Optimizing Energy Efficiency in Vertical Axis Wind Turbines: A CFD Analysis of Inlet Velocity and Fluid Type Impact

Haris Nubli, Seung Jun Baek, Nabella Sofa Nur Afiqoh, Yuki Trisnoaji, Singgih Dwi Prasetyo

Abstract

The development of Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) has become a key focus in renewable energy utilization due to their ability to operate at low wind speeds and their simple design. This study aims to analyze the effects of inlet velocity variations and fluid physical properties on flow patterns, turbulence, and kinetic energy in VAWTs. The simulation was conducted using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method, based on ANSYS Fluent, for a 2D turbine model with a diameter of 12 cm. Inlet velocity variations of 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 m/s were tested using three types of fluids: air, helium, and hydrogen. The results show that increasing inlet velocity transforms the flow pattern from stable to complex, with greater turbulence forming behind the cylinder. Air exhibited the highest kinetic energy at low to medium velocities, ranging from 10 to 12 m/s, which was up to 24.7% higher than that of helium and 3.8% higher than that of hydrogen. At higher velocities, 13–14 m/s, the kinetic energy difference among the three fluids decreased to less than 1.5%. Furthermore, outlet velocity was consistently higher than inlet velocity for all fluids, with hydrogen achieving the highest acceleration at 14 m/s.

Full Text:

