Separated Flow Control of Small Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbine Blades Using Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuators

Hikaru Aono, Hiroaki Fukumoto, Yoshiaki Abe, Makoto Sato, Taku Nonomura and Kozo Fujii
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Hikaru Aono: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo 125-8585, Japan
Hiroaki Fukumoto: Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, The University of Tokyo, Kanagawa 252-5210, Japan
Yoshiaki Abe: Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University, Miyagi 980-8577, Japan
Makoto Sato: Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Kogakuin University, Tokyo 163-8677, Japan
Taku Nonomura: Department of Aerospace Engineering, Tohoku University, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
Kozo Fujii: Department of Information and Computer Technology, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo 125-8585, Japan

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: The flow control over the blades of a small horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) model using a dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator (DBD-PA) was studied based on large-eddy simulations. The numerical simulations were performed with a high-resolution computational method, and the effects of the DBD-PA on the flow fields around the blades were modeled as a spatial body force distribution. The DBD-PA was installed at the leading edge of the blades, and its impacts on the flow fields and axial torque generation were discussed. The increase in the ratios of the computed, cycle-averaged axial torque reasonably agreed with that of the available experimental data. In addition, the computed results presented a maximum of 19% increase in the cycle-averaged axial torque generation by modulating the operating parameters of the DBD-PA because of the suppression of the leading edge separation when the blade’s effective angles of attack were relatively high. Thus, the suppression of the leading edge separation by flow control can lead to a delay in the breakdown of the tip vortex as a secondary effect.

Keywords: wind turbine blade; plasma actuator; flow control; large-eddy simulation (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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