Improvement of self-starting capabilities of vertical axis wind turbines with new design of turbine blades

Abstract

A lift-driven vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) generates peak power when it is rotating at high tip-speed ratios (TSR), at which time the blades encounter angles of attack (AOA) over a small range from zero to 30 degrees. However, its ability to self-start is dependent upon its performance at low TSRs, at which time the blades encounter a range of AOAs from zero to 180 degrees. A novel vented aerofoil is presented with the intention of improving the performance of a lift-driven VAWT at low TSRs without hampering the performance of the wind turbine at high TSRs. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation is used to predict the aerodynamic characteristics of a new vented aerofoil based on the well documented NACA0012 profile. Simulations are performed using the SST turbulence model. The results obtained show a reduction in the coefficient of tangential force (the force that generates torque on the wind turbine) at low AOAs (less than 90 degrees) of no more than 30%, while at high AOAs (more than 90 degrees) an improvement in the tangential force of over 100% is observed. Using a simple momentum based performance prediction model, these results suggest that this would lead to an increase in torque generation by a theoretical three-bladed VAWT of up to 20% at low TSRs and a minor reduction in coefficient of performance of up to 9% at TSR of 2 and closer to 1% at higher TSRs.