Numerical Investigation of Aerodynamic Performance and Loads of a Novel Dual Rotor Wind Turbine

Behnam Moghadassian, Aaron Rosenberg and Anupam Sharma
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Behnam Moghadassian: Department of Aerospace Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50010, USA
Aaron Rosenberg: Department of Aerospace Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50010, USA
Anupam Sharma: Department of Aerospace Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50010, USA

Energies, 2016, vol. 9, issue 7, 1-30

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to numerically investigate the effects of the atmospheric boundary layer on the aerodynamic performance and loads of a novel dual-rotor wind turbine (DRWT). Large eddy simulations are carried out with the turbines operating in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) and in a uniform inflow. Two stability conditions corresponding to neutral and slightly stable atmospheres are investigated. The turbines are modeled using the actuator line method where the rotor blades are modeled as body forces. Comparisons are drawn between the DRWT and a comparable conventional single-rotor wind turbine (SRWT) to assess changes in aerodynamic efficiency and loads, as well as wake mixing and momentum and kinetic energy entrainment into the turbine wake layer. The results show that the DRWT improves isolated turbine aerodynamic performance by about 5%–6%. The DRWT also enhances turbulent axial momentum entrainment by about 3.3 %. The highest entrainment is observed in the neutral stability case when the turbulence in the ABL is moderately high. Aerodynamic loads for the DRWT, measured as out-of-plane blade root bending moment, are marginally reduced. Spectral analyses of ABL cases show peaks in unsteady loads at the rotor passing frequency and its harmonics for both rotors of the DRWT.

Keywords: dual-rotor wind turbines; momentum entrainment; aerodynamic loads; atmospheric boundary layer (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: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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