Effect of Blade Pitch Angle on the Aerodynamic Characteristics of a Straight-bladed Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Based on Experiments and Simulations

Yanzhao Yang, Zhiping Guo, Qing Song, Yanfeng Zhang and Qing’an Li
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Yanzhao Yang: College of Mechanical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot 010051, China
Zhiping Guo: College of Mechanical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot 010051, China
Qing Song: School of Electrical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, China
Yanfeng Zhang: College of Mechanical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot 010051, China
Qing’an Li: CAS Laboratory of Wind Energy Utilization, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 6, 1-15

Abstract: The blade pitch angle has a significant influence on the aerodynamic characteristics of horizontal axis wind turbines. However, few research results have revealed its impact on the straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbine (Sb-VAWT). In this paper, wind tunnel experiments and CFD simulations were performed at the Sb-VAWT to investigate the effect of different blade pitch angles on the pressure distribution on the blade surface, the torque coefficient, and the power coefficient. In this study, the airfoil type was NACA0021 with two blades. The Sb-VAWT had a rotor radius of 1.0 m with a spanwise length of 1.2 m. The simulations were based on the k-ω Shear Stress Transport ( SST ) turbulence model and the wind tunnel experiments were carried out using a high-speed multiport pressure device. As a result, it was found that the maximum pressure difference on the blade surface was obtained at the blade pitch angle of β = 6° in the upstream region. However, the maximum pressure coefficient was shown at the blade pitch angle of β = 8° in the downstream region. The torque coefficient acting on a single blade reached its maximum value at the blade pitch angle of β = 6°. As the tip speed ratio increased, the power coefficient became higher and reached the optimum level. Subsequently, further increase of the tip speed ratio only led to a quick reversion of the power coefficient. In addition, the results from CFD simulations had also a good agreement with the results from the wind tunnel experiments. As a result, the blade pitch angle did not have a significant influence on the aerodynamic characteristics of the Sb-VAWT.

Keywords: wind energy; Sb-VAWT; blade pitch angle; pressure coefficient; power coefficient (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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