CFD Analysis of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine with Winglets

The current research 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 United Arab Emirates (UAE) in order to reduce its margin of consumed electrical energy by 15%. The study 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 software were adopted, namely ANSYS FLUENT CFD and QBlade, with designs being modelled using AutoCAD. The analytical analysis included some aerodynamic characteristic such as power, lift, and drag coefficients. Through 2D-computational fluid dynamics (CFD), simulation study tested 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 added winglet design results in 4.1% higher compared to the benchmark. The modified design aims to produce at least 2% more power and have an improvement in self-starting of at least 20%. VAWTs tend to have higher potential and sensitivity towards wind direction (no yawing mechanism required) illustrating them as more cost-effective. Future scope includes utilizing wind lens technology to increase the free-stream velocity.