scholarly journals A comparison between the dynamics of horizontal and vertical axis offshore floating wind turbines

Author(s):  
M. Borg ◽  
M. Collu

The need to further exploit offshore wind resources in deeper waters has led to a re-emerging interest in vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) for floating foundation applications. However, there has been little effort to systematically compare VAWTs to the more conventional horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT). This article initiates this comparison based on prime principles, focusing on the turbine aerodynamic forces and their impact on the floating wind turbine static and dynamic responses. VAWTs generate substantially different aerodynamic forces on the support structure, in particular, a potentially lower inclining moment and a substantially higher torque than HAWTs. Considering the static stability requirements, the advantages of a lower inclining moment, a lower wind turbine mass and a lower centre of gravity are illustrated, all of which are exploitable to have a less costly support structure. Floating VAWTs experience increased motion in the frequency range surrounding the turbine [number of blades]×[rotational speed] frequency. For very large VAWTs with slower rotational speeds, this frequency range may significantly overlap with the range of wave excitation forces. Quantitative considerations are undertaken comparing the reference NREL 5 MW HAWT with the NOVA 5 MW VAWT.

Author(s):  
Martin L. Pollack ◽  
Brian J. Petersen ◽  
Benjamin S. H. Connell ◽  
David S. Greeley ◽  
Dwight E. Davis

Coincidence of structural resonances with wind turbine dynamic forces can lead to large amplitude stresses and subsequent accelerated fatigue. For this reason, the wind turbine system is designed to avoid resonance coincidence. In particular, the current practice is to design the wind turbine support structure such that its fundamental resonance does not coincide with the fundamental rotational and blade passing frequencies of the rotor. For offshore wind turbines, resonance avoidance is achieved by ensuring that the support structure fundamental resonant frequency lies in the frequency band between the rotor and blade passing frequencies over the operating range of the turbine. This strategy is referred to as “soft-stiff” and has major implications for the structural design of the wind turbine. This paper details the technical basis for the “soft-stiff” resonance avoidance design methodology, investigates potential vulnerabilities in this approach, and explores the sensitivity of the wind turbine structural response to different aspects of the system’s design. The assessment addresses the wind turbine forcing functions, the coupled dynamic responses and resonance characteristics of the wind turbine’s structural components, and the system’s susceptibility to fatigue failure. It is demonstrated that the design practices for offshore wind turbines should reflect the importance of aerodynamic damping for the suppression of deleterious vibrations, consider the possibility of foundation degradation and its influence on the support structure’s fatigue life, and include proper treatment of important ambient sources such as wave and gust loading. These insights inform potential vibration mitigation and resonance avoidance strategies, which are briefly discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 215-221
Author(s):  
Anna Kuwana ◽  
Xue Yan Bai ◽  
Dan Yao ◽  
Haruo Kobayashi

There are many types of wind turbine. Large propeller-type wind turbines are used mainly for large wind farms and offshore wind power generation. Small vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) are often used in distributed energy systems. In previous studies on wind turbines, the basic characteristics such as torque coefficient have often been obtained during rotation, with the turbine rotating at a constant speed. Such studies are necessary for the proper design of wind turbines. However, it is also necessary to conduct research under conditions in which the wind direction and wind speed change over time. Numerical simulation of the starting characteristics is carried out in this study. Based on the flow field around the wind turbine, the force required to rotate the turbine is calculated. The force used to stop the turbine is modeled based on friction in relation to the bearing. Equations for the motion of the turbine are solved by their use as external force. Wind turbine operation from the stationary state to the start of rotation is simulated. Five parameters, namely, blade length, wind turbine radius, overlap, gap, and blade thickness, are changed and the optimum shape is obtained. The simulation results tend to qualitatively agree with the experimental results for steadily rotating wind turbines in terms of two aspects: (1) the optimal shape has an 20% overlap of the turbine radius, and (2) the larger the gap, the lower the efficiency.


