Inductor Disc CFD Analysis for VAWT

This work shows the computational simulation of the fluid dynamics of inductor discs (patent pending reception number MX/E/2021/002395) applied to vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT). These inductor discs have a unique and innovative design that can be classified as wind concentrators. The purpose of these devices is to increase wind velocity at the wind turbine entrance; this increase in velocity exponentially boosts the mechanical power of the turbine, according to Betz's theory, increasing the electrical energy production of the turbine and, at the same time, reducing its dimensions. The objective of this investigation is to carry out the fluid dynamic simulation (CFD) of two of the inductor disc geometries: an elliptical one and a truncated conical one, varying the entrance wind velocities of the VAWT from 3 m/s to 12 m/s. The proposed methodology consists of employing a CFD software (ANSYS) to model the two inductor disc geometries and extract them from a static control volume. Mesh this volume, establish boundary conditions, and vary wind velocities to carry out the fluid dynamic analysis. Finally, the obtained velocities are compared at different representative points of both geometries.

Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Sloped Terrain on Wind-Driven Surface Fire and Its Impact on Idealized Structures

In this study, a time-dependent investigation has been conducted to numerically analyze the impact of wind-driven surface fire on an obstacle located on sloped terrain downstream of the fire source. Inclined field with different upslope terrain angles of 0, 10, 20, and 30° at various wind-velocities have been simulated by FireFoam, which is a large eddy simulation (LES) solver of the OpenFOAM platform. The numerical data have been validated using the aerodynamic measurements of a full-scale building model in the absence of fire effects. The results underlined the physical phenomena contributing to the impact of varying wind flow and terrain slope near the fire bed on a built area. The findings indicated that under a constant heat release rate and upstream wind velocity, increasing the upslope terrain angle leads to an increase in the higher temperature areas on the ground near the building. It is also found that raising the inclined terrain slope angle from 0 to 30°, results in an increase in the integrated temperature on the surface of the building. Furthermore, by raising the terrain slope from 0 to 30°, the integrated temperature on the ground for the mentioned cases increases by 16%, 10%, and 13%, respectively.

Blowin’ in the Wind: Wind Dispersal Ability of Phytopathogenic Fusarium in a Wind Tunnel Experiment

Dispersal processes play an essential role in cereal diseases caused by phytopathogenic Fusarium. However, most empirical studies of Fusarium spore dispersal have focused on vertical transport by rain splash, while wind dispersal has been mostly neglected. Our objective was to determine the ability of Fusarium conidiospores to disperse via wind under controlled conditions in a wind tunnel study. Ten Fusarium species with diverse spore varieties were studied by placing them in the wind stream at wind velocities of 5 and 8 m s−1 and collecting them after 6 m and a period of 1 h using a newly developed air sampling box. Although spore concentrations were high in the releasing Petri Dishes, the tested isolates were recaptured in only 18 of 78 runs. F. equiseti and F. cerealis were the most frequently recovered species. Changing abiotic conditions, wind speed, and spore shapes had no significant effect on Fusarium spore recapture rates. Another experiment showed that conidiospores were rarely released from the grown mycelium. Therefore, the importance of wind alone as a dispersal medium for Fusarium conidiospores may have been overestimated so far. Further studies should investigate the importance of carrier media or mobile linkers combined with the wind dispersal of spores.

Shallow water model for pollutant distribution in the Ypacarai Lake

In this paper, we analyze the distribution of a non-reactive contaminant in Ypacarai Lake. We propose a shallow-water model that considers wind-induced currents, inflow and outflow conditions in the tributaries, and bottom effects due to the lakebed. The hydrodynamic is based on the depth-averaged Navier-Stokes equations considering wind stresses as force terms which are functions of the wind velocity. Bed (bottom) stress is based on Manning's equation, the lakebed characteristics, and wind velocities. The contaminant transportation is modeled by a 2D convection-diffusion equation taking into consideration water level. Comparisons between the simulation of the model, analytical solutions, and laboratory results confirm that the model captures the complex dynamic phenomenology of the lake. In the simulations, one can see the regions with the highest risk of accumulation of contaminants. It is observed the effect of each term and how it can be used them to mitigate the impact of the pollutants.