PDF

References

S. Yagmur and F. Kose, “Numerical evolution of unsteady wake characteristics of H-type Darrieus Hydrokinetic Turbine for a hydro farm arrangement,” Appl. Ocean Res., vol. 110, p. 102582, 2021. 2. W. A. Eltayeb and J. Somlal, “Performance enhancement of Darrieus wind turbines using Plain Flap and Gurney Flap configurations: A CFD analysis,” Results Eng., vol. 24, p. 103400, 2024. 3. T. Wilberforce and A. Alaswad, “Performance analysis of a vertical axis wind turbine using computational fluid dynamics,” Energy, vol. 263, p. 125892, 2023. 4. T. Uchida, T. Yoshida, M. Inui, and Y. Taniyama, “Doppler Lidar investigations of wind turbine near-wakes and LES modeling with new porous disc approach,” Energies, vol. 14, no. 8, p. 2101, 2021. 5. Y. Zhang, X. Li, M. Barasa, and W. Xu, “CFD wind turbines wake effects by using UDF,” IOP Conf. Ser. Earth Environ. Sci., vol. 766, no. 1, p. 012025, 2021. 6. H. A. Madsen, “An analytical linear two-dimensional actuator disc model and comparisons with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations,” Wind Energy Sci., vol. 8, no. 12, pp. 1853–1872, 2023. 7. S. ed-D. Fertahi, T. Belhadad, A. Kanna, A. Samaouali, and I. Kadiri, “Assessment of fairing geometry effects on H-Darrieus hydro turbine performance using 2D URANS CFD simulations,” Energy Convers. Manag., vol. 293, p. 117434, 2023. 8. S. J. Chemengich, S. Z. Kassab, and E. R. Lotfy, “Effect of the variations of the gap flow guides geometry on the savonius wind turbine performance: 2D and 3D studies,” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., vol. 222, p. 104920, 2022. 9. S.-L. Lee and S. J. Shin, “Structural design optimization of a wind turbine blade using the genetic algorithm,” Eng. Optim., vol. 54, no. 12, pp. 2053–2070, 2022. 10. S. Toudarbari, M. J. Maghrebi, and A. Hashemzadeh, “Evaluation of Darrieus wind turbine for different highway settings using CFD simulation,” Sustain. Energy Technol. Assessments, vol. 45, p. 101077, 2021. 11. A. Hijazi, A. ElCheikh, and M. Elkhoury, “Numerical investigation of the use of flexible blades for vertical axis wind turbines,” Energy Convers. Manag., vol. 299, p. 117867, 2024. 12. H. A. Mrope, Y. A. Chande Jande, and T. T. Kivevele, “A review on computational fluid dynamics applications in the design and optimization of crossflow hydro turbines,” J. Renew. Energy, vol. 2021, no. 1, p. 5570848, 2021. 13. V. Sebestyén, “Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews: Environmental impact networks of renewable energy power plants,” Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev., vol. 151, p. 111626, 2021. 14. Y. Celik, D. Ingham, L. Ma, and M. Pourkashanian, “Novel hybrid blade design and its impact on the overall and self-starting performance of a three-dimensional H-type Darrieus wind turbine,” J. Fluids Struct., vol. 119, p. 103876, 2023. 15. Djamal Hissein Didane, Muhammad Nur Arham Bajuri, Bukhari Manshoor, and Mahamat Issa Boukhari, “Performance Investigation of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine with Savonius Rotor using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD),” CFD Lett., vol. 14, no. 8, pp. 116–124, 2022. 16. A. García Auyanet, R. E. Santoso, H. Mohan, S. S. Rathore, D. Chakraborty, and P. G. Verdin, “CFD-based J-Shaped blade design improvement for vertical axis wind turbines,” Sustainability, vol. 14, no. 22, p. 15343, 2022. 17. S. ed D. Fertahi, T. Belhadad, A. Kanna, A. Samaouali, I. Kadiri, and E. Benini, “A Critical Review of CFD Modeling Approaches for Darrieus Turbines: Assessing Discrepancies in Power Coefficient Estimation and Wake Vortex Development,” Fluids, vol. 8, no. 9, 2023. 18. M. Akhlagi, F. Ghafoorian, M. Mehrpooya, and M. Sharifi Rizi, “Effective parameters optimization of a small scale Gorlov wind turbine, using CFD method,” Iran. J. Chem. Chem. Eng. Res. Artic. Vol, vol. 42, no. 7, 2023. 19. C. Zhang and M. Janeway, “Optimization of turbine blade aerodynamic designs using CFD and neural network models,” Int. J. Turbomachinery, Propuls. Power, vol. 7, no. 3, p. 20, 2022. 20. M. S. Siddiqui, M. H. Khalid, A. W. Badar, M. Saeed, and T. Asim, “Parametric analysis using cfd to study the impact of geometric and numerical modeling on the performance of a small scale horizontal axis wind turbine,” Energies, vol. 15, no. 2, p. 505, 2022. 21. A. Samaouali and I. Kadiri, “CFD comparison of 2D and 3D aerodynamics in H-Darrieus prototype wake,” e-Prime-Advances Electr. Eng. Electron. Energy, vol. 4, p. 100178, 2023. 22. E. Fatahian, R. Mishra, F. F. Jackson, and H. Fatahian, “Optimization and analysis of self-starting capabilities of vertical axis wind turbine pairs: A CFD-Taguchi approach,” Ocean Eng., vol. 302, p. 117614, 2024. 23. G. Innocenti, M. Marconcini, V. Michelassi, A. Ciani, T. Jurek, A. S. Del Greco, and R. Pacciani, “On the assessment of CFD assumptions for the preliminary design of a two-stage high-pressure turbine: Impact of unsteady effects on thermal loads,” Int. J. Heat Mass Transf., vol. 236, p. 126243, 2025. 24. O. S. Mohamed, A. M. R. Elbaz, and A. Bianchini, “A better insight on physics involved in the self-starting of a straight-blade Darrieus wind turbine by means of two-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics,” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., vol. 218, p. 104793, 2021. 25. F. Plua, V. Hidalgo, P. A. López-Jiménez, and M. Pérez-Sánchez, “Analysis of applicability of cfd numerical studies applied to problem when pump working as turbine,” Water, vol. 13, no. 15, p. 2134, 2021. 26. M. Carraro, F. De Vanna, F. Zweiri, E. Benini, A. Heidari, and H. Hadavinia, “CFD Modeling of Wind Turbine Blades with Eroded Leading Edge. Fluids 2022, 7, 302.” s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published …, 2022. 27. A. Sharma, M. J. Brazell, G. Vijayakumar, S. Ananthan, L. Cheung, N. deVelder, M. T. Henry de Frahan, N. Matula, P. Mullowney, and J. Rood, “ExaWind: Open‐source CFD for hybrid‐RANS/LES geometry‐resolved wind turbine simulations in atmospheric flows,” Wind Energy, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 225–257, 2024. 28. M. S. Karaalioglu and S. Bal, “Performance prediction of cavitating marine current turbine by BEMT based on CFD,” Ocean Eng., vol. 255, p. 111221, 2022. 29. M. H. A. Madsen, F. Zahle, S. G. Horcas, T. K. Barlas, and N. N. Sørensen, “CFD-based curved tip shape design for wind turbine blades,” Wind Energy Sci., vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 1471–1501, 2022. 30. M. M. M. Saad, S. Mohd, M. F. Zulkafli, N. A. Samiran, and D. H. Didane, “Cfd simulation study on the performance of a modified ram air turbine (rat) for power generation in aircrafts,” Fluids, vol. 6, no. 11, p. 391, 2021.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.20961/mekanika.v24i2.104188

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.