2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Cevasco ◽  
M Collu ◽  
CM Rizzo ◽  
M Hall

Despite several potential advantages, relatively few studies and design support tools have been developed for floating vertical axis wind turbines. Due to the substantial aerodynamics differences, the analyses of vertical axis wind turbine on floating structures cannot be easily extended from what have been already done for horizontal axis wind turbines. Therefore, the main aim of the present work is to compare the dynamic response of the floating offshore wind turbine system adopting two different mooring dynamics approaches. Two versions of the in-house aero-hydro-mooring coupled model of dynamics for floating vertical axis wind turbine (FloVAWT) have been used, employing a mooring quasi-static model, which solves the equations using an energetic approach, and a modified version of floating vertical axis wind turbine, which instead couples with the lumped mass mooring line model MoorDyn. The results, in terms of mooring line tension, fatigue and response in frequency have been obtained and analysed, based on a 5 MW Darrieus type rotor supported by the OC4-DeepCwind semisubmersible.


Author(s):  
Yajun Ren ◽  
Vengatesan Venugopal

Abstract The complex dynamic characteristics of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines (FOWTs) have raised wider consideration, as they are likely to experience harsher environments and higher instabilities than the bottom fixed offshore wind turbines. Safer design of a mooring system is critical for floating offshore wind turbine structures for station keeping. Failure of mooring lines may lead to further destruction, such as significant changes to the platform’s location and possible collisions with a neighbouring platform and eventually complete loss of the turbine structure may occur. The present study focuses on the dynamic responses of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)’s OC3-Hywind spar type floating platform with a NREL offshore 5-MW baseline wind turbine under failed mooring conditions using the fully coupled numerical simulation tool FAST. The platform motions in surge, heave and pitch under multiple scenarios are calculated in time-domain. The results describing the FOWT motions in the form of response amplitude operators (RAOs) and spectral densities are presented and discussed in detail. The results indicate that the loss of the mooring system firstly leads to longdistance drift and changes in platform motions. The natural frequencies and the energy contents of the platform motion, the RAOs of the floating structures are affected by the mooring failure to different degrees.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4.13) ◽  
pp. 74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhd Khudri Johari ◽  
Muhammad Azim A Jalil ◽  
Mohammad Faizal Mohd Shariff

As the demand for green technology is rising rapidly worldwide, it is important that Malaysian researchers take advantage of Malaysia’s windy climates and areas to initiate more power generation projects using wind. The main objectives of this study are to build a functional wind turbine and to compare the performance of two types of design for wind turbine under different speeds and behaviours of the wind. A three-blade horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) and a Darrieus-type vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) have been designed with CATIA software and constructed using a 3D-printing method. Both wind turbines have undergone series of tests before the voltage and current output from the wind turbines are collected. The result of the test is used to compare the performance of both wind turbines that will imply which design has the best efficiency and performance for Malaysia’s tropical climate. While HAWT can generate higher voltage (up to 8.99 V at one point), it decreases back to 0 V when the wind angle changes. VAWT, however, can generate lower voltage (1.4 V) but changes in the wind angle does not affect its voltage output at all. The analysis has proven that VAWT is significantly more efficient to be built and utilized for Malaysia’s tropical and windy climates. This is also an initiative project to gauge the possibility of building wind turbines, which could be built on the extensive and windy areas surrounding Malaysian airports.  


Author(s):  
Nan Yan ◽  
Tyamo Okosun ◽  
Sanjit K. Basak ◽  
Dong Fu ◽  
John Moreland ◽  
...  

Virtual Reality (VR) is a rising technology that creates a computer-generated immersive environment to provide users a realistic experience, through which people who are not analysis experts become able to see numerical simulation results in a context that they can easily understand. VR supports a safe and productive working environment in which users can perceive worlds, which otherwise could be too complex, too dangerous, or impossible or impractical to explore directly, or even not yet in existence. In recent years, VR has been employed to an increasing number of scientific research areas across different disciplines, such as numerical simulation of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) discussed in present study. Wind flow around wind turbines is a complex problem to simulate and understand. Predicting the interaction between wind and turbine blades is complicated by issues such as rotating motion, mechanical resistance from the breaking system, as well as inter-blade and inter-turbine wake effects. The present research uses CFD numerical simulation to predict the motion and wind flow around two types of turbines: 1) a small scale Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) and 2) a small scale Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT). Results from these simulations have been used to generate virtual reality (VR) visualizations and brought into an immersive environment to attempt to better understand the phenomena involved.


