Effect of Wind Tunnel Blockage on the Performance of a Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine with Different Blade Number

Abdelgalil Eltayesh, Magdy Bassily Hanna, Francesco Castellani, A.S. Huzayyin, Hesham M. El-Batsh, Massimiliano Burlando and Matteo Becchetti
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Abdelgalil Eltayesh: Mechanical Engineering Department, Benha Faculty of Engineering, Benha University, Benha 13512, Egypt
Magdy Bassily Hanna: Mechanical Power and Energy Department, Faculty of Engineering, Minia University, Minia 61519, Egypt
Francesco Castellani: Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti 93, 06125 Perugia, Italy
A.S. Huzayyin: Mechanical Engineering Department, Benha Faculty of Engineering, Benha University, Benha 13512, Egypt
Hesham M. El-Batsh: Mechanical Engineering Department, Benha Faculty of Engineering, Benha University, Benha 13512, Egypt
Massimiliano Burlando: Department of Civil, Chemical, and Environmental Engineering, University of Genoa, Via Montallegro 1, 16145 Genoa, Italy
Matteo Becchetti: Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti 93, 06125 Perugia, Italy

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-15

Abstract: Blockage corrections for the experimental results obtained for a small-scale wind turbine in a wind tunnel are required in order to estimate how the same turbine would perform in real conditions. The tunnel blockage is defined as the ratio of the wind turbine swept area to the wind tunnel cross-section area. Experimental measurements of the power coefficient were performed on a horizontal-axis wind turbine with two rotors of diameter equal to 2 m and different numbers of blades, namely three and five. Measurements were carried out for different tip speed ratios in the closed circuit open test section wind tunnel of the University of Perugia (Italy). The obtained experimental results were compared with the numerical ones carried out in free conditions by using a CFD approach based on the steady-RANS method with the SST k - ω turbulence model, adopting the multiple reference frame (MRF) strategy to reduce the computational effort. The comparison showed that the maximum value of blockage, which is reached in the asymptotic limit at very large tip speed ratio (TSR) values, does not depend appreciably on the number of blades. A higher number of blades, however, makes the occurrence of the maximum blockage come earlier at lower TSRs.

Keywords: wind tunnel blockage; small-size wind turbines; wind tunnel tests; CFD simulations (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: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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