Comparative Aerodynamic Analysis and Parallel Performance of 2D CFD Simulations of a VAWT Using Sliding Mesh Interface Method

As the utilization of wind energy continues to expand as a prominent renewable energy source, the application of Darrieus Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) technology has expanded significantly. Various passive modification methods have been developed to enhance efficiency and optimize the aerodynamic performance of the rotor through blade modifications. This study presents passive modification method utilizing Kline–Fogleman (KF) blades which incorporate step-like horizontal slats along the trailing edge. Through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations, this study evaluates ten distinct KF blade configurations, varying in step length and depth, with steps positioned on the inner side, outer side, and both sides of the airfoil. The results indicate that the KF blade with a shorter step on inner side, 20%c in length and 2%c in depth, enhances the average power coefficient (Cp) by 19% compared to the rotor with a clean blade. However, when horizontal slats are incorporated on both sides of the blade, with dimensions of 50%c in length and 5%c in depth, Cp decreases by 33% compared to the clean blade. This reduction occurs across both low and high tip speed ratio (TSR) ranges. It has been observed that the presence of a high-pressure zone of 200 Pa at the trailing edge disrupts the aerodynamic performance when the KF blade is in the upwind region between the azimuth angles of 45° and 135°.

A lift-driven vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) generates peak power when it is rotating at high tip-speed ratios (TSR), at which time the blades encounter angles of attack (AOA) over a small range from zero to 30 degrees. However, its ability to self-start is dependent upon its performance at low TSRs, at which time the blades encounter a range of AOAs from zero to 180 degrees. A novel vented aerofoil is presented with the intention of improving the performance of a lift-driven VAWT at low TSRs without hampering the performance of the wind turbine at high TSRs. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation is used to predict the aerodynamic characteristics of a new vented aerofoil based on the well documented NACA0012 profile. Simulations are performed using the SST turbulence model. The results obtained show a reduction in the coefficient of tangential force (the force that generates torque on the wind turbine) at low AOAs (less than 90 degrees) of no more than 30%, while at high AOAs (more than 90 degrees) an improvement in the tangential force of over 100% is observed. Using a simple momentum based performance prediction model, these results suggest that this would lead to an increase in torque generation by a theoretical three-bladed VAWT of up to 20% at low TSRs and a minor reduction in coefficient of performance of up to 9% at TSR of 2 and closer to 1% at higher TSRs.

Slotted airfoils mitigate the flow separation on the blades operating at high angles of attack in the upwind region, consequently augmenting the power coefficient and reducing the startup wind speed of Darrieus vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs). Nonetheless, the presence of the slot structure alters the original flow dynamics, inducing flow separation when the blade operates in the downwind region and at elevated blade tip speed ratios (TSR), which leads to a reduction in the blade’s power coefficient. This study establishes an aerodynamic model of the flow field migration around the blade surface by utilizing the lattice Boltzmann method in conjunction with large eddy simulation to ascertain the influence of the inlet and outlet positions of the slot on the flow field structure across different wind regions. The simulations indicate that, under the downwind region and at high TSR, positioning the slot at the midsection of the blade, although it expands flow separation near the trailing-edge, does not disrupt the primary flow at the leading-edge. Unexpectedly, the slot optimizes the pressure distribution on the pressure side of the blade, thereby enhancing the blade’s performance in the downwind region. At a TSR of 3.3, the average power coefficient of the blades in the downwind region increases by up to 63.62%. These results offer valuable insights for the implementation of slotted airfoils to enhance energy conversion efficiency in VAWTs’ design optimization.

H-type Darrieus vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) have omnidirectional movement capability and can get more power compared to other VAWTs at high tip speed ratios (𝜆). However, its disadvantages are self-starting inability and low generated power at 𝜆 less than 1. The performance of H-type Darrieus wind turbine at 𝜆<1 was studied using double multiple stream tube (DMST) model and two-dimensional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation. In CFD simulation, the Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) equations were used and the turbulence model was solved with SST k-ω model. The performance of fifteen various wind turbines was determined at fourteen wind velocities by two solution methods. The effect of chord length, solidity, Reynolds number and Height to Diameter (H/D) ratio were investigated on generated torque, power and the time required to reach 𝜆=0.1. Increasing in the moment of inertia due to the increasing in required time to reach 𝜆=0.1. In the low TSRs, the wind turbines can generate higher torque and power in high Re numbers and solidities. The required time was reduced by an increase in Re number and solidity. Finally, the best ratio of H/D of H-type Darrieus wind turbines was defined to improve the turbine performance.

