scholarly journals Effects of turbulence models and grid densities on computational accuracy of flows over a vertical axis wind turbine

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-222
Author(s):  
Jaruwan Chaiyanupong ◽  
Tawit Chitsomboon
Keyword(s):  
Shear Stress ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Turbulence Model ◽  
Turbulence Models ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Speed Ratio ◽  
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine ◽  
Computational Accuracy ◽  
Shear Stress Transport

Flows through a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) are very complex due to their inherent unsteadiness caused by large variations of the angle of attacks as the turbine is rotating and changing its azimuth angles simultaneously. In addition, a turbine must go through a wide range of operating conditions especially the change in blade speed ratio (BSR). Accurate prediction of flows over VAWT using Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) model needs a well-tested turbulence model as well as a careful grid control around the airfoil. This paper aimed to compare various turbulence models and seek the most accurate one. Furthermore, grid convergence was studied using the Roache method to determine the sufficient number of grid elements around the blade section. The three-dimensional grid was generated by extrution from the two-dimensional grid along with the appropriate y+ controlling. Comparisons were made among the three turbulence models that are widely used namely: the RNG model, the shear stress transport k-ω model (SST) and the Menter’s shear stress transport k-ω model (transition SST). Results obtained clearly showed that turbulence models significantly affected computational accuracy. The SST turbulence model showed best agreement with reported experimental data at BSR lower than 2.35, while the transition SST model showed better results when BSR is higher than 2.35. In addition, grid extruding technique with y+ control could reduce total grid requirement while maintaining acceptable prediction accuracy.Article History: Received April 15th 2018; Received in revised form June 16th 2018; Accepted September 17th 2018; Available onlineHow to Cite This Article: Chaiyanupong,J and Chitsomboon, T. (2018) Effects of Turbulence Models and Grid Densities on Computational Accuracy of Flows Over a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine. Int. Journal of Renewable Energy Development, 7(3), 213-222.http://dx.doi.org/10.14710/ijred.7.3.213-222

scholarly journals Assessment of stress-blended eddy simulation model for accurate performance prediction of vertical axis wind turbine

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Taurista Perdana Syawitri ◽  
Yufeng Yao ◽  
Jun Yao ◽  
Budi Chandra
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Turbulence Model ◽  
Stokes Equations ◽  
Turbulence Models ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Power Coefficient ◽  
Speed Ratio ◽  
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Eddy Simulation

Purpose The aim of this paper is to assess the ability of a stress-blended eddy simulation (SBES) turbulence model to predict the performance of a three-straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT). The grid sensitivity study is conducted to evaluate the simulation accuracy. Design/methodology/approach The unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations are solved using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique. Two types of grid topology around the blades, namely, O-grid (OG) and C-grid (CG) types, are considered for grid sensitivity studies. Findings With regard to the power coefficient (Cp), simulation results have shown significant improvements of predictions using compared to other turbulence models such as the k-e model. The Cp distributions predicted by applying the CG mesh are in good agreement with the experimental data than that by the OG mesh. Research limitations/implications The current study provides some new insights of the use of SBES turbulence model in VAWT CFD simulations. Practical implications The SBES turbulence model can significantly improve the numerical accuracy on predicting the VAWT performance at a lower tip speed ratio (TSR), which other turbulence models cannot achieve. Furthermore, it has less computational demand for the finer grid resolution used in the RANS-Large Eddy Simulation (LES) “transition” zone compared to other hybrid RANS-LES models. Originality/value To authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to apply SBES turbulence model to predict VAWT performance resulting for accurate CFD results. The better prediction can increase the credibility of computational evaluation of a new or an improved configuration of VAWT.

scholarly journals Three-Dimensional CFD Simulation and Experimental Assessment of the Performance of a H-Shape Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine at Design and Off-Design Conditions

