Experimental study of a vertical axis wind turbine on multi-storey building models

Nowadays, it is becoming more and more crucial to generate electricity without emitting harmful emissions. Installing small vertical axis wind turbines on the roof of the buildings can be a solution for energy demand in urban areas. The challenge is that there are many different aspects that can impact the operation of a roof-mounted wind turbine. In order to assess the potential of urban wind it is essential to comprehend how these variables affect the turbine's performance. The purpose of this study is to examine how the performances are affected both by the wind turbine position on the roof, the building height and the turbine height. In order to do this the performances of a Savonius wind turbine model, mounted on the top of tandem configuration of two multi-storey building models, has been measured at six streamwise positions. Additionally, the flow field over the roof, without the turbines, was measured at several points with a Cobra Probe in order to comprehend the flow field in which the turbine is situated. In general it could be noticed that the roof-mounted wind turbine on a high-rise building are worst, compared to a lower building, when placed on the windward structure, whereas they are comparable when located on the leeward building.