Determination of Wake Propagation Downstream of the Wind Turbine Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

Author(s):  
Abolfazl Pourrajabian ◽  
Reza Ebrahimi ◽  
Masoud Mirzaei

A numerical scheme for determination of wake propagation in downstream of a wind turbine was developed by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and analytical correlation. A 3bladed horizontal axis wind turbine was selected and airflow around the wind turbine was analyzed. The flow was assumed steady state and a pressure based approach was adopted to solve the governing equations in an unstructured grid distribution using parallel processing. In conjunction with governing equations, the kω – SST model was used for turbulence modeling. The formation of the wake behind the wind turbine was estimated and an appropriate equation was derived for velocity magnitude at the downstream of the wind turbine. Moreover, the suitable distances between wind turbines in wind and crosswind directions were estimated. Results show a good agreement between the previous researches and the comparison indicates that the CFD could be considered as a proper tool for determination of wake properties, windward and crosswind distance between wind turbines in a wind farm.

2018 ◽  
Vol 154 ◽  
pp. 01111
Author(s):  
Y. Fredrika Littik ◽  
Y. Heru Irawan ◽  
M. Agung Bramantya

Wind turbines model in this paper developed from horizontal axis wind turbine propeller with single rotor (HAWT). This research aims to investigating the influence of front rotor diameter variation (D1) with rear rotor (D2) to the angular velocity optimal (ω) and tip speed ratio (TSR) on counter rotating wind turbines (CRWT). The method used transient 3D simulation with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to perform the aerodynamics characteristic of rotor wind turbines. The counter rotating wind turbines (CRWT) is designed with front rotor diameter of 0.23 m and rear rotor diameter of 0.40 m. In this research, the wind velocity is 4.2 m/s and variation ratio between front rotor and rear rotor (D1/D2) are 0.65; 0.80; 1.20; 1.40; and 1.60 with axial distance (Z/D2) 0.20 m. The result of this research indicated that the variation diameter on front rotor influence the aerodynamics performance of counter rotating wind turbines.


2018 ◽  
Vol 207 ◽  
pp. 02004
Author(s):  
M. Rajaram Narayanan ◽  
S. Nallusamy ◽  
M. Ragesh Sathiyan

In the global scenario, wind turbines and their aerodynamics are always subjected to constant research for increasing their efficiency which converts the abundant wind energy into usable electrical energy. In this research, an attempt is made to increase the efficiency through the changes in surface topology of wind turbines through computational fluid dynamics. Dimples on the other hand are very efficient in reducing air drag as is it evident from the reduction of drag and increase in lift in golf balls. The predominant factors influencing the efficiency of the wind turbines are lift and drag which are to be maximized and minimized respectively. In this research, surface of turbine blades are integrated with dimples of various sizes and arrangements and are analyzed using computational fluid dynamics to obtain an optimum combination. The analysis result shows that there is an increase in power with about 15% increase in efficiency. Hence, integration of dimples on the surface of wind turbine blades has helped in increasing the overall efficiency of the wind turbine.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 168781401984047
Author(s):  
Wonyoung Jeon ◽  
Jeanho Park ◽  
Seungro Lee ◽  
Youngguan Jung ◽  
Yeesock Kim ◽  
...  

An experimental and analytical method to evaluate the performance of a loop-type wind turbine generator is presented. The loop-type wind turbine is a horizontal axis wind turbine with a different shaped blade. A computational fluid dynamics analysis and experimental studies were conducted in this study to validate the performance of the computational fluid dynamics method, when compared with the experimental results obtained for a 1/15 scale model of a 3 kW wind turbine. Furthermore, the performance of a full sized wind turbine is predicted. The computational fluid dynamics analysis revealed a sufficiently large magnitude of external flow field, indicating that no factor influences the flow other than the turbine. However, the experimental results indicated that the wall surface of the wind tunnel significantly affects the flow, due to the limited cross-sectional size of the wind tunnel used in the tunnel test. The turbine power is overestimated when the blockage ratio is high; thus, the results must be corrected by defining the appropriate blockage factor (the factor that corrects the blockage ratio). The turbine performance was corrected using the Bahaj method. The simulation results showed good agreement with the experimental results. The performance of an actual 3 kW wind turbine was also predicted by computational fluid dynamics.


