The principal objective of this work was to investigate the 3D flow field around a multi-bladed horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) rotor and to investigate its performance characteristics. The aerodynamic performance of this novel rotor design was evaluated by means of a Computational Fluid Dynamics commercial package. The Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations were selected to model the physics of the incompressible Newtonian fluid around the blades. The Shear Stress Transport (SST) k-ω turbulence model was chosen for the assessment of the 3D flow behavior as it had widely used in other HAWT studies. The pressure-based simulation was done on a model representing one-ninth of the rotor using a 40-degree periodicity in a single moving reference frame system. Analyzing the wake flow behavior over a wide range of wind speeds provided a clear vision of this novel rotor configuration. From the analysis, it was determined that the flow becomes accelerated in outer wake region downstream of the rotor and by placing a multi-bladed rotor with a larger diameter behind the forward rotor resulted in an acceleration of this wake flow which resulted in an increase the overall power output of the wind machine.
References
[1]
EIA (2019) International Energy Outlook 2019 with Projections to 2050. U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Washington.
[2]
IRENA (2019) Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2018, International Renewable Energy Agency, Abu Dhabi.
[3]
EIA (2020) Annual Energy Outlook 2020 with projections to 2050, U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Washington.
[4]
Muiruri, P.I., Motsamai, O.S. and Ndeda, R. (2019) A Comparative Study of RANS-Based Turbulence Models for an Upscale Wind Turbine Blade. SN Applied Sciences, 1, Article number: 237. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-019-0254-5
[5]
Gómez-Iradi, S. and Barakos, G. N. (2008) Computational Fluid Dynamics Investigation of Some Wind Turbine Rotor Design Parameters. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part A: Journal of Power and Energy, 222, 455-470. https://doi.org/10.1243/09576509JPE526
[6]
Sutz, P.E. and Jenkins, R.K. (2018) Multiple-Blade Wind Machine with Shrouded Rotors. Patent No. 10066597.
[7]
Tangler, J.L. (2000) The Evolution of Rotor and Blade Design.
[8]
Menter, F.R. (2011) Turbulence Modeling for Engineering Flows.
[9]
Ragheb, M. and Ragheb, A.M. (2012) Wind Turbines Theory—The Betz Equation and Optimal Rotor Tip Speed Ratio. Fundam. Fundamental and Advanced Topics in Wind Power, 1, 19-38. https://doi.org/10.5772/21398
[10]
Eldridge, F.R. (1980) Wind Machines. 2nd Edition, The MITRE Energy Resources and Environmental Series, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York.
[11]
Kentfield, J. (1996) The Fundamentals of Wind-Driven Water Pumpers. Gordon and Breach, Amsterdam.
