Assessment and optimization of the power performance of twin vertical axis wind turbines via numerical simulations

H.Y. Peng, Z.D. Han, H.J. Liu, K. Lin and H.F. Lam

Renewable Energy, 2020, vol. 147, issue P1, 43-54

Abstract: The power performance of twin vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) is believed to surpass that of their individual counterparts. In this study, the power performance of twin VAWTs was investigated via computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations by changing their configuration parameters, including the airfoil section (NACA), solidity ratio (σ), pitch angle (β), rotational direction (φ), and turbine spacing (S/D). The CFD model was validated against wind tunnel test data from the literature. An L16 (45) orthogonal table was adopted to optimize the power performance using the Taguchi method. The rated power coefficient (CP) and rated tip speed ratio (TSR) were calculated for the 16 cases in the table. The extent of impact of the five parameters on the rated TSR ranked as σ ˃ β ˃ NACA ˃ φ ˃ S/D. In comparison, the extent of impact of these parameters on CP ranked as β ˃ S/D ˃ σ ˃ NACA ˃ φ. The optimal and worst configurations of the twin VAWTs were determined and their CP values increased by 13% and 8%, respectively, from that of their standalone counterparts. Moreover, the rated TSRs of the twin VAWTs differed from those of their standalone counterparts.

Keywords: Twin VAWTs; Power performance; Optimization; CFD simulation; Taguchi method (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148119313114
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:147:y:2020:i:p1:p:43-54

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2019.08.124

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable Energy is currently edited by Soteris A. Kalogirou and Paul Christodoulides

More articles in Renewable Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().