Coupled Dynamics of a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) With Active Blade Pitch Control on a Semi-Submersible Floater

Author(s):  
Ebert Vlasveld ◽  
Fons Huijs ◽  
Feike Savenije ◽  
Benoît Paillard

A vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) typically has a low position of the center of gravity and a large allowable tilt angle, which could allow for a relatively small floating support structure. Normally however, the drawback of large loads on the VAWT rotor during parked survival conditions limits the extent to which the floater size can be reduced. If active blade pitch control is applied to the VAWT, this drawback can be mitigated and the benefits can be fully utilized. The coupled dynamics of a 6 MW VAWT with active blade pitch control supported by a GustoMSC Tri-Floater semi-submersible floater have been simulated using coupled aero-hydro-servo-elastic software. The applied blade pitch control during power production results in a steady-state thrust curve which is more comparable to a HAWT, with the maximum thrust occurring at rated wind velocity. During power production, floater motions occur predominantly at low frequencies. These low frequency motions are caused by variations in the wind velocity and consequently the rotor thrust and torque. For the parked survival condition, it is illustrated that active blade pitch control can be used to effectively reduce dynamic load variations on the rotor and minimize floater motions and mooring line tensions.

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.


Author(s):  
Brett C. Krippene ◽  
Ira Sorensen

A conceptual design is presented of a roof-top type, MULTI-PHASED VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINE SYSTEM with an ADJUSTABLE INLET AIR SCOOP and EXIT DRAG CURTAIN at a 100 Watt to 50 kWe commercial scale. The MULTI-PHASED VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINE (MVAWT) SYSTEM is cost effective in an environmentally friendly manner. It is especially useful in areas where it can benefit from the wind velocity increasing and streamlining effects that may occur around small hills, roof tops and tall buildings. The MVAWT system concentrates, collects and utilizes the available energy in the wind by way of a naturally yawed, downwind seeking, vertical axis orientated flow tube and integrated air turbine assembly with adjustable inlet air scoop and outlet drag sections mounted on the flow tube. The MVAWT system’s air turbine is a combination radial or mixed out-flow and reaction cross-flow type centrifugal fan design as mounted on the discharge end of the flow tube. This air turbine, being more of a radial instead of an axial flow or propeller type design, can potentially exceed the Betz limit of 59.26% energy recovery or effectiveness from the maximum energy available from the wind flowing through the inlet flow tube. A low pressure drop screen can be provided at the inlet and outlet to protect flying birds and mammals from being drawn into the integrated flow tube and air turbine assembly. Additionally, access to the rotating components for inspection and maintenance purposes is much safer, easier and less costly than with conventional propeller type wind turbine systems mounted on tall towers. No multiple staged wind turbine system as described herein has as yet been researched as to its technical feasibility and developed to the point of a prototype demonstration at a commercial size. Such parameters as overall performance, energy conversion efficiency, costs (installed, operating and maintenance), system reliability, public acceptance and environmental impacts have not yet been truly assessed. A Phase I - technical feasibility assessment and Phase II - prototype demonstration program for a nominal 10 kWe sized Multi-Phased Vertical Axis Wind Turbine system with an average power output in a 16 mph wind of as much as 2 kWe (kW-hr / hr) and as much as 10 kWe (kW-hr / hr) at a 28 mph wind velocity is suggested to provide this essential information to both the authors and the public at large.


2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Cevasco ◽  
M Collu ◽  
CM Rizzo ◽  
M Hall

Despite several potential advantages, relatively few studies and design support tools have been developed for floating vertical axis wind turbines. Due to the substantial aerodynamics differences, the analyses of vertical axis wind turbine on floating structures cannot be easily extended from what have been already done for horizontal axis wind turbines. Therefore, the main aim of the present work is to compare the dynamic response of the floating offshore wind turbine system adopting two different mooring dynamics approaches. Two versions of the in-house aero-hydro-mooring coupled model of dynamics for floating vertical axis wind turbine (FloVAWT) have been used, employing a mooring quasi-static model, which solves the equations using an energetic approach, and a modified version of floating vertical axis wind turbine, which instead couples with the lumped mass mooring line model MoorDyn. The results, in terms of mooring line tension, fatigue and response in frequency have been obtained and analysed, based on a 5 MW Darrieus type rotor supported by the OC4-DeepCwind semisubmersible.


2012 ◽  
Vol 225 ◽  
pp. 338-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.J. Miau ◽  
S.Y. Liang ◽  
R.M. Yu ◽  
C.C. Hu ◽  
T.S. Leu ◽  
...  

The concept of pitch control has been implemented in the design of a small vertical-axis wind turbine. Benefits gained can be shown by the experimental and numerical results presented in this paper. As found, the method of variable pitch control outperforms the one of fixed pitch control. The present results show that the former can make remarkable improvement on the starting torque as well as the aerodynamic characteristics at low tip speed ratios.