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicoletta Franchina ◽  
Otman Kouaissah ◽  
Giacomo Persico ◽  
Marco Savini
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Computational Cost ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Speed Ratio ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine ◽  
Numerical Predictions

The paper presents the results of a computational study on the aerodynamics and the performance of a small-scale Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) for distributed micro-generation. The complexity of VAWT aerodynamics, which are inherently unsteady and three-dimensional, makes high-fidelity flow models extremely demanding in terms of computational cost, limiting the analysis to mainly 2D or 2.5D Computational Fluid-Dynamics (CFD) approaches. This paper discusses how a proper setting of the computational model opens the way for carrying out fully 3D unsteady CFD simulations of a VAWT. Key aspects of the flow model and of the numerical solution are discussed, in view of limiting the computational cost while maintaining the reliability of the predictions. A set of operating conditions is considered, in terms of tip-speed-ratio (TSR), covering both peak efficiency condition as well as off-design operation. The fidelity of the numerical predictions is assessed via a systematic comparison with the experimental benchmark data available for this turbine, consisting of both performance and wake measurements carried out in the large-scale wind tunnel of the Politecnico di Milano. The analysis of the flow field on the equatorial plane allows highlighting its time-dependent evolution, with the aim of identifying both the periodic flow structures and the onset of dynamic stall. The full three-dimensional character of the computations allows investigating the aerodynamics of the struts and the evolution of the trailing vorticity at the tip of the blades, eventually resulting in periodic large-scale vortices.

Dimple Shape Effect on the Aerodynamic Performance of H-Rotor Darrieus Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kabita Naik ◽  
Niranjan Sahoo
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Turbulence Models ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Aerodynamic Performance ◽  
Low Noise ◽  
Speed Ratio ◽  
Shape Effect ◽  
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine ◽  
Ansys Fluent

Abstract Nowadays, the vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) have gained significant attention among the small wind turbine (WT) due to their omnidirectional ability, low costs, low noise, and robustness, mainly for urban and off-shore applications. The H-rotor Darrieus is one of the class of VAWT that is mostly suitable for low-speed wind and low tip speed ratio (TSR) conditions. These VAWTs have relatively lesser performance than horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs). Therefore, to improve the performance of the H-rotor Darrieus VAWT, a dimple/cavity of different shapes is created into the surface of the blade airfoil as a power augmentation technique. The current study presents several two-dimensional numerical simulations on the H-rotor Darrieus VAWT in the turbulent flow. The performance of the VAWT has been examined through ANSYS Fluent solver with different turbulence models, and it is found that the Shear stress transport (SST) k–ω turbulence model shows better results. The study primarily focuses on the effect of the dimple location, diameter and shape to enhance the aerodynamic performance of the H-rotor Darrieus VAWT. It is found that the rotor performance is increased by about 13% with a quadral/rectangular dimple in comparison to without dimple. Further, with the inclusion of a dimple on the rotor blade airfoil, its performance is not only enhanced but also able to maintain it for a broad range of TSR. Thus, the present study suggests the implication of a dimple/cavity to be very promising in improving H-rotor Darrieus VAWT.

An improved LB method for predicting dynamic characteristics of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine airfoils

2022 ◽  
pp. 0309524X2110671
Author(s):  
Shoutu Li ◽  
Qing Wang ◽  
Congxin Yang
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Dynamic Characteristic ◽  
Dynamic Characteristics ◽  
Lift Coefficient ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Accurate Method ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Speed Ratio ◽  
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine ◽  
Tip Speed Ratio

One of the important challenges for Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) is to fully understand its dynamic characteristics in different operating conditions. Meanwhile, it is necessary to seek a fast and accurate method to evaluate the dynamic characteristic of VAWT. In this study, we improve the LB model by considering the operating principle of VAWT to study the dynamic characteristics of the dedicated and commonly used VAWT airfoils in different operating conditions. The results show that the improved LB model is suitable for simulating the dynamic characteristic of VAWT with a thick airfoil. Although the asymmetric airfoil shows the higher lift coefficient, their dynamic characteristic appears huge fluctuation as the increases of tip speed ratio. Moreover, at a low tip speed ratio, the advantages of the asymmetric airfoil are not obvious. While the dynamic characteristic of the symmetric airfoil is relatively stable with the variation of tip speed ratio.