Effect of baffles on efficiency of darrieus vertical axis wind turbines equipped with J-type blades

Investigation of Effect of Cambered Blades on Darrieus VAWTs

The starting issue of the Darrieus vertical-axis wind turbine is a crucial challenge, particularly at low tip-speed ratios. This paper demonstrates a solution to overcome the self-starting issue for this turbine type by studying the influence of various blade airfoils in light of their kind and orientation. The proposed airfoils included symmetric airfoils NACA0012 (reference model), E474, and S1048 in addition to cambered airfoils S1210, NACA6712, DU-06-W-200, Clark Y, and FX 63–137. Numerical simulations based on a finite-volume method software, ANSYS Fluent, were executed utilizing the SST-k-ω as a turbulence model to solve unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations. The numerical model was validated against available published experimental data. The results indicated that the cambered-in-oriented NACA6712 airfoil was the most effective at low tip-speed ratios (TSRs) ranging from 1.2 to 2.4. At a TSR of 2.0, its power coefficient (Cp) increased by approximately 180% compared to the reference airfoil at the same TSR. Furthermore, the E474 airfoil performed efficiently at mid-to-high TSRs (2.0 to 3.3). Its peak power coefficient is enhanced by about 19.5% at TSR = 3.0 relative to the reference model at the same TSR. On the other hand, the S1210, Clark Y, and FX63-137 cambered-in-oriented airfoils performed poorly at all TSR ranges (1.2 to 3.5). Nevertheless, the flipping of the camber of these airfoils outward provided a significant improvement in the power coefficient and the torque coefficient relative to the cambered-in-oriented ones. The Clark Y in the flipped orientation performs best at all TSR ranges relative to other flipped airfoils. As a result, NACA6712 was the optimum blade profile chosen for low TSRs, whereas E474 was suitable for mid-to-high TSR zones.

The blades of a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) experience large variations in the angle of attack at low tip-speed ratios and induce blade force oscillation. These unsteady aerodynamic effects must be considered in the VAWT aerodynamic modelling methodology by utilizing a dynamic stall model. The Beddoes–Leishman (B–L) dynamic stall model is a popular method to simulate the unsteady VAWT blade dynamic stall aerodynamics. However, a limitation of the B–L dynamic stall model is the number of the airfoil dependent parameters derived from both steady and unsteady experimental measurements. In this paper, a methodology is described to compute these B–L dynamic stall model airfoil coefficients utilizing a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. This method permits the calculation of the blade dynamic stall characteristics over a range of reduced pitch rates by employing a user-defined sliding mesh motion technique. Furthermore, the variation in the blade Reynolds number is accounted for by conducting simulations at the maximum and minimum VAWT envelope operating limits. Aerodynamic blade force experimental measurements are used to compare the predictions from a low-order model with airfoil data extracted CFD and experiments. This approach expands the applicability of the B–L dynamic stall model for large-scale VAWTs.

The need for energy and electricity has been increasing globally, and this means more power is required from the power plants. Power plants, however, will then continue harming the earth because of the greenhouse gasses produced while generating energies that contribute to global warming. Using renewable sources to produce clean energies is one of the sustainable methods to deal with such challenges. Wind energy is one of the renewable sources, which is accessible anywhere on earth, creating green energy. Wind turbines are mainly categorized into Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT) and Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT). This paper firstly presents a general comparison between the HAWTs and VAWTs. Then, it presents mathematical modelling for the aerodynamic factors of HAWT and Darrieus VAWT to assist the researchers to understand some key design aspects of wind turbines, such as lift/drag ratio, tip speed ratio, power coefficient, and torque coefficient. Also, this paper presents a review of the aerodynamic performance of the recent VAWT designs to help researchers to identify and choose the best model among the Savonius and Darrieus rotors for further development or designing a new model at different wind conditions. This comparison review shows that for a large scale HAWT upwind 3 bladed wind turbines are the most optimum. The helical Savonius rotors perform better by having positive torque coefficient at all azimuth angles. Moreover, helical Darrieus was found to produce lesser noise and suitable for conventional areas. hybrid Savonius-Darrieus rotors can solve the self-starting challenge of the VAWTs, and they are suitable at low wind speeds. At last, this review shows some of the recent hybrid Savonius-Darrieus rotors which would help to solve the low efficiency of Savonius rotor and self-starting challenge of Darrieus rotors.

