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Effects of Reynolds Number on the Energy Conversion and Near-Wake Dynamics of a High Solidity Vertical-Axis Cross-Flow Turbine

Author

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  • Peter Bachant

    (Center for Ocean Renewable Energy, University of New Hampshire, 24 Colovos Rd., Durham, NH 03824, USA)

  • Martin Wosnik

    (Center for Ocean Renewable Energy, University of New Hampshire, 24 Colovos Rd., Durham, NH 03824, USA)

Abstract

Experiments were performed with a large laboratory-scale high solidity cross-flow turbine to investigate Reynolds number effects on performance and wake characteristics and to establish scale thresholds for physical and numerical modeling of individual devices and arrays. It was demonstrated that the performance of the cross-flow turbine becomes essentially R e -independent at a Reynolds number based on the rotor diameter R e D ≈ 10 6 or an approximate average Reynolds number based on the blade chord length R e c ≈ 2 × 10 5 . A simple model that calculates the peak torque coefficient from static foil data and cross-flow turbine kinematics was shown to be a reasonable predictor for Reynolds number dependence of an actual cross-flow turbine operating under dynamic conditions. Mean velocity and turbulence measurements in the near-wake showed subtle differences over the range of R e investigated. However, when transport terms for the streamwise momentum and mean kinetic energy were calculated, a similar R e threshold was revealed. These results imply that physical model studies of cross-flow turbines should achieve R e D ∼ 10 6 to properly approximate both the performance and wake dynamics of full-scale devices and arrays.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Bachant & Martin Wosnik, 2016. "Effects of Reynolds Number on the Energy Conversion and Near-Wake Dynamics of a High Solidity Vertical-Axis Cross-Flow Turbine," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-18, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:9:y:2016:i:2:p:73-:d:62900
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Rezaeiha, Abdolrahim & Kalkman, Ivo & Blocken, Bert, 2017. "CFD simulation of a vertical axis wind turbine operating at a moderate tip speed ratio: Guidelines for minimum domain size and azimuthal increment," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 373-385.
    2. Villeneuve, Thierry & Winckelmans, Grégoire & Dumas, Guy, 2021. "Increasing the efficiency of vertical-axis turbines through improved blade support structures," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 1386-1401.
    3. Ross, Hannah & Polagye, Brian, 2020. "An experimental assessment of analytical blockage corrections for turbines," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 1328-1341.
    4. Hand, Brian & Cashman, Andrew, 2018. "Aerodynamic modeling methods for a large-scale vertical axis wind turbine: A comparative study," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 129(PA), pages 12-31.
    5. Durán, Pablo & Meiβner, Cathérine & Casso, Pau, 2020. "A new meso-microscale coupled modelling framework for wind resource assessment: A validation study," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 538-554.
    6. Kamal, Ahmed M. & Nawar, Mohamed A.A. & Attai, Youssef A. & Mohamed, Mohamed H., 2022. "Blade design effect on Archimedes Spiral Wind Turbine performance: Experimental and numerical evaluations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    7. Musa, Mirko & Hill, Craig & Guala, Michele, 2019. "Interaction between hydrokinetic turbine wakes and sediment dynamics: array performance and geomorphic effects under different siting strategies and sediment transport conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 738-753.
    8. Wang, Zhenyu & Zhuang, Mei, 2017. "Leading-edge serrations for performance improvement on a vertical-axis wind turbine at low tip-speed-ratios," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 1184-1197.
    9. Ma, Ning & Lei, Hang & Han, Zhaolong & Zhou, Dai & Bao, Yan & Zhang, Kai & Zhou, Lei & Chen, Caiyong, 2018. "Airfoil optimization to improve power performance of a high-solidity vertical axis wind turbine at a moderate tip speed ratio," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 236-252.
    10. Xu, You-Lin & Peng, Yi-Xin & Zhan, Sheng, 2019. "Optimal blade pitch function and control device for high-solidity straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 1613-1625.
    11. Rolin, Vincent F-C. & Porté-Agel, Fernando, 2018. "Experimental investigation of vertical-axis wind-turbine wakes in boundary layer flow," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 1-13.
    12. Barnes, Andrew & Marshall-Cross, Daniel & Hughes, Ben Richard, 2021. "Towards a standard approach for future Vertical Axis Wind Turbine aerodynamics research and development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    13. Santiago Laín & Pablo Cortés & Omar Darío López, 2020. "Numerical Simulation of the Flow around a Straight Blade Darrieus Water Turbine," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-27, March.
    14. Rezaeiha, Abdolrahim & Montazeri, Hamid & Blocken, Bert, 2019. "On the accuracy of turbulence models for CFD simulations of vertical axis wind turbines," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 838-857.
    15. Posa, Antonio, 2022. "Wake characterization of paired cross-flow turbines," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 1064-1094.
    16. Gauvin-Tremblay, Olivier & Dumas, Guy, 2022. "Hydrokinetic turbine array analysis and optimization integrating blockage effects and turbine-wake interactions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 851-869.
    17. Rezaeiha, Abdolrahim & Montazeri, Hamid & Blocken, Bert, 2018. "Towards optimal aerodynamic design of vertical axis wind turbines: Impact of solidity and number of blades," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(PB), pages 1129-1148.
    18. Kang, Can & Wang, Zhiyuan & Kim, Hyoung-Bum & Shao, Chunbing, 2023. "Effects of solidity on startup performance and flow characteristics of a vertical-axis hydrokinetic rotor with three helical blades," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    19. Ali M. H. A. Khajah & Simon P. Philbin, 2022. "Techno-Economic Analysis and Modelling of the Feasibility of Wind Energy in Kuwait," Clean Technol., MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-21, January.
    20. Jiyong Lee & Mirko Musa & Chris Feist & Jinjin Gao & Lian Shen & Michele Guala, 2019. "Wake Characteristics and Power Performance of a Drag-Driven in-Bank Vertical Axis Hydrokinetic Turbine," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-20, September.
    21. Chuhua Jiang & Xuedao Shu & Junhua Chen & Lingjie Bao & Hao Li, 2020. "Research on Performance Evaluation of Tidal Energy Turbine under Variable Velocity," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-14, November.
    22. Villeneuve, Thierry & Boudreau, Matthieu & Dumas, Guy, 2020. "Improving the efficiency and the wake recovery rate of vertical-axis turbines using detached end-plates," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 31-45.
    23. Ouro, Pablo & Runge, Stefan & Luo, Qianyu & Stoesser, Thorsten, 2019. "Three-dimensionality of the wake recovery behind a vertical axis turbine," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 1066-1077.
    24. Villeneuve, Thierry & Dumas, Guy, 2021. "Impact of some design considerations on the wake recovery of vertical-axis turbines," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 1419-1438.
    25. Jia Guo & Liping Lei, 2020. "Flow Characteristics of a Straight-Bladed Vertical Axis Wind Turbine with Inclined Pitch Axes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-23, November.

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