Numerical Research on the Characteristics of Lift-Drag Type Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

2012 ◽  
Vol 189 ◽  
pp. 448-452
Author(s):  
Yan Jun Chen ◽  
Guo Qing Wu ◽  
Yang Cao ◽  
Dian Gui Huang ◽  
Qin Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Chord Length ◽  
Power Coefficient ◽  
Speed Ratio ◽  
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine ◽  
Tip Speed Ratio ◽  
Middle Range ◽  
Parabolic Form ◽  
Cfd Method

Numerical studies are conducted to research the performance of a kind of lift-drag type vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) affected by solidity with the CFD method. Moving mesh technique is used to construct the model. The Spalart-Allmaras one equation turbulent model and the implicit coupled algorithm based on pressure are selected to solve the transient equations. In this research, how the tip speed ratio and the solidity of blade affect the power coefficient (Cp) of the small H-VAWT is analyzed. The results indicate that Cp curves exhibit approximate parabolic form with its maximum in the middle range of tip speed ratio. The two-blade wind turbine has the lowest Cp while the three-blade one is more powerful and the four-blade one brings the highest power. With the certain number of blades, there is a best chord length, and too long or too short chord length may reduce the Cp.

scholarly journals Effect of Pitch Parameters on Aerodynamic Forces of a Straight-Bladed Vertical Axis Wind Turbine with Inclined Pitch Axes

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1033
Author(s):  
Jia Guo ◽  
Timing Qu ◽  
Liping Lei
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Speed Ratio ◽  
Incline Angle ◽  
Asymmetric Distribution ◽  
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine ◽  
Power Performance ◽  
Aerodynamic Forces ◽  
Ansys Fluent ◽  
Pitch Regulation

Pitch regulation plays a significant role in improving power performance and achieving output control in wind turbines. The present study focuses on a novel, pitch-regulated vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) with inclined pitch axes. The effect of two pitch parameters (the fold angle and the incline angle) on the instantaneous aerodynamic forces and overall performance of a straight-bladed VAWT under a tip-speed ratio of 4 is investigated using an actuator line model, achieved in ANSYS Fluent software and validated by previous experimental results. The results demonstrate that the fold angle has an apparent influence on the angles of attack and forces of the blades, as well as the power output of the wind turbine. It is helpful to further study the dynamic pitch regulation and adaptable passive pitch regulation of VAWTs. Incline angles away from 90° lead to the asymmetric distribution of aerodynamic forces along the blade span, which results in an expected reduction of loads on the main shaft and the tower of VAWTs.

Design and performance evaluation of vertical axis wind turbine for wind energy harvesting at railway

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
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Speed Ratio ◽  
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine ◽  
Modeling Tools ◽  
Content Type

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.

Experimental Study of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine with Wind Speed Self-Adapting

2012 ◽  
Vol 215-216 ◽  
pp. 1323-1326
Author(s):  
Ming Wei Xu ◽  
Jian Jun Qu ◽  
Han Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Velocity ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Maximum Power ◽  
The Self ◽  
Power Coefficient ◽  
Speed Ratio ◽  
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine ◽  
Opening And Closing

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.

scholarly journals Kontrol Angle of Attack untuk Optimasi Daya padaVertical Axis Wind Turbine Tipe Darrieus

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 492
Author(s):  
WAHYU AULIA NURWICAKSANA ◽  
BUDHY SETIAWAN ◽  
IKA NOER SYAMSIANA ◽  
SEPTYANA RISKITASARI
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Angle Of Attack ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Speed Ratio ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Proportional Integral Derivative ◽  
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine ◽  
Average Efficiency ◽  
Proportional Integral ◽  
Tip Speed Ratio

