Effects of Blade Configurations on Flow Distribution and Power Output of a Zephyr Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

摘要

Numerical simulations with FLUENT software were conducted to investigate the fluid flow through a novel vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT). Simulation of flow through the turbine rotor was performed with the aim of predicting the performance characteristics of the device. Different blade configurations were examined. A multiple reference frame (MRF) model capability of FLUENT was used to express the dimensionless form of power output of the wind turbine as a function of the wind free stream velocity and the rotor rotational speed. A sliding mesh capability model was used to examine the transient effects arising from flow interaction between the stationary components and the rotating blades. Simulation results yielded good agreement with theoretical data.