Author(s):  
Xiaohong Chen ◽  
Qing Yu

This paper presents the research in support of the development of design requirements for floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs). An overview of technical challenges in the design of FOWTs is discussed, followed by a summary of the case studies using representative FOWT concepts. Three design concepts, including a Spar-type, a TLP-type and a Semisubmersible-type floating support structure carrying a 5-MW offshore wind turbine, are selected for the case studies. Both operational and extreme storm conditions on the US Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) are considered. A state-of-the-art simulation technique is employed to perform fully coupled aero-hydro-servo-elastic analysis using the integrated FOWT model. This technique can take into account dynamic interactions among the turbine Rotor-Nacelle Assembly (RNA), turbine control system, floating support structure and stationkeeping system. The relative importance of various design parameters and their impact on the development of design criteria are evaluated through parametric analyses. The paper also introduces the design requirements put forward in the recently published ABS Guide for Building and Classing Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Installations (ABS, 2013).


2019 ◽  
pp. 68-76

Modelo Teórico de los Sistemas de Aerogeneración Eléctrica para las Turbinas Eólicas de Eje Vertical Theoretical Model of Electric Aerogeneration Systems for Vertical Axis Wind Turbines Anthony Pinedo, Guillermo Ramírez, Lincoln Chiguala, Juan Estrada, David Asmat, Renny Nazario, Daniel Delfín, Lourdes Noriega, Silvia Aguilar, Randy Rosas, Luisa Juárez DOI: https://doi.org/10.33017/RevECIPeru2009.0027/ RESUMEN Existen dos tipos de sistemas de aerogeneración eléctrica por turbinas eólicas, los llamados de eje horizontal (HAWT) y los de eje vertical (VAWT). Ambos proponen ventajas y desventajas, dependiendo de muchos factores. Pero en general, no fue hasta hace unos años que el segundo tipo había sido ignorado, debido a la poca potencia que producía en comparación con los HAWT. Pero con la adaptación de un sistema de levitación, y un nuevo sistema de inducción magnética, las VAWT, lograron incrementar notablemente la energía obtenida, llegando incluso a superar a los HAWT. A pesar que los modelos VAWT han sido harto estudiados en cuanto al esquema experimental y de diseño, no se formuló ninguna explicación sólida, partiendo de principios básicos, sobre el funcionamiento de los VAWT. En este trabajo, se propone un modelo teórico del funcionamiento de los mismos. Para ello, se realizan tres estudios: la interacción del viento con las aspas del aerogenerador, el sistema de levitación magnética y la producción de energía eléctrica por inducción magnética. Estos tres fenómenos, permiten definir y predecir el funcionamiento de tal sistema de aerogeneración. Además, permite «visualizar» la influencia de los diferentes parámetros sobre la eficiencia del sistema, y así pues, poder manejar, los parámetros que controlamos experimentalmente, para obtener una eficiencia óptima. Palabras clave: aerogeneración eléctrica, turbinas de aire, eje vertical, levitación magnética. ABSTRACT There are two types of systems of electric aerogeneration by using wind turbines, one is called horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) and the other one is called vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT). Both of them have advantages and disadvantages depending on many factors. Since the second one had produced lees power than the first one, they were ignored. However, the adaptation of a levitation system and a new system of magnetic induction made VAWT increase the power produced and exceed the HAWT. Although VAWT models were studied enough in the design and experimental scheme, there is no solid explanation, based on basic principles, on the operation of the VAWT. In this paper is proposed a theoretical model of VAWT operation. Therefore, three studies are done: the interaction between wind and blades of the turbine, the magnetic levitation system and the energy production by magnetic induction. Those studies make us able to know and predict the operation of those systems. Since, we shall know how many factors are affecting the efficiency of the system; we shall be able to control those parameters in order to get the best efficiency. Keywords: electric aerogeneration, vertical axis wind turbine, magnetic levitation.


Author(s):  
Mst Sunzida Ferdoues ◽  
Sasan Ebrahimi ◽  
Krishna Vijayaraghavan

A new class of wind turbine termed the external axis wind turbine (EAWT) has been recently developed. The EAWT is a new class of wind turbines that combines the low cost of vertical axis wind turbines with the high power of horizontal axis wind-turbine. This paper is a first step study that assumes a constant wind speed and a simple on-off controller. The paper optimizes the number of blades in the EAWT and the time at which the controller must be turned on to simultaneously maximize the power while minimizing the time required to reach optimal operation. The multi-objective optimization on the EAWT is performed on a response surface that is generated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. The turbulence model and mesh-sizing for the CFD simulations are validated against previously published experimental results on a buff body. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first study to investigate changing blade count, and determining optimal operation speed to simultaneously maximize power, while minimizing the time needed to reach peak operational point in wind-turbines.


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