Aerodynamic analysis of different wind-turbine-blade profiles using finite-volume method

In order to economically gain the maximum energy from the wind turbine, the performance of the blade profile must be obtained. In this paper, the results of aerodynamic simulations of the steady low-speed flow past two-dimensional S-series wind-turbine-blade profiles, developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), are presented. The aerodynamic simulations were performed using a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method based on the finite-volume approach. The governing equations used in the simulations are the Reynolds-Averaged-Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations. The wind conditions during the simulations were developed from the wind speeds over different sites in Egypt. The lift and drag forces are the most important parameters in studying the wind-turbine performance. Therefore, an attempt to study the lift and drag forces on the wind turbine blades at various sections is presented. The maximum sliding ratio (lift/drag ratio) is desired in order to gain the maximum power from the wind turbine. The performance of different blade profiles at different wind speeds was investigated and the optimum blade profile for each wind speed is determined based on the maximum sliding ratio. Moreover, the optimum Angle Of Attack (AIDA) for each blade profile is determined at the different wind speeds. The numerical results are benchmarked against wind tunnel measurements. The comparisons show that the CFD code used in this study can accurately predict the wind-turbine blades aerodynamic loads. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.