3D CFD Analysis of a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

Andrea Alaimo, Antonio Esposito, Antonio Messineo, Calogero Orlando and Davide Tumino
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Andrea Alaimo: Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Kore University of Enna, Cittadella Universitaria, 94100 Enna, Italy
Antonio Esposito: Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Kore University of Enna, Cittadella Universitaria, 94100 Enna, Italy
Antonio Messineo: Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Kore University of Enna, Cittadella Universitaria, 94100 Enna, Italy
Calogero Orlando: Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Kore University of Enna, Cittadella Universitaria, 94100 Enna, Italy
Davide Tumino: Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Kore University of Enna, Cittadella Universitaria, 94100 Enna, Italy

Energies, 2015, vol. 8, issue 4, 1-21

Abstract: To analyze the complex and unsteady aerodynamic flow associated with wind turbine functioning, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is an attractive and powerful method. In this work, the influence of different numerical aspects on the accuracy of simulating a rotating wind turbine is studied. In particular, the effects of mesh size and structure, time step and rotational velocity have been taken into account for simulation of different wind turbine geometries. The applicative goal of this study is the comparison of the performance between a straight blade vertical axis wind turbine and a helical blade one. Analyses are carried out through the use of computational fluid dynamic ANSYS® Fluent® software, solving the Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations. At first, two-dimensional simulations are used in a preliminary setup of the numerical procedure and to compute approximated performance parameters, namely the torque, power, lift and drag coefficients. Then, three-dimensional simulations are carried out with the aim of an accurate determination of the differences in the complex aerodynamic flow associated with the straight and the helical blade turbines. Static and dynamic results are then reported for different values of rotational speed.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics (CFD); vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT); straight blade; helical blade (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: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (25)

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