Analytical Model for Phase Synchronization of a Pair of Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines

Masaru Furukawa, Yutaka Hara and Yoshifumi Jodai
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Masaru Furukawa: Faculty of Engineering, Tottori University, 4-101 Koyama-Minami, Tottori 680-8552, Japan
Yutaka Hara: Faculty of Engineering, Tottori University, 4-101 Koyama-Minami, Tottori 680-8552, Japan
Yoshifumi Jodai: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kagawa National Institute of Technology (KOSEN), Kagawa College, 355 Chokushi, Takamatsu 761-8058, Japan

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: The phase-synchronized rotation of a pair of closely spaced vertical-axis wind turbines has been found in wind tunnel experiments and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. During phase synchronization, the two wind turbine rotors rotate inversely at the same mean angular velocity. The blades of the two rotors pass through the gap between the turbines almost simultaneously, while the angular velocities oscillate with a small amplitude. A pressure drop in the gap region, explained by Bernoulli’s law, has been proposed to generate the interaction torque required for phase synchronization. In this study, an analytical model of the interaction torques was developed. In our simulations using the model, (i) phase synchronization occurred, (ii) the angular velocities of the rotors oscillated during the phase synchronization, and (iii) the oscillation period became shorter and the amplitude became larger as the interaction became stronger. These observations agree qualitatively with the experiments and CFD simulations. Phase synchronization was found to occur even for a pair of rotors with slightly different torque characteristics. Our simulation also shows that the induced flow velocities influence the dependence of the angular velocities during phase synchronization on the rotation directions of the rotors and the distance between the rotors.

Keywords: vertical-axis wind turbine; phase synchronization; analytical model; Bernoulli’s law (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: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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