Parametric analysis using CFD to study the impact of geometric and numerical modeling on the performance of a small scale horizontal axis wind turbine.

Siddiqui, Muhammad Salman; Khalid, Muhammad Hamza; Badar, Abdul Waheed; Saeed, Muhammed; Asim, Taimoor

Abstract

The reliance on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations has drastically increased over time to evaluate the aerodynamic performance of small-scale wind turbines. With the rapid variability in customer demand, industrial requirements, economic constraints, and time limitations associated with the design and development of small-scale wind turbines, the trade-off between computational resources and the simulation’s numerical accuracy may vary significantly. In the context of wind turbine design and analysis, high fidelity simulation under full geometric and numerical complexity is more accurate but pose significant demands from a computational standpoint. There is a need to understand and quantify performance deterioration of high fidelity simulations under reduced geometric or numerical approximation on a single small scale turbine model. In the present work, the flow past a small-scale Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) was simulated under various geometric and numerical configurations. The geometric complexity was varied based on stationary and rotating turbine conditions. In the stationary case, simple 2D airfoil, 2.5D blade, 3D blade sections are evaluated, while rotational effects are introduced for the configuration 3D blade, rotor only, and the full-scale wind turbine with and without the inclusion of a nacelle and tower. In terms of numerical complexity, the Single Reference Frame (SRF), Multiple Reference Frames (MRF), and the Sliding Meshing Interface (SMI) is analyzed over Tip Speed Ratios (TSR) of 3, 6, 10. The quantification of aerodynamic coefficients of the blade (Cl, Cd ) and turbine (Cp, Ct ) was conducted along with the discussion on wake patterns in comparison with experimental data.

Citation

SIDDIQUI, M.S., KHALID, M.H., BADAR, A.W., SAEED, M. and ASIM, T. 2022. 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 [online], 15(2), article 505. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3390/en15020505

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 14, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jan 11, 2022
• Publication Date: Jan 31, 2022
• Deposit Date: Feb 1, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 1, 2022
• Journal: Energies
• Electronic ISSN: 1996-1073
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 2
• Article Number: 505
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/en15020505
• Keywords: Wind energy; Horizontal axis wind turbine; Computational fluid dynamics; High fidelity simulations; Sliding mesh interface; Multiple reference frame
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1580615