 blades. Calculation the power generated by wind turbine using energy analysis method using the concept of the first law of thermodynamics. The result obtained is the highest value of blade power in Savonius wind turbine without wind booster (16.5 ± 1.9) W at wind speed 7 m/s with a tip speed ratio of 1.00 ± 0.01. While wind turbine Savonius with wind booster has the highest power (26.3 ± 1.6) W when the wind speed of 7 m/s with a tip speed ratio of 1.26 ± 0.01. The average value of vertical wind turbine power increases Savonius after wind booster use of 56%.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document