Computational fluid dynamics analysis and wind tunnel experiments on a wind farm consisting of closely spaced small vertical-axis wind turbines

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K05013
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 31020:Earth resource engineering, Energy sciences-related
• Research Institution: Tottori University
• Principal Investigator: Hara Yutaka 鳥取大学, 工学研究科, 教授 (60242822)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 上代 良文 香川高等専門学校, 機械工学科, 教授 (10321499)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 小形垂直軸風車 / 密集配置 / 風力発電 / 再生可能エネルギー / 数値流体力学 / 風洞実験 / 剛体運動予測モデル / 動的相互作用

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To investigate mainly the effects of wind direction and distance between wind turbines on the performance of a wind turbine pair, wind tunnel experiments using two small vertical-axis wind turbine models closely installed and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis had been conducted. Regarding the rotation speed behavior, qualitative agreement was found between the experiments and the numerical analysis, such as the finding that the average rotation speed of a turbine pair rotating in the same direction is higher than that in the opposite direction. However, the wake of a three-dimensional experimental wind turbine was deflected greater than that of a two-dimensional numerical turbine model. A phase synchronization phenomenon was observed in the cases of turbine pairs in which each turbine rotates mutually in opposite direction, and the principle was made clear in this study.

Free Research Field

風車工学，流体工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

小形垂直軸風車のウインドファームは、単位面積当りの出力において、大形風車のウインドファーム以上に高くなる可能性があり、そのベースとなる２風車間の相互作用を調べることは、重要である。本研究では、２つの風車間距離を風車直径程度に近接すると出力が最大で22%程度増加する結果が得られており、このような知見に基づく、最適配置が探索できれば、低発電コストの再生可能エネルギーの導入促進に貢献できると期待される。