Academic literature on the topic 'Vertical Axis Wind Turbine'

Increasing awareness of the issues of climate change and sustainable energy use has led to growing levels of interest in small-scale, decentralised power generation. Small-scale wind power has seen significant growth in the last ten years, partly due to the political support for renewable energy and the introduction of Feed In Tariffs, which pay home owners for generating their own electricity. Due to their ability to respond quickly to changing wind conditions, small-scale vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) have been proposed as an efficient solution for deployment in built up areas, where the wind is more gusty in nature. If VAWTs are erected in built up areas they will be inherently close to people; consequently, public acceptance of the turbines is essential. One common obstacle to the installation of wind turbines is noise annoyance, so it is important to make the VAWT rotors as quiet as possible. To date, very little work has been undertaken to investigate the sources of noise on VAWTs. The primary aim of this study was therefore to gather experimental data of the noise from various VAWT rotor configurations, for a range of operating conditions. Experimental measurements were carried out using the phased acoustic array in the closed section Markham wind tunnel at Cambridge University Engineering Department. Beamforming was used in conjunction with analysis of the measured sound spectra in order to locate and identify the noise sources on the VAWT rotors. Initial comparisons of the spectra from the model rotor and a full-scale rotor showed good qualitative agreement, suggesting that the conclusions from the experiments would be transferable to real VAWT rotors. One clear feature observed in both sets of spectra was a broadband peak around 1-2kHz, which spectral scaling methods demonstrated was due to laminar boundary layer tonal noise. Application of boundary layer trips to the inner surfaces of the blades on the model rotor was found to eliminate this noise source, and reduced the amplitude of the spectra by up to 10dB in the region of the broadband peak. This method could easily be applied to a full-scale rotor and should result in measurable noise reductions. At low tip speed ratios (TSR) the blades on a VAWT experience dynamic stall and it was found that this led to significant noise radiation from the upstream half of the rotor. As the TSR was increased the dominant source was seen to move to the downstream half of the rotor; this noise was thought to be due to the interaction of the blades in the downstream half of the rotor with the wake from the blades in the upstream half. It was suggested that blade wake interaction is the dominant noise source in the typical range of peak performance for the full-scale QR5 rotor. Different solidity rotors were investigated by using 2-, 3- and 4-bladed rotors and it was found that increasing the solidity had a similar effect to increasing the TSR. This is due to the fact that the induction factor, which governs the deflection of the flow through the rotor, is a function of both the rotor solidity and the TSR. With a large body of experimental data for validation, it was possible to investigate computational noise prediction methods. A harmonic model was developed that aimed to predict the sound radiated by periodic fluctuations in the blade loads. This model was shown to agree with similar models derived by other authors, but to make accurate predictions very high resolution input data was required. Since such high resolution blade loading data is unlikely to be available, and due to the dominance of stochastic sources, the harmonic model was not an especially useful predictive tool. However, it was used to investigate the importance of the near-field components of the sound radiated by the wind tunnel model to the acoustic array. It was shown that the near-field terms were significant over a wide range of frequencies, and the total spectrum was always greater than that of the far-field component. This implied that the noise levels measured by the acoustic array represented an upper bound on the sound radiated to the far-field, and hence that the latter would also be dominated by stochastic components. An alternative application of the harmonic model, which attempted to determine the blade loading harmonics from the harmonics in the sound field was proposed. This inversion method utilised a novel convex optimisation technique that was found to generate good solutions in the simulated test cases, even in the presence of significant random noise. The method was found to be insensitive at low frequencies, which made it ineffective for inverting the real microphone data, although this was shown to be at least partly due to the limitations imposed by the array size. In addition to the harmonic models, an empirical noise prediction method using the spectral scaling laws derived by \citet*{Brooks_1989} was trialled, and was found to be capable of making predictions that were in agreement with the measured data. The model was shown to be sensitive to the exact choice of turbulence parameters used and was also found to require good quality aerodynamic data to make accurate noise predictions. If such data were available however, it is expected that this empirical model would be able to make useful predictions of the noise radiated by a VAWT rotor.

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2010.<br>This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.<br>Cataloged from student submitted PDF version of thesis.<br>Includes bibliographical references (p. 26).<br>The author presents a concept for a vertical axis wind turbine that utilizes each blade's entire rotational cycle for power generation. Each blade has its own vertical axis of rotation and is constrained to rotate at the rate of one half of a revolution per full revolution of the rotor. For a rotor of radius r and blades of width b, a technical analysis predicts a theoretical maximum power coefficient of CP = b 2r+b, neglecting wind flow interference by upwind blades. This theoretical power coefficient is generally greater than the efficiency of a typical Savonius wind turbine (CP ~~ 0.15), and it reaches CP = 0.5 at the limiting blade width, b = 2r. The analysis also predicts a static torque and optimal tip-speed ratio that are both greater than those of a Savonius wind turbine with similar blade dimensions. Design considerations for implementing the kinematic constraint and for blade adjustment to account for changes in wind direction are discussed, and the author's prototype is presented. Testing of the prototype demonstrated that implementation of the kinematic constraint is feasible, and that efficiencies greater than those achievable by a Savonius turbine are plausible. In 4 m s wind conditions, the prototype yielded an estimated CP of 0.15, with much room for improvement through design changes and blade optimization in future iterations of this style of turbine.<br>by Samuel Bruce Weiss.<br>S.B.