Author(s):  
Nazia Binte Munir ◽  
Kyoungsoo Lee ◽  
Ziaul Huque ◽  
Raghava R. Kommalapati

The main purpose of the paper is to use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in 3-D analysis of aerodynamic forces of a Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) blade and compare the 3-D results with the 2-D experimental results. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Phase VI wind blade profile is used as a model for the analysis. The results are compared with the experimental data obtained by NREL at NASA Ames Research Center for the NREL Phase VI wind turbine blade. The aerodynamic forces are evaluated using 3-D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation. The commercial ANSYS CFX and parameterized 3-D CAD model of NREL Phase VI are used for the analysis. The Shear Stress Transport (SST) Gamma-Theta turbulence model and 0-degree yaw angle condition are adopted for CFD analysis. For the case study seven varying wind speeds (5 m/s, 7 m/s, 10 m/s, 13 m/s, 15 m/s, 20 m/s, 25 m/s) with constant blade rotational speed (72 rpm) are considered. To evaluate the 3-D aerodynamic effect sectional pressure coefficient (Cp) and integrated forces about primary axis such as normal, tangential, thrust and torque are evaluated for each of the seven wind speed cases and compared with the NREL experimental values. The numerical difference of values on wind blade surface between this study and 3-D results of NREL wind tunnel test are found negligible. The paper represents an important comparison between the 3-D lift & drag coefficient with the NREL 2-D experimental data. The results shows that though the current study is in good agreement with NREL 3-D experimental values there is large deviation between the NREL 2-D experimental data and current 3-D study which suggests that in case of 3-D analysis of aerodynamic force of blade surface it is better to use NREL 3-D values instead of 2-D experimental values.


2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandrina Untaroiu ◽  
Houston G. Wood ◽  
Paul E. Allaire ◽  
Robert J. Ribando

Vertical axis wind turbines have always been a controversial technology; claims regarding their benefits and drawbacks have been debated since the initial patent in 1931. Despite this contention, very little systematic vertical axis wind turbine research has been accomplished. Experimental assessments remain prohibitively expensive, while analytical analyses are limited by the complexity of the system. Numerical methods can address both concerns, but inadequate computing power hampered this field. Instead, approximating models were developed which provided some basis for study; but all these exhibited high error margins when compared with actual turbine performance data and were only useful in some operating regimes. Modern computers are capable of more accurate computational fluid dynamics analysis, but most research has focused on horizontal axis configurations or modeling of single blades rather than full geometries. In order to address this research gap, a systematic review of vertical axis wind-power turbine (VAWT) was undertaken, starting with establishment of a methodology for vertical axis wind turbine simulation that is presented in this paper. Replicating the experimental prototype, both 2D and 3D models of a three-bladed vertical axis wind turbine were generated. Full transient computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations using mesh deformation capability available in ansys-CFX were run from turbine start-up to operating speed and compared with the experimental data in order to validate the technique. A circular inner domain, containing the blades and the rotor, was allowed to undergo mesh deformation with a rotational velocity that varied with torque generated by the incoming wind. Results have demonstrated that a transient CFD simulation using a two-dimensional computational model can accurately predict vertical axis wind turbine operating speed within 12% error, with the caveat that intermediate turbine performance is not accurately captured.


2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Horb ◽  
R Fuchs ◽  
A Immas ◽  
F Silvert ◽  
P Deglaire

NENUPHAR aims at developing the next generation of large-scale floating offshore vertical-axis wind turbine. To challenge the horizontal-axis wind turbine, the variable blade pitch control appears to be a promising solution. This article focuses on blade pitch law optimization and resulting power and thrust gain depending on the operational conditions. The aerodynamics resulting from the implementation of a variable blade pitch control are studied through numerical simulations, either with a three-dimensional vortex code or with two-dimensional Navier-stokes simulations (two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics). Results showed that the three-dimensional vortex code used as quasi-two-dimensional succeeded to give aerodynamic loads in very good agreement with two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulation results. The three-dimensional-vortex code was then used in three-dimensional configuration, highlighting that the variable pitch can enhance the vertical-axis wind turbine power coefficient ( Cp) by more than 15% in maximum power point tracking mode and decrease it by more than 75% in power limitation mode while keeping the thrust below its rated value.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 4983 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Sumait Sy ◽  
Binoe Eugenio Abuan ◽  
Louis Angelo Macapili Danao

