Flow Characteristics of a Straight-Bladed Vertical Axis Wind Turbine with Inclined Pitch Axes

Jia Guo and Liping Lei
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Jia Guo: Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials Processing Technology of MOE, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Liping Lei: Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials Processing Technology of MOE, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 23, 1-23

Abstract: Currently, vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) are considered as an alternative technology to horizontal axis wind turbines in specific wind conditions, such as offshore farms. However, complex unsteady wake structures of VAWTs exert a significant influence on performance of wind turbines and wind farms. In the present study, instantaneous flow fields around and downstream of an innovative VAWT with inclined pitch axes are simulated by an actuator line model. Unsteady flow characteristics around the wind turbine with variations of azimuthal angles are discussed. Several fluid parameters are then evaluated on horizontal and vertical planes under conditions of various fold angles and incline angles. Results show that the total estimated wind energy in the shadow of the wind turbine with an incline angle of 30° and 150° is 4.6% higher than that with an incline angle of 90°. In this way, appropriate arrangements of wind turbines with various incline angles have the potential to obtain more power output in a wind farm.

Keywords: vertical axis wind turbine; actuator line model; flow characteristics; pitch regulation (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: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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