The task in this project is to design a generator for a vertical axis wind turbine withpower rated to 20kW at a wind speed of 10m/s. The project is conducted at theDivision of Electricity at Uppsala University with collaboration from ElectricGeneration AB. The design has just a few moving parts, which decreases maintenancecosts and increases its toughness. The turbine absorbs wind from every direction butits rotation speed ratio is lower than horizontal axis wind turbines. It means that thegenerator must be bigger and therefore more expensive. Price is an importantcriterion for the generator. Neodymium magnets are expensive so the amount of thismaterial must be limited.Several designs have been simulated but one final design has proven the mostpromising. It fulfills all specifications such as efficiency above 95%, 20kW outputpower and it also has a relatively low amount of hard magnetic material.A design with a single row of cables per slot was decided upon to eliminate heatpockets between cable rows, which can occur in designs with two cable rows perslot. It would be interesting to study designs with two or more cable rows per slot, asit could lead to a smaller and more efficient machine.

The task in this project is to design a generator for a vertical axis wind turbine withpower rated to 20kW at a wind speed of 10m/s. The project is conducted at theDivision of Electricity at Uppsala University with collaboration from ElectricGeneration AB. The design has just a few moving parts, which decreases maintenancecosts and increases its toughness. The turbine absorbs wind from every direction butits rotation speed ratio is lower than horizontal axis wind turbines. It means that thegenerator must be bigger and therefore more expensive. Price is an importantcriterion for the generator. Neodymium magnets are expensive so the amount of thismaterial must be limited.Several designs have been simulated but one final design has proven the mostpromising. It fulfills all specifications such as efficiency above 95%, 20kW outputpower and it also has a relatively low amount of hard magnetic material.A design with a single row of cables per slot was decided upon to eliminate heatpockets between cable rows, which can occur in designs with two cable rows perslot. It would be interesting to study designs with two or more cable rows per slot, asit could lead to a smaller and more efficient machine.

The need for sustainable energy sources becomes greater each year due to the continued depletion of fossil fuels and the resulting energy crisis. Solutions to this problem are potentially in the form of wind turbines which have been receiving increased support at a micro level. At present a number of wind turbines are being developed that are of cross-flow vertical axis operation which have shown significant increases in performance compared to existing technologies. From an extensive literature review a number of key issues have been highlighted which are concerned with design, operation and diagnostics of this new wind power technology which have been used to formulate the scope of this research. A design procedure for a cross-flow machine that features both a multi-blade rotor and fixed outer stator guide vanes has been derived in which both rotor and stator blade profiles have been generated for a low wind speed urban application. Using these blade profiles a prototype wind turbine has been fabricated and used for full scale development testing. In the presented work both experimental and numerical investigations have been carried out to determine the operational characteristics of this new technology. The experimental data obtained under controlled laboratory conditions has been used to validate a Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) model which has been used throughout. A flow field analysis of the machine has highlighted large asymmetries in both pressure and velocity about the central axis of the machine in both stationary and rotating frames of reference. This has identified primary inefficiencies within the design which limit the torque generating capability of the rotor due to blockage effects and downstream blade interactions. This asymmetry has been quantified in the form asymmetry ratio and used to determine downstream rotor effects and the optimum location of multiple wind turbines which is seen to be x/D >10 in order to minimize performance reductions. The torque and power generation capabilities of the machine have been characterised at both 'design' and ‘offdesign' conditions in which individual blade torque contributions have been quantified. This has highlighted specific energy transfer zones within the turbine namely at a few key blades on the windward side of the rotor. It has also shown counter-rotating torques generated on the leeward side of the machine at specific blade positions during the cycle. Overall performance has been quantified in which a maximum CT = 1.7 and CP = 0.24 has been observed which has some similarities to the Savonius rotor. Geometric effects on torque and power response have been quantified in which a strong dependence on stator blade number is noticed. Further, maximum performance output of the machine is generated at the baseline design condition. Using torque response data a multiple regression model has been developed in which a design equation for crossflow rotor torque has been derived which can be used during the conceptual design phase. Finally, the effectiveness of a two-dimensional transient CFD model to predict cross-flow wind turbine rotor blade loss has been evaluated against full scale experimental data. It has shown that from analysis in the frequency domain specific blade faults can be recognised which agrees well with experimental data obtained. The use of this model for wind turbine performance emulation has been described.

<p>In  this  Master Thesis  a  review  of  different  type  of  vertical  axis  wind turbines (VAWT)  and  a preliminary investigation of a new kind of VAWT are presented.</p><p>After an introduction about the historical background of wind power, the report deals with a more accurate analysis of the main type of VAWT, showing their characteristics and their operations. The aerodynamics of the wind turbines and a review of different type on generators that can be used to connect the wind mill to the electricity grid are reported as well.</p><p>Several statistics are also presented, in order to explain how the importance of the wind energy has grown  up  during  the  last  decades  and  also  to  show  that  this development  of  the  market  of  wind power  creates  new  opportunity  also  for VAWT,  that  are  less  used  than  the  horizontal  axis  wind turbine (HAWT).</p><p>In the end of 2009 a new kind of vertical axis wind turbine, a giromill 3 blades type, has been built in Falkenberg, by the Swedish company VerticalWind. The tower of this wind turbine is made by wood,  in  order  to  get  a  cheaper  and  more environment  friendly  structure,  and  a  direct  driven synchronous multipole with permanent magnents generator is located at its bottom. This 200 kW VAWT represents the intermediate step between the 12 kW prototype, built in collaboration with the Uppsala University, and the common Swedish commercial size of 2 MW, which is the goal of the company.</p><p>A  preliminary  investigation  of  the  characteristics  of  this  VAWT  has  been done, focusing  in particular on the value of the frequency of resonance of the tower, an important value that must be never reached during the operative phase in order to avoid serious damage to all the structure, and on the power curve, used to evaluate the coefficient of power (Cp) of the turbine. The results of this investigation and  the steps  followed  to  get  them  are  reported.  Moreover  a  energy production analysis of the turbine has been done using WindPro, as well as a comparison with and older type on commercial VAWT.</p>