CFD analysis of a cross-flow turbine for wind and hydrokinetic applications

• Tidal current and wind energies have become dominant sources of renewable energies in the modern culture. In this work, the aerodynamic characteristics of a novel hybrid vertical axis turbine (VAT) have been studied in flow fields of water and air using CFD analyses. A parametric study was conducted on the hybrid rotor design with the goal of optimizing the solidity ratio to cover a wide operation range, increase initial torque and maintain high coefficient of power values. The hybrid turbine design with a solidity ratio of 0.5 demonstrated improvements to the self-startup feature and achieved the highest coefficient of power (C p ) values of 44.5% and 50% in air and water flows, respectively. The results were in favor of utilizing this design in flow fields of water and air as an enhancement to previous literature. Further studies are required to assess the aerodynamic properties of the model in 3D CFD analyses. 

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

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kon (subject category)