Parametric Analysis Using CFD to Study the Impact of Geometric and Numerical Modeling on the Performance of a Small Scale Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine

Muhammad Salman Siddiqui, Muhammad Hamza Khalid, Abdul Waheed Badar, Muhammed Saeed and Taimoor Asim
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Muhammad Salman Siddiqui: Faculty of Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, 1430 Ås, Norway
Muhammad Hamza Khalid: Department of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics & Computer Science, University of Twente, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands
Abdul Waheed Badar: Department of Mechanical Engineering, HITEC University, Taxila 47050, Pakistan
Muhammed Saeed: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi 127788, United Arab Emirates
Taimoor Asim: School of Engineering, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen AB10 7GJ, UK

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 2, 1-21

Abstract: The reliance on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations has drastically increased over time to evaluate the aerodynamic performance of small-scale wind turbines. With the rapid variability in customer demand, industrial requirements, economic constraints, and time limitations associated with the design and development of small-scale wind turbines, the trade-off between computational resources and the simulation’s numerical accuracy may vary significantly. In the context of wind turbine design and analysis, high fidelity simulation under full geometric and numerical complexity is more accurate but pose significant demands from a computational standpoint. There is a need to understand and quantify performance deterioration of high fidelity simulations under reduced geometric or numerical approximation on a single small scale turbine model. In the present work, the flow past a small-scale Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) was simulated under various geometric and numerical configurations. The geometric complexity was varied based on stationary and rotating turbine conditions. In the stationary case, simple 2D airfoil, 2.5D blade, 3D blade sections are evaluated, while rotational effects are introduced for the configuration 3D blade, rotor only, and the full-scale wind turbine with and without the inclusion of a nacelle and tower. In terms of numerical complexity, the Single Reference Frame (SRF), Multiple Reference Frames (MRF), and the Sliding Meshing Interface (SMI) is analyzed over Tip Speed Ratios (TSR) of 3, 6, 10. The quantification of aerodynamic coefficients of the blade ( C l , C d ) and turbine ( C p , C t ) was conducted along with the discussion on wake patterns in comparison with experimental data.

Keywords: wind energy; horizontal axis wind turbine; computational fluid dynamics; high fidelity simulations; sliding mesh interface; multiple reference frame (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 (4)

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