Innovative improvement of a drag wind turbine performance. (February 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: El-Baz, A.R.; Youssef, K.; Mohamed, M.H.
• Is Part Of: Renewable energy. Volume 86(2016)
• Page Start: 89
• Page End: 98
• Publication Date: 2016-02
• Subjects: Wind energy -- VAWT -- Savonius rotor -- CFD -- Aerodynamics; Renewable energy sources -- Periodicals; Power resources -- Periodicals; Énergies renouvelables -- Périodiques; Ressources énergétiques -- Périodiques; 333.794
• DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2015.07.102
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0960-1481

Abstract

Abstract: Drag type wind turbines have strong potential in small and medium power applications due to their simple design. However, a major disadvantage of this design is the noticeable low conversion efficiency. Therefore, more research is required to improve the efficiency of this design. The present work introduces a novel design of a three-rotor Savonius turbine with rotors arranged in a triangular pattern. The performance of the new design is assessed by computational modeling of the flow around the three rotors. The 2D computational model is firstly applied to investigate the performance of a single rotor design to validate the model by comparison with experimental measurements. The model introduced an acceptable accuracy compared to the experimental measurements. The performance of the new design is then investigated using the same model. The results indicated that the new design performance has higher power coefficient compared with single rotor design. The peak power coefficient of the three rotor turbine is 44% higher than that of the single rotor design (relative increase). The improved performance is attributed to the favorable interaction between the rotors which accelerates the flow approaching the downstream rotors and generates higher turning moment in the direction of rotation of each rotor. Highlights: Drag vertical axis wind turbine is a promising idea for wind-energy conversion. The present study objective is to improve the efficiency of Drag VAWTs. New design is assessed by modeling of the flow around the three rotors. The new design has higher power coefficient compared with single rotor design. 44% relative increase in efficiency of the new design than single rotor design.