Investigations of a vertical axis wind turbine with frontal cylindrical guide vane unit

Abstract

The paper presents the results of an experimental study of a vertical wind turbine type Darrieus with frontal cylindrical guide vane unit. The main goal of the research is to analyze the influence of the geometry of a classical cylindrical guide vane unit on the active and passive zone of the wind turbine. The aerodynamic scheme is synthesized by a classic runner and frontal cylindrical guide vanes. Three different guiding devices of a model vertical wind turbine with frontally located guide vanes have been studied. Their influence on the characteristics of the turbine has been examined. The reasons of the differences in the characteristics of the three studied variants of the guiding devices are clarified by numerical study of the flow through the blade cascades of the guide vanes and the runner. The results of the study shows what is the reason for the positive effect of the cylindrical vane guide device on the wind turbine’s runner.