Research on aerodynamic characteristics of wind turbine airfoil and blade in sand-wind environment

In Northwest China, wind resources are especially abundant, but this area is also seriously affected by sandy environments, so any wind turbines in this area are definitely affected by the sand-wind flow. Therefore, the shear stress transport k-omega turbulence model and discrete phase model are both used for the simulation of an S809 airfoil to study the influence of sandy environments on the aerodynamic performance. Based on this, the modified blade element momentum theory will be used to design wind turbines that can operate in both clean air and sandy environments and study the influence of sandy environments on wind turbine performance. The results show that the influence of the sand-wind environment on the aerodynamic performance of the airfoil is as follows. In the particle diameter range of 5 to 30 mu m, as the particle diameter increases, the lift coefficient decreases, and the drag coefficient increases. However, in the particle diameter range of 30 to 100 mu m, the change is just the opposite. At the same time, as the increase of particle mass concentration, the lift coefficient of the airfoil decreases, and the drag coefficient significantly increases. Also with the increase of equivalent density, the change is just the opposite. Moreover, the influence of sandy environments on the performance of wind turbines is found to be as follows. At low wind speeds, the power output of the sandy turbine is greater than that of the clean turbine when they run in a sandy environment. Also, it is found that whether wind turbines run at high or low wind speeds, the thrust of sandy turbine is less than that of clean turbine when they run in sandy environments.