A CFD study of a anged shrouded wind turbine: Effects of different ange surface types on output power

Abstract

There is a global trend to optimize energy harvesting from all energy resources including renewable energy. This study focuses on the enhancement of the surface of anges in anged shrouded wind turbines so as to obtain more effcient systems. To this end, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach is utilized. All models are identical in terms of entrance diameter, exit diameter, length of the diffuser, and the height of the ange. However, each model is of different ange surface types. Different surfaces including a simple surface and some furrowed surfaces are studied. The validation reports show that there is a strong correlation between the outcomes of the present study and previous experimental results. The results demonstrate that the models with furrowed surface ange yield increase in the wind velocity when approaching the wind turbine blades. This leads to about 5-7% more output power. Also, the results indicate that maximum velocity occurs at about 5 cm after the shroud entrance. Consequently, it is suggested that the wind turbine be installed at the mentioned location inside the shroud to obtain the optimum energy harvest.