Morphing a Straight-bladed Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Design: CFD-Based Analysis

Wind turbines have proven to be an essential part for the green energy mix. However, the focus was mainly on the horizontal axis wind turbines whereas the vertical axis wind turbine did not receive that amount of attention. In this work a straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbine (SB-VAWT) is explored which can temporary adjusts its rotor...

Simulation and validation of wake deflection in vertical-axis wind turbines

Estimation of blade loads for a variable pitch vertical axis wind turbine from particle image velocimetry

This paper presents the flow fields and aerodynamic loading of a two bladed H-type vertical axis wind turbine with active variable pitch for load and circulation control. Particle Image Velocimetry is used to capture flow fields at six azimuthal positions of the blades during operation, three upwind and three downwind. Flow phenomena such as...

Aerodynamic modelling of vertical axis wind turbine struts: Using the lifting line method CACTUS

This research presents the modelling of struts of a vertical axis wind turbine and its effects on the wake and performance. The 3D non-linear lifting line solver CACTUS is extended to include the struts in the rotor as lifting bodies. A case study is performed for different strut configurations in the rotor, with the focus set on the inclination...

An extended actuator cylinder model: Actuator-in-actuator cylinder (AC-squared) model

In this paper, the actuator-in-actuator cylinder (AC-squared) model is presented. This model is an extension of the original actuator cylinder model of Madsen and is capable of modelling the effect of a two concentric actuation surfaces in 2D. The induced velocity at every point in the 2D field is affected by the force field acting on the two...

Near-wake flow simulation of a vertical axis turbine using an actuator line model

In the present work, the near-wake generated for a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) was simulated using an actuator line model (ALM) in order to validate and evaluate its accuracy. The sensitivity of the model to the variation of the spatial and temporal discretization was studied and showed a bigger response to the variation in the mesh size...

Simulation and Optimisation of unsteady aerodynamic performance of a 2D VAWT rotor: With emphasis on airfoil design

Airfoil design plays an important role in improving the performance of Vertical Axis Wind Turbines(VAWTs). The aim of this thesis is to arrive at optimal airfoil geometries to enhance the performance of VAWTs and analyse the performance of these optimal airfoils under steady and unsteady operation conditions of the rotor. The airfoil design is...

Wake Deflection Technique for Vertical Axis Wind Turbines using Actuator Line Model in OpenFOAM

Repetitive Control for Offshore Floating Vertical Axis Wind Turbine: Data-driven control for Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

The growing importance of renewable energy to meet the demands of growing population has driven much focus for research in the wind energy sector. Currently most of the power production in the wind energy sector is done using the Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT). due to its higher efficiency and reliability as compared to Vertical Axis Wind...

Study of Design Load Cases for Multi-Megawatt Onshore Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

In the last years, large scale Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) are re-gaining a general interest in the wind energy sector as an alternative to Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWTs). However, the existing standards and guidelines for wind turbine certification do not include specific requirements for VAWT rotors. This thesis aims to study...

Airfoil Optimization for vertical axis wind turbines

This thesis addresses the process of airfoil optimization for vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT). The airfoils are designed for large scale turbines above 5 MW. The VAWT concept is relevant for offshore floating wind energy, because of its low center of gravity (stability) and their simplicity (low maintenance). An optimal tip speed ratio of 4-4...

The near wake of the VAWT: 2D and 3D views of the VAWT aerodynamics

The analysis, modeling and design of the lift-driven Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) has challenged the wind energy community for many decades; this limited progress in knowledge has severely impaired the development of the VAWT, giving rise to the myth that the VAWT rotor is inherently inefficient (in comparison with the more conventional...

3D Stereo PIV study of tip vortex evolution on a vawt