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Effects of a blade profile, the Reynolds number, and the solidity on the performance of a straight bladed vertical axis wind turbine

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Abstract

This study investigates the effects of parameters such as a blade profile (changing the digit of the 4-digit NACA00xx airfoil), the Reynolds number, and the solidity on the performance characteristics of a straight bladed vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT). A numerical analysis, adopting the multiple stream tube (MST) method, is carried out to evaluate the performance depending on the parameters. The numerical result shows that the variation of a blade profile directly influences the power production, i.e., the high-digit NACA00xx airfoil provides higher power in a low speed zone (BSR < 3; BSR: blade speed ratio (ΩR/U f ), Ω: angular velocity of blade, R: radius of a straight Darrieus wind turbine, U f : free stream velocity) than the low-digit NACA00xx profile. On the contrary, the low-digit NACA00xx airfoil produces higher power in a high speed range (BSR > 5) than the high-digit NACA00xx profile. An enhancement of the power production is observed with increasing the Reynolds number on the whole tested blade speed ratio range (1 < BSR < 12). In particular, the rate of the enhancement of the power is rapidly decreased with the increases of the Reynolds number (\(Re = {{\rho \bar U_r c} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{\rho \bar U_r c} \mu }} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} \mu }\), ρ: air density, \(\bar U_r\): mean resultant velocity acting on a blade with variable rotating speeds in a uniform free stream velocity (U f ), c: blade chord length, µ: air viscosity). For the effect of the solidity on the power production, a marked reduction of the range of the blade speed ratio that can provide the power is observed with increasing the solidity. A pattern of very steep variation of the power around the peak in the low speed zone (BSR < 3) is found in a high solidity range (σ > 0.3; σ: solidity (N c /R), N: number of blade, c: chord length of an airfoil), and this tendency is conspicuously different from that of the eggbeater-type Darrieus VAWT, which is interpreted as a gradual variation of the power around the peak.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials, Mechanical and Automation Engineering, Yanbian University of Science and Technology, Beishan St., Yanji City, Jilin Province, 133000, China

    Sung-Cheoul Roh

  2. Department of Aerospace Engineering, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, 561-756, Korea

    Seung-Hee Kang

Authors
  1. Sung-Cheoul Roh
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  2. Seung-Hee Kang
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Correspondence to Seung-Hee Kang.

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Recommended by Associate Editor Donghyun You

Sung-Cheoul Roh is an Associate Professor at the Department of Materials, Mechanical, and Automation Engineering of Yanbian University of Science and Technology in China. He received the B.S. from Seoul National University in 1991, and the M.S. and the Ph.D. from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in 1993 and in 2002, respectively, all in Mechanical Engineering. His recent interests are in wind turbine blade aerodynamics and enhancing the efficiency of solar energy system.

Seung-Hee Kang received the B.S. and M.S. from Korea Aerospace University in 1988 and 1991, respectively, and the Ph.D. from KAIST in 2005, all in Aerospace Engineering. He is an Associate Professor at the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Chonbuk National University. His current interests include numerical simulation, wind turbine blade, and wind tunnel testing.

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Roh, SC., Kang, SH. Effects of a blade profile, the Reynolds number, and the solidity on the performance of a straight bladed vertical axis wind turbine. J Mech Sci Technol 27, 3299–3307 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-013-0852-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-013-0852-x

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