Study of performance of h-rotor darrieus wind turbines

Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) are mostly manufactured keeping in mind the site and conditions that the wind turbine would face. There is a need to know which type of VAWT would be optimal in the conditions present at the installation site. The major factors involved are blade profile, wind velocity and blade pitch angle. This study is undertaken to study these factors and their effects on influencing the efficiency of the VAWT. A model has been made of a Darrieus VAWT with H-rotor design and is analyzed using CFD. An Iso-surface mesh is made on the model with a cylindrical air-filled domain and a κ-ε turbulence model is applied to study the effects of the wind-and-turbine blade interaction. The domain inlet indicates wind velocity; outlet is set to zero atmospheric gauge pressure and the pressure distribution across the turbine blade wall is measured. The top bottom walls of the domain are not part of the interaction. The study shows that the NACA0012 blade profile fares better than the other profiles across the range of wind velocities. However, it is less efficient with an increase in blade pitch angle for the same value of velocity. NACA0015 blade profile gives good performance when it has a zero pitch angle for intermediate and high wind velocities.

Researches on the numerical simulation of the dust pollution characteristics and the optimal dust suppression wind-speed on fully mechanised caving face

Dust removal by ventilation is a commonly used dust control strategy. This study analyses the characteristics of airflow transport and dust pollution on a fully mechanised top-coal caving face at different inlet wind velocities by using a numerical simulation experiment, and the best wind velocity for dust suppression is obtained. When the inlet wind velocity fluctuates in the range of 0.5 to 3.0 m/s, the overall dust mass concentration on the working face initially increases and then remains stable, but in the range of 2.5 to 3.0 m/s, the changes in the overall dust mass concentration and dust mass concentration of the respiratory zone on the working face are not significant. The dust pollution in the respiratory zone produced by the hydraulic support lowering pillar and moving frame on the working face is quantitatively analysed at different inlet wind velocities of 2.5 to 3.0 m/s to determine the optimum wind velocity for dust suppression on the working face. The optimum wind speed for dust suppression is 2.6 m/s. This study lays a foundation for the ventilation design and dust control in the early stage of a mine and for the establishment of a clean and green production mine.

Study on Full-scale Measurements of Wind Field Characteristics of Coastal Complex Mountainous Terrains

Based on full-scale wind field measurements of coastal complex mountainous terrains, data of fluctuating wind velocities at the height of 30m for four sites, including mountaintop and hillsides, are obtained. The wind load characteristics of mean wind velocities, wind directions, turbulence intensities and speed-up ratios of wind velocities are comprehensively examined. Results show that the maximum mean wind velocity at the mountaintop site is 12.4 m/s. The probability density distributions of mean wind velocities for the four measurement sites can be well represented by the Weibull probability model. The predominant wind directions are around the northeast and southwest. The longitudinal, lateral and vertical turbulence intensities decrease with the increase of mean wind velocities. The turbulence intensities for the mountaintop site are as many as 0.13,0.12 and 0.089 under maximum wind velocities, respectively for the previously mentioned three directions. The speed-up ratios of wind velocities between mountaintop and hillside sites are reduced, as the wind velocities increase. However, in cases of intensive wind with mean wind velocities larger than 8 m/s, the speed-up effects of wind velocities can also appear. The maximum speed-up ratio can reach 1.17.

Intercomparisons of Tropospheric Wind Velocities Measured by Multi-Frequency Wind Profilers and Rawinsonde

Concurrent measurements of three-dimensional wind velocities made with three co-located wind profilers operated at frequencies of 52 MHz, 449 MHz, and 1.29 GHz for the period 12–16 September 2017 are compared for the first time in this study. The velocity–azimuth display (VAD) method is employed to estimate the wind velocities. The result shows that, in the absence of precipitation, the root mean square difference (RMSD) in the horizontal wind speed velocities U and wind directions D between different pairs of wind profilers are, respectively, in the range of 0.94–0.99 ms−1 and 7.7–8.3°, and those of zonal wind component u and meridional wind component v are in the respective ranges of 0.91–1.02 ms−1 and 1.1–1.24 ms−1. However, the RMSDs between wind profilers and rawinsonde are in the range of 2.89–3.26 ms−1 for horizontal wind speed velocity and 11.17–14.48° for the wind direction, which are around 2–3 factors greater than those between the wind profilers on average. In addition to the RMSDs, MDs between wind profilers and radiosonde are around one order of magnitude larger than those between wind profilers. These results show that the RMSDs, MDs, and Stdds between radars are highly consistent with each other, and they are much smaller than those between radar and rawinsonde. This therefore suggests that the wind profiler-measured horizontal wind velocities are much more reliable, precise, and accurate than the rawinsonde measurement.