This study aims to improve the adaptability of vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) in urban wind fields and reduce the cost of 3-D optimization. It focuses on 2-D to 3-D optimization of J-shaped blades. The goal is to enhance kinetic energy capture during startup and improve moment and power performance under different tip speed ratios (TSR). Based on the improved blade-element momentum (BEM) theory, 2-D J-shaped blades were developed for multi-environment applications. They were extended into 3-D forms using variable-section lofting. The 2-D optimization used the Northern Goshawk Optimization–Radial Basis Function (NGO-RBF) neural network and the Multi-Objective Harris Hawks Optimization (MOHHO) algorithm. The objectives were average power coefficient (CPA ) and maximum moment coefficient (Cm-max ). Maximum thickness (δ) and length ratio (lo /c) were design variables. For 3-D blades, moment (M) and average power (Pb ) were used as performance indicators. Integrating the 2-D designs produced symmetric tapered and diffused tips and asymmetric tapered blades. CFD simulations revealed aerodynamic behavior under various TSRs. Optimized 2-D blades enhanced drag effects at low TSR and reduced drag loss while improving lift at high TSR. Among the 3-D designs, the symmetric tapered tip performed best. It increased minimum moment by 7.9% at low TSR and average power by 24.2% at high TSR. The 3-D flow results also confirm the conclusions from the 2-D optimization mechanisms. This study provides an effective design method for VAWT blades in urban parallel wind conditions. It also lays the foundation for future research on adaptive intelligent blades for complex wind environments.

High-solidity straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbine: Aerodynamic force measurements

Research of asymmetric airfoil on aerodynamic characteristics of vertical axis wind turbines

Aerodynamic Optimization and AI-Based Performance Prediction of Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

The application of the Darrieus rotors in regions with lower wind potentials is one of the challenging issues in the operation of this type of vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT). To overcome this problem, various combinations of Darrieus and Savonius rotors, called the hybrid rotor, are proposed, which is one of the attractive subjects among wind turbine researchers. Using the computational fluid dynamics technique (CFD), this study investigates a new combination between the Savonius and Darrieus rotors at which a two-bladed Bach-type rotor is attached inside a two-bladed Darrieus rotor made by NACA 0018. In this way, various attachment angles (α) between the internal and external rotors such as 0°, 45°, and 90° are studied to find the optimal case. Computations are performed for various tip speed ratios (TSR) such as 1.5, 2.5, and 3.5, and free-wind speeds (U∞) of 5 and 10 m/s. The obtained results revealed that the application of a hybrid wind turbine is more beneficial under lower TSR and U∞ values. Additionally, it is demonstrated that the case with α = 90° is the optimal case in TSR = 1.5 and 2.5 providing a maximum 21.43% improvement in comparison to the Darrieus rotor for TSR = 1.5 and U∞ = 5 m/s.

Low-center-of-gravity wind turbines (LCGWTs) characterized by tapered blades whose chord length c increases nonlinearly from the top (where c = 0.11 m) to the bottom (where c = 0.17 m) of each blade. Further, turbines featuring these blades do not need any arms, or even a center pole in the rotor. Two experimental LCGWTs (diameter: 0.4 m; height: 0.25 m) with symmetrical blades (NACA 0018) and cambered blades were built. A dead band, which is a band of tip speed ratio (TSR) where the rotor has negative torque at TSR lower than that where the maximum power-coefficient condition is achieved, was observed when symmetrical blades were subjected to low wind speed. In contrast, no dead band was observed for the cambered blades. Under high wind speeds and over a wide range of TSR values, performance of the LCGWTs was better with cambered blades than with symmetrical blades. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of 2-dimensional rotors whose blade sections corresponded to the blade sections at the equatorial planes of both types of LCGWTs showed the same tendency. Performance predictions by the blade element momentum (BEM) method using aerodynamic data on the NACA 0018 blades showed some agreement with the CFD analysis. For the cambered blade rotor, Wilson and Walker’s empirical correction of the thrust coefficient, a correction that is typically used in simulations of horizontal axis wind turbines, brought the BEM prediction closer to the CFD prediction than Glauert’s correction did. However, the agreement between the BEM prediction with Wilson and Walker’s correction and the CFD prediction of the cambered blade rotor was thought to be just a coincidence due to large difference on the torque variations between BEM and CFD. At least, the Wilson and Walker’s correction predicts larger torque than the Glauert’s correction at high TSR region. : Wind power, Vertical axis wind turbine, Low center of gravity, Cambered blade, Flow curvature, Conformal mapping, Blade element momentum method, Computational fluid dynamics