Fluid dynamic analysis of an innovative vertical axis wind turbine

The aim of this thesis work is to investigate the performances of an innovative vertical axis wind turbine. The project, belonging to Rotor s.r.l., is characterized by a rotating three-blade drag-driven body and by a special instrument able to regulate the rotation velocity of the wind turbine depending on the external wind. The first step faced in this thesis is to frame the wind energy, both in terms of history and current state of art. Then, a general overview on the actual renewable diffusion and trends is presented. A special economical focus is done on the comparison between Rotor’s wind turbine and classical monocrystalline solar panels. The intention is to understand the feasibility of the first technology, depending on the geographical region considered. Nevertheless, the core of this work is the creation of a valid 2D CFD model able to match experimental data and so, able to furnish an instrument of investigation for the performances at various working regimes. In order to create this physic model, a big effort has been made to build the mesh and many simulation parameters has been changed in order to reach an acceptable match with experimental data. Once obtained, the CFD model is used to investigate the performances of the wind turbine at different flow velocities and at different configurations in order to understand the regulation behavior. The effect of the application of a personal intuition is then investigated. A new way to exploit the aerodynamic pressure field is proposed. The application on the Rotor’s wind turbine is made possible thank to a simple design modification and brings to a performance improvement of maximum power coefficient. In order to understand which is the better configuration of the suggested design an optimization study is done. On one hand, the regulation and adaptation properties of the Rotor’s wind turbine could be very significant for the diffusion of micro-wind turbines technology, on the other and the proposed idea could bring to the creation of a customizable device able to improve the performances of drag-driven vertical axis wind turbine.