Understanding the Aerodynamic Behavior and Energy Conversion Capability of Small Darrieus Vertical Axis Wind Turbines in Turbulent Flows

Francesco Balduzzi, Marco Zini, Andreu Carbó Molina, Gianni Bartoli, Tim De Troyer, Mark C. Runacres, Giovanni Ferrara and Alessandro Bianchini
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Francesco Balduzzi: Department of Industrial Engineering (DIEF), Università degli Studi di Firenze, via di Santa Marta 3, 50139 Firenze, Italy
Marco Zini: Department of Industrial Engineering (DIEF), Università degli Studi di Firenze, via di Santa Marta 3, 50139 Firenze, Italy
Andreu Carbó Molina: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DICEA), Università degli Studi di Firenze, via di Santa Marta 3, 50139 Firenze, Italy
Gianni Bartoli: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DICEA), Università degli Studi di Firenze, via di Santa Marta 3, 50139 Firenze, Italy
Tim De Troyer: Thermo and Fluid Dynamics (FLOW), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Mark C. Runacres: Thermo and Fluid Dynamics (FLOW), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Giovanni Ferrara: Department of Industrial Engineering (DIEF), Università degli Studi di Firenze, via di Santa Marta 3, 50139 Firenze, Italy
Alessandro Bianchini: Department of Industrial Engineering (DIEF), Università degli Studi di Firenze, via di Santa Marta 3, 50139 Firenze, Italy

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-15

Abstract: Small Darrieus vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) have recently been proposed as a possible solution for adoption in the built environment as their performance degrades less in complex and highly-turbulent flows. Some recent analyses have even shown an increase of the power coefficient for the large turbulence intensities and length scales typical of such environments. Starting from these insights, this study presents a combined numerical and experimental analysis aimed at assessing the physical phenomena that take place during the operation of a Darrieus VAWT in turbulent flows. Wind tunnel experiments provided a quantification of the performance variation of a two-blade VAWT rotor for different levels of turbulence intensity and length scale. Furthermore, detailed experiments on an individual airfoil provided an estimation of the aerodynamics at high turbulence levels and low Reynolds numbers. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were used to extend the experimental results and to quantify the variation in the energy content of turbulent wind. Finally, the numerical and experimental inputs were synthetized into an engineering simulation tool, which can nicely predict the performance of a VAWT rotor under turbulent conditions.

Keywords: VAWT; Darrieus; turbulence; experiments; CFD (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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