ABSTRAKVAWT (Vertical Axis Wind Turbine) tipe Darrieus NACA0015 merupakan salah satu model dari turbin angin yang bekerja dengan menggunakan angin sebagai sumber penggerak. Namun dari hasil pengamatan, kecepatan angin yang ada tidak konstan setiap saat. Sehingga dari permasalahan ini perlu suatu kontrol yaitu dengan mengendalikan sudut kerja blade VAWT yang dikenal dengan kontrol angle of attack (AoA). Prinsip kerja kontrol AoA yaitu sudut blade diatur agar VAWT bekerja secara optimum dan dapat meningkatkan efisiensi. Metode kontrol AoA menggunakan PID (Proportional–Integral–Derivative) dengan memberikan nilai trial and error pada Kp, Ki, Kd. VAWT ini menggunakan konstanta TSR (Tip Speed Ratio) yaitu 4. Hasil dari penelitian ini yaitu daya yang dihasilkan VAWT dengan kontrol AoA mendapatkan rata-rata efisiensi sebesar 5.16%, sedangkan VAWT tanpa kontrol mendapatkan efisiensi sebesar 3.49%. Sehingga dapat disimpulkan bahwa dengan kontrol AoA, rata-rata efisiensi dayanya naik sebesar 1.67% dari yang tanpa kontrol.Kata Kunci: Kontrol Angle of Attack (AoA), VAWT, TSR, Efisiensi ABSTRACTVAWT (Vertical Axis Wind Turbine) type Darrieus NACA0015 is one model of a wind turbine that works by using wind as a source of propulsion. Conditions from observations, wind speeds that are not constant every time. So from this problem needs control VAWT by controlling the working angle of the VAWT blade is the angle of attack control (AoA). The principle AoA control is that the blade angle adjusted so that the VAWT works optimally and can improve the efficiency. AoA control method uses PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) by providing trial and error values for Kp, Ki, Kd. VAWT uses TSR (Tip Speed Ratio) constant which is 4. The results of this research, VAWT with AoA control get an average efficiency of 5.16%, while without control gets an average efficiency of 3.49%. So it can be concluded that with AoA control, the average power efficiency increases by 1.67% from those without control.Keywords: Angle of Attack (AoA) Control, VAWT, TSR, Efficiency

scholarly journals A Dynamic Rotor Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine with a Blade Transitioning Capability

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elie Antar ◽  
Amne El Cheikh ◽  
Michel Elkhoury
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Average Power ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Power Coefficient ◽  
Speed Ratio ◽  
Optimized Design ◽  
Detached Eddy Simulation ◽  
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation

This work presents an optimized design of a dynamic rotor vertical-axis wind turbine (DR VAWT) which maximizes the operational tip-speed ratio (TSR) range and the average power coefficient (Cp) value while maintaining a low cut-in wind velocity. The DR VAWT is capable of mimicking a Savonius rotor during the start-up phase and transitioning into a Darrieus one with increasing rotor radius at higher TSRs. The design exploits the fact that with increasing rotor radius, the TSR value increases, where the peak power coefficient is attained. A 2.5D improved delayed detached eddy simulation (IDDES) approach was adopted in order to optimize the dynamic rotor design, where results showed that the generated blades’ trajectories can be readily replicated by simple mechanisms in reality. A thorough sensitivity analysis was conducted on the generated optimized blades’ trajectories, where results showed that they were insensitive to values of the Reynolds number. The performance of the DR VAWT turbine with its blades following different trajectories was contrasted with the optimized turbine, where the influence of the blade pitch angle was highlighted. Moreover, a cross comparison between the performance of the proposed design and that of the hybrid Savonius–Darrieus one found in the literature was carefully made. Finally, the effect of airfoil thickness on the performance of the optimized DR VAWT was thoroughly analyzed.

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