Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Impact of trailing edge jet on the performance of a vertical axis wind turbine

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) is attracting more attention due to its structural advantages. This paper presented a new type of VAWT with a jet installed at a blade trailing edge in order to improve the aerodynamic performance and power coefficient of the wind turbine. A numerical simulation was conducted on Castelli vertical wind turbine by adding a trailing edge jet. The power coefficient, vortex structure, static pressure distribution and instantaneous power coefficient were analyzed. The results indicated that jet applied at the trailing edge could improve the power coefficient of the VAWT. When TSR = 2.04, the maximum increase of wind turbine power coefficient could reach about 32 %. The improvement of the power coefficient is due to the thrust produced by the jet and the suppression of the vortex by suction around the airfoil. Finally, the feasibility of the VAWT proposed in this study was preliminary verified by numerical simulation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

D :

Diameter

H :

Blade height

N :

Blade number

c :

Chord

C p :

Power coefficient

V j :

Jet velocity

m j :

Jet mass flow rate

P :

Actual turbine power

σ :

Solidity

C u :

Jet momentum

y + :

Wall distance of the 1st grid layer

λ :

Tip speed ratio

References

  1. GWEC, Global Wind Report 2022, Global Wind Energy Council (2022).

  2. H. Yu, A critical review on the simulations of wind turbine aerodynamics focusing on hybrid RANS-LES methods, Energy, 138 (2017) 257–289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. X. Jin et al., Darrieus vertical axis wind turbine: basic research methods, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 42 (2015) 212–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. F. Balduzzi et al., Critical issues in the CFD simulation of Darrieus wind turbines, Renewable Energy, 85 (2016) 419–435.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. W. Tjiu et al., Darrieus vertical axis wind turbine for power generation I: assessment of Darrieus VAWT configurations, Renewable Energy, 75 (2015) 50–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. W. Tjiu et al., Darrieus vertical axis wind turbine for power generation II: challenges in HAWT and the opportunity of multimegawatt darrieus VAWT development, Renewable Energy, 75 (2015) 560–571.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. G. Bedon et al., Evaluation of the different aerodynamic databases for vertical axis wind turbine simulations, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 40 (2014) 386–399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. V. L. Okulov and G. A. M. van Kuik, The Betz-Joukowsky limit: on the contribution to rotor aerodynamics by the British, German and Russian scientific schools, Wind Energy, 15 (2) (2012) 335–344.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. H. Zhu et al., A critical study on passive flow control techniques for straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbine, Energy, 165 (2018) 12–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. N. Ma et al., Airfoil optimization to improve power performance of a high-solidity vertical axis wind turbine at a moderate tip speed ratio, Energy, 150 (2018) 236–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. D. H. Didane et al., Numerical investigation of a novel contra-rotating vertical axis wind turbine, Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 31 (2019) 43–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. I. Ostos et al., A modified novel blade configuration proposal for a more efficient VAWT using CFD tools, Energy Conversion and Management, 180 (2019) 733–746.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. D. You and P. Moin, Study of flow separation over an airfoil with synthetic jet control using large-eddy simulation, Center for Turbulence Research, Annual Research Briefs (2007) 311–321.

  14. M. Amitay et al., Aerodynamic flow control over an unconventional airfoil using synthetic jet actuators, AIAA Journal, 39 (3) (2001) 361–370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. G. Zhao and Q. Zhao, Parametric analyses for synthetic jet control on separation and stall over rotor airfoil, Chinese Journal of Aeronautics, 27 (5) (2014) 1051–1061.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. J. Yen and N. A. Ahmed, Enhancing vertical axis wind turbine by dynamic stall control using synthetic jets, Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 114 (2013) 12–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. H. F. Müller-Vahl et al., Dynamic stall control via adaptive blowing, Renewable Energy, 97 (2016) 47–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. H. Im, G. Zha and B. Dano, Investigation of co-flow jet airfoil mixing mechanism using large eddy simulation, 41st AIAA Fluid Dynamics Conference and Exhibit (2011) 3098.

  19. A. M. Lefebvre and G. Zha, Design of high wing loading compact electric airplane utilizing co-flow jet flow control, 53rd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting (2015) 0772.

  20. Y. Yang and G. Zha, Numerical investigation of performance improvement of the co-flow jet electric airplane, 36th AIAA Applied Aerodynamics Conference (2018) AIAA 2018–4208.

  21. H. Y. Xu, C. L. Qiao and Z. Y. Ye, Dynamic stall control on the wind turbine airfoil via a co-flow jet, Energies, 9 (6) (2016) 429.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. H.-Y. Xu, C. Qiao, H. Yang and Z. Ye, Active circulation control on the blunt trailing edge wind turbine airfoil, AIAA Journal (2017) 554–570.

  23. H. Xu, Q. Dong, C. Qiao and Z. Ye, Flow control over the blunt trailing edge of wind turbine airfoils using circulation control, Energies, 11 (3) (2018) 619.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. M. R. Castelli, A. Englaro and E. Benini, The Darrieus wind turbine: proposal for a new performance prediction model based on CFD, Energy, 36 (8) (2011) 4919–4934.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Y. Wang, S. Sheng, G. Li, D. Huang and Z. Zheng, Investigation on aerodynamic performance of vertical axis wind turbine with different series airfoil shapes, Renewable Energy, 126 (2018) 801–818.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51906156) and Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (Grant Nos. 22ZR1443500).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093, China

    Jinjing Sun & Diangui Huang

Authors
  1. Jinjing Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Diangui Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Diangui Huang.

Additional information

Jinjing Sun is a Post Doctor of the School of Energy and Power Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China. She received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Beihang University and Ecole Centrale de Lyon. Her research interests include flow control in turbomachinery and wind turbines.

Diangui Huang is a Professor of the School of Energy and Power Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China. His research interests include aerodynamic of turbomachinery, flow control and flow stability and computation method.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sun, J., Huang, D. Impact of trailing edge jet on the performance of a vertical axis wind turbine. J Mech Sci Technol 37, 1301–1309 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-023-0216-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-023-0216-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation