Aerodynamic Performance of Counter-Rotating Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

Abstract

In order to improve the aerodynamic performance and stability of the floating platform of an isolated vertical axis wind turbine, a novel structure design concept of the wind turbine with a coaxial counter-rotating vertical axis was proposed. Based on the computational fluid dynamics theory, a numerical simulation was conducted with the application of the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) shear stress transfer (SST) k-ω turbulence model, and combined with the eddy current theory, the aerodynamic performance and stability with different tip speed ratios (TSR) were further compared. The results show that in the same flow field, the floating platform of the counter-rotating wind turbine is more stable. When TSR1.3, the wind energy in outflow field is more absorbed by the rotor of the counter-rotating wind turbine. In addition, the length of remote vortex is shorter and the intensity is lower. Therefore, the wind energy utilization efficiency is higher. Coaxial counter-rotating has a certain reference value for the performance optimization of the vertical axis wind turbine.

Keywords

• counter-rotating vertical axis wind turbine
• numerical simulation
• aerodynamic performance
• stability
• vortex theory