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A Large-Eddy Simulation Study of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Wakes in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Author

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  • Sina Shamsoddin

    (Wind Engineering and Renewable Energy Laboratory (WIRE), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), EPFL-ENAC-IIE-WIRE, Lausanne 1015, Switzerland)

  • Fernando Porté-Agel

    (Wind Engineering and Renewable Energy Laboratory (WIRE), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), EPFL-ENAC-IIE-WIRE, Lausanne 1015, Switzerland)

Abstract

In a future sustainable energy vision, in which diversified conversion of renewable energies is essential, vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) exhibit some potential as a reliable means of wind energy extraction alongside conventional horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs). Nevertheless, there is currently a relative shortage of scientific, academic and technical investigations of VAWTs as compared to HAWTs. Having this in mind, in this work, we aim to, for the first time, study the wake of a single VAWT placed in the atmospheric boundary layer using large-eddy simulation (LES). To do this, we use a previously-validated LES framework in which an actuator line model (ALM) is incorporated. First, for a typical three- and straight-bladed 1-MW VAWT design, the variation of the power coefficient with both the chord length of the blades and the tip-speed ratio is analyzed by performing 117 simulations using LES-ALM. The optimum combination of solidity (defined as N c / R , where N is the number of blades, c is the chord length and R is the rotor radius) and tip-speed ratio is found to be 0.18 and 4.5, respectively. Subsequently, the wake of a VAWT with these optimum specifications is thoroughly examined by showing different relevant mean and turbulence wake flow statistics. It is found that for this case, the maximum velocity deficit at the equator height of the turbine occurs 2.7 rotor diameters downstream of the center of the turbine, and only after that point, the wake starts to recover. Moreover, it is observed that the maximum turbulence intensity (TI) at the equator height of the turbine occurs at a distance of about 3.8 rotor diameters downstream of the turbine. As we move towards the upper and lower edges of the turbine, the maximum TI (at a certain height) increases, and its location moves relatively closer to the turbine. Furthermore, whereas both TI and turbulent momentum flux fields show clear vertical asymmetries (with larger magnitudes at the upper wake edge compared to the ones at the lower edge), only slight lateral asymmetries were observed at the optimum tip-speed ratio for which the simulations were performed.

Suggested Citation

  • Sina Shamsoddin & Fernando Porté-Agel, 2016. "A Large-Eddy Simulation Study of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Wakes in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-23, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:9:y:2016:i:5:p:366-:d:70067
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Raciti Castelli, Marco & Englaro, Alessandro & Benini, Ernesto, 2011. "The Darrieus wind turbine: Proposal for a new performance prediction model based on CFD," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 4919-4934.
    2. Sina Shamsoddin & Fernando Porté-Agel, 2014. "Large Eddy Simulation of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Wakes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-23, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mahdi Abkar, 2018. "Theoretical Modeling of Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine Wakes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Lei, Hang & Su, Jie & Bao, Yan & Chen, Yaoran & Han, Zhaolong & Zhou, Dai, 2019. "Investigation of wake characteristics for the offshore floating vertical axis wind turbines in pitch and surge motions of platforms," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 471-489.
    3. Rolin, Vincent F-C. & Porté-Agel, Fernando, 2018. "Experimental investigation of vertical-axis wind-turbine wakes in boundary layer flow," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 1-13.
    4. Santiago Laín & Manuel A. Taborda & Omar D. López, 2018. "Numerical Study of the Effect of Winglets on the Performance of a Straight Blade Darrieus Water Turbine," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-24, January.
    5. Majid Bastankhah & Fernando Porté-Agel, 2017. "A New Miniature Wind Turbine for Wind Tunnel Experiments. Part II: Wake Structure and Flow Dynamics," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-19, July.
    6. Santiago Laín & Pablo Cortés & Omar Darío López, 2020. "Numerical Simulation of the Flow around a Straight Blade Darrieus Water Turbine," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-27, March.
    7. Jafari, Mohammad & Razavi, Alireza & Mirhosseini, Mojtaba, 2018. "Effect of airfoil profile on aerodynamic performance and economic assessment of H-rotor vertical axis wind turbines," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(PA), pages 792-810.
    8. Lucy Massie & Pablo Ouro & Thorsten Stoesser & Qianyu Luo, 2019. "An Actuator Surface Model to Simulate Vertical Axis Turbines," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-16, December.
    9. Huilai Ren & Xiaodong Zhang & Shun Kang & Sichao Liang, 2018. "Actuator Disc Approach of Wind Turbine Wake Simulation Considering Balance of Turbulence Kinetic Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-19, December.
    10. Villeneuve, Thierry & Dumas, Guy, 2021. "Impact of some design considerations on the wake recovery of vertical-axis turbines," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 1419-1438.
    11. Jia Guo & Liping Lei, 2020. "Flow Characteristics of a Straight-Bladed Vertical Axis Wind Turbine with Inclined Pitch Axes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-23, November.
    12. Mikaël Grondeau & Sylvain Guillou & Philippe Mercier & Emmanuel Poizot, 2019. "Wake of a Ducted Vertical Axis Tidal Turbine in Turbulent Flows, LBM Actuator-Line Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-23, November.
    13. Zhaoyong Mao & Guangyong Yang & Tianqi Zhang & Wenlong Tian, 2020. "Aerodynamic Performance Analysis of a Building-Integrated Savonius Turbine," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-21, May.
    14. Nguyen, Van-Dang & Jansson, Johan & Goude, Anders & Hoffman, Johan, 2019. "Direct Finite Element Simulation of the turbulent flow past a vertical axis wind turbine," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 238-247.

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