Wind energy is one of the fastest growing renewable energy sources, and the most developed energy extraction device that harnesses this energy is the Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT). Increasing the efficiency of HAWTs is one important topic in current research with multiple aspects to look at such as blade design and rotor array optimization. This study looked at the effect of wingtip devices, a split winglet, in particular, to reduce the drag induced by the wind vortices at the blade tip, hence increasing performance. Split winglet implementation was done using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) on the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) Phase VI sequence H. In total, there are four (4) blade configurations that are simulated, the base NREL Phase VI sequence H blade, an extended version of the previous blade to equalize length of the blades, the base blade with a winglet and the base blade with split winglet. Results at wind speeds of 7 m/s to 15 m/s show that adding a winglet increased the power generation, on an average, by 1.23%, whereas adding a split winglet increased it by 2.53% in comparison to the extended blade. The study also shows that the increase is achieved by reducing the drag at the blade tip and because of the fact that the winglet and split winglet generating lift themselves. This, however, comes at a cost, i.e., an increase in thrust of 0.83% and 2.05% for the blades with winglet and split winglet, respectively, in comparison to the extended blade.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 2314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yin Zhang ◽  
Bumsuk Kim

Accurate prediction of the time-dependent system dynamic responses of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) under aero-hydro-coupled conditions is a challenge. This paper presents a numerical modeling tool using commercial computational fluid dynamics software, STAR-CCM+(V12.02.010), to perform a fully coupled dynamic analysis of the DeepCwind semi-submersible floating platform with the National Renewable Engineering Lab (NREL) 5-MW baseline wind turbine model under combined wind–wave excitation environment conditions. Free-decay tests for rigid-body degrees of freedom (DOF) in still water and hydrodynamic tests for a regular wave are performed to validate the numerical model by inputting gross system parameters supported in the Offshore Code Comparison, Collaboration, Continued, with Correlations (OC5) project. A full-configuration FOWT simulation, with the simultaneous motion of the rotating blade due to 6-DOF platform dynamics, was performed. A relatively heavy load on the hub and blade was observed for the FOWT compared with the onshore wind turbine, leading to a 7.8% increase in the thrust curve; a 10% decrease in the power curve was also observed for the floating-type turbines, which could be attributed to the smaller project area and relative wind speed required for the rotor to receive wind power when the platform pitches. Finally, the tower-blade interference effects, blade-tip vortices, turbulent wakes, and shedding vortices in the fluid domain with relatively complex unsteady flow conditions were observed and investigated in detail.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 3515
Author(s):  
J. Gaitan-Aroca ◽  
Fabio Sierra ◽  
Jose Ulises Castellanos Contreras

In this paper, the performance of a biomimetic wind rotor design inspired by Petrea Volubilis seed is presented. Experimentation for this rotor is configured as a horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) and numerical analysis is done in order to obtain performance curves with the open-source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software OpenFoam®. Numerical analysis and experimental results are compared for power Coefficient (Cp) and thrust coefficient (CT). The biomimetic rotor analysis is also compared with experimental results exposed by Castañeda et al. (2011), who were the first to develop those experimentations with this new rotor design. Computational fluid dynamics simulations were performed using an incompressible large Edyy simulation (LES) turbulence models with a localized sub-grid scale (SGS) dynamic one-equation eddy-viscosity. A dynamic mesh based on an arbitrary mesh interface (AMI) was used to simulate rotation and to evaluate flow around rotor blades in order to accurately capture the flow field behavior and to obtain global variables that allow to determine the power potential of this wind rotor turbine. This study will show the potential of this new rotor design for wind power generation.


Vibration ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 248-262
Author(s):  
Nikhil Bagalkot ◽  
Arvind Keprate ◽  
Rune Orderløkken

The blades of the horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) are generally subjected to significant forces resulting from the flow field around the blade. These forces are the main contributor of the flow-induced vibrations that pose structural integrity challenges to the blade. The study focuses on the application of the gradient boosting regressor (GBR) for predicting the wind turbine response to a combination of wind speed, angle of attack, and turbulence intensity when the air flows over the rotor blade. In the first step, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were carried out on a horizontal axis wind turbine to estimate the force distribution on the blade at various wind speeds and the blade’s attack angle. After that, data obtained for two different angles of attack (4° and 8°) from CFD acts as an input dataset for the GBR algorithm, which is trained and tested to obtain the force distribution. An estimated variance score of 0.933 and 0.917 is achieved for 4° and 8°, respectively, thus showing a good agreement with the force distribution obtained from CFD. High prediction accuracy and less time consumption make GBR a suitable alternative for CFD to predict force at various wind velocities for which CFD analysis has not been performed.


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