CFD Analysis of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine with Winglets

The current research work illustrates the optimization of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) blades with implementation of added winglets displaying improved self-starting capabilities. The application of improved design is to be utilized in a university campus located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in order to reduce its margin of consumed electrical energy by 15%. This work is conducted over a mean wind speed value of 5 m/s achieved in a one-year period at a specific altitude of 50 m in the UAE. Two aerodynamic simulation softwares are adopted, namely ANSYS FLUENT CFD and QBlade, with designs being modelled using AutoCAD. The analytical analysis includes some aerodynamic characteristics such as power, lift, and drag coefficients. Through 2D-computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the simulation study tests 20 different symmetrical as well as asymmetrical airfoils including the cambered S-0146 with 26.83% higher power output and lower noise amongst the test subjects. Turbine torque for the added winglet design results in 4.1% higher compared to the benchmark. The modified design aims to produce at least 2% more power, and has an improvement in self-starting of at least 20%. VAWTs tend to have a higher potential and sensitivity towards wind direction (no yawing mechanism required), illustrating them as more cost-effective. The future scope includes utilizing the wind lens technology to increase the free-stream velocity.