Author(s):  
David MacPhee ◽  
Asfaw Beyene

Blade pitch control has been extremely important for the development of Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines (HAWTs), allowing for greater efficiency over a wider range of operational regimes when compared to rigid-bladed designs. For Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs), blade pitching is inherently more difficult due to a dependence of attack angle on turbine armature location, shaft speed, and wind speed. As a result, there have been very few practical pitch control schemes put forward for VAWTs, which may be a major reason why this wind turbine type enjoys a much lower market share as compared to HAWTs. To alleviate this issue, the flexible, straight-bladed vertical-axis turbine is presented, which can passively adapt its geometry to local aerodynamic loadings and serves as a low-cost blade pitch control strategy increasing efficiency and startup capabilities. Using two-dimensional fluid-structure action simulations, this novel concept is compared to an identical rigid one and is proven to be superior in terms of power coefficient due to decreased torque minima. Moreover, due to the flexible nature of the blades, the morphing turbine achieves less severe oscillatory loadings. As a result, the morphing blade design is expected to not only increase efficiency but also system longevity without additional system costs usually associated with active pitch control schemes.


2012 ◽  
Vol 229-231 ◽  
pp. 2339-2342
Author(s):  
J.C. Cheng ◽  
S.J Su ◽  
J.J Miau

A three blades vertical axis wind turbine simulation is performed to study the unsteady aerodynamic characteristics with blade pitch control. Several fixed and variable blade pitch models under different tip speed ratio are adopted to improve performance of the wind turbine. Results show that an appropriate pitch control model can effectively decrease the range of negative torque regime to reduce the vibration of the wind turbine. Besides, the average torque coefficient as well as the energy capture efficiency can be also improved, especially for the lower tip speed ratio. The overall efficiency of the wind turbines in power generation will be enhanced. For the cases under the tip speed ratio between 1 and 3, the efficiency can be enhanced 243% and 486% for fixed and variable pitch control models respectively as comparing with non-pitch control cases.


Author(s):  
Jay P. Wilhelm ◽  
Chad Panther ◽  
Franz A. Pertl ◽  
James E. Smith

A possible method for analytically modeling a CC-VAWT (Circulation Controlled Vertical Axis Wind Turbine) is the momentum model, based upon the conservation of momentum principal. This model can consist of a single or multiple stream tubes and/or upwind and downwind partitions. A large number of stream tubes and the addition of the partition can increase the accuracy of the model predictions. The CC-VAWT blade has blowing slots located on the top and bottom trailing edges and have the capability to be site controlled in multiple sections along the span of the blade. The turbine blade, augmented to include circulation control capabilities, replaces the sharp trailing edge of a standard airfoil with a rounded surface located adjacent to the blowing slots. Circulation control (CC), along with a rounded trailing edge, induces the Coanda effect, entraining the flow field near the blowing slots thus preventing or delaying separation. Ultimately, circulation control adds momentum due to the mass flow of air coming out of the blowing slots, but is negligible compared to the momentum of the free stream air passing through the area of the turbine. In order to design for a broader range of operating speeds that will take advantage of circulation control, an analytical model of a CC-VAWT is helpful. The analytical modeling of a CC-VAWT could provide insight into the range of operational speeds in which circulation control is beneficial. The ultimate goal is to increase the range of operating speeds where the turbine produces power. Improvements to low-speed power production and the elimination or reduction of startup assistance could be possible with these modifications. Vertical axis wind turbines are typically rated at a particular ratio of rotational to wind speed operating range. In reality, however, wind speeds are variant and stray from the operating range causing the power production of a wind turbine to suffer. These turbines, unless designed specifically for low speed operation, may require rotational startup assistance. The added lift due to circulation control at low wind speeds, under certain design conditions, will allow the CC-VAWT to produce more power than a conventional VAWT of the same size. Circulation control methods, such as using blowing slots on the trailing edge are modeled as they are applied to a VAWT blade. A preliminary CC-VAWT was modeled using a standard NACA 0018 airfoil, modified to include blowing slots and a rounded trailing edge. This paper describes an analytical momentum model that can be used to predict the preliminary performance of a CC-VAWT.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 761
Author(s):  
Duc Huu Nguyen

A method to analyze effect power output of a vertical axis wind turbine under rain is proposed. The rain had the effect of increasing the drag, slowing the rotational speed of the wind turbine and decreasing the power and performance. More and more ambitious projects for wind turbine production being set on many where on Vietnam, it is necessary to understand all the factors, especially by weather changes, that might affect wind power production. In this research, we lay out a model to estimate the effect of rainfall by simulating the actual physical processes of the rain drops forming on the surface of the blades of a vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT), thereby determining optimal wetness, then power and performance respectively. This could have an effect on the control strategy necessary for designing and controlling wind turbine.


2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Horb ◽  
R Fuchs ◽  
A Immas ◽  
F Silvert ◽  
P Deglaire

NENUPHAR aims at developing the next generation of large-scale floating offshore vertical-axis wind turbine. To challenge the horizontal-axis wind turbine, the variable blade pitch control appears to be a promising solution. This article focuses on blade pitch law optimization and resulting power and thrust gain depending on the operational conditions. The aerodynamics resulting from the implementation of a variable blade pitch control are studied through numerical simulations, either with a three-dimensional vortex code or with two-dimensional Navier-stokes simulations (two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics). Results showed that the three-dimensional vortex code used as quasi-two-dimensional succeeded to give aerodynamic loads in very good agreement with two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulation results. The three-dimensional-vortex code was then used in three-dimensional configuration, highlighting that the variable pitch can enhance the vertical-axis wind turbine power coefficient ( Cp) by more than 15% in maximum power point tracking mode and decrease it by more than 75% in power limitation mode while keeping the thrust below its rated value.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1037 ◽  
pp. 032030
Author(s):  
V. Kumar ◽  
F.J. Savenije ◽  
J.W. van Wingerden

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