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CFD simulation of three-straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbine at low tip speed ratios

Syawitri, T.P.; Yao, Yufeng; Chandra, Budi; Yao, Jun

Authors

Yufeng Yao Yufeng.Yao@uwe.ac.uk
Professor in Aerospace Engineering

Profile image of Budi Chandra

Budi Chandra Budi.Chandra@uwe.ac.uk
Associate Director (Mobility Technologies)

Dr Jun Yao Jun.Yao@uwe.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer Aerospace Themofluids



Abstract

This paper presents computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of a three-straight-bladed Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) operating at a wind speed of 9 m/s and low Tip Speed Ratio (TSR) ranging from 1.44 to 3.3. The turbine blade has NACA 0021 profile and the rotor diameter is 1.030 meters. CFD modelling starts with domain enclosure blades solely and later includes the main shaft to investigate its wake effects. Precursor studies such as spatial-temporal resolutions and rotational convergence are performed. The time-averaged simulation results are validated against available experimental measurements and numerical predictions from open literatures. Using fewer grids with improved mesh quality, simulation takes less wall-clock time to complete and produces better predictions compared to other published CFD results. The main shaft is found to have noticeable effects on the simulation accuracy, as its wake will have large impacts on downstream field by reducing the blade power generation once it passing through that region. Further quantitative results show that while the overall average power coefficient (Cp) of VAWT is about 0.37, lower than the Betz limit (0.593), some instantaneous power coefficients are over-performed (i.e. 86°-109° for blade 1, 206°-229° for blade 2 and 326°-349° for blade 3) with the maximum value of 0.63 above the Betz limit. Further flow visualizations around blade 1 have shown that the blade of VAWT cannot always generate power during one turbine revolution. The vorticity contours exhibit that large vortex structure presents and the blade experiences vortex-induced separation between 160° to 360° azimuthal angles which lead to negative torque production.

Presentation Conference Type Conference Paper (unpublished)
Conference Name International Conference of Global Warming and Climate Change 2018
Start Date Oct 4, 2018
End Date Oct 5, 2018
Acceptance Date Aug 20, 2019
Peer Reviewed Not Peer Reviewed
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/845816
Additional Information Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : International Conference of Global Warming and Climate Change 2018