University of Twente Student Theses
BEM theory and CFD for wind turbine aerodynamics
Mourits, G.J. (2014) BEM theory and CFD for wind turbine aerodynamics.
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| Abstract: | This project considers an analysis and evaluation of different methods for wind turbine aerodynamics. A Blade Element Momentum method is developed and applied to the NREL Annex XX wind turbine blade. For the sectional data required for this method, 2D CFD simulations are performed with the HMB solver developed by the University of Liverpool. With the use of this BEM method the performance of the wind turbine in terms of thrust, torque and power coefficient is calculated. Besides this also the relative wind angle, angle of incidence and local values of thrust, torque, lift, drag etc., are computed and presented in this report. Subsequently a 3D grid is build and used to perform 3D CFD simulations of the wind turbine blades. After this, a comparison is made between the BEM method and 3D CFD simulations. For this comparison the University of Liverpool provided results of a more advanced CFD simulations which includes the tower and contains a finer grid. After a comparison of the overall thrust and torque a more detailed analysis is discussed by integrating sectional pressure data. Finally a sensitivity analyses is performed to investigate the effect of inaccuracies in data and how to deal with this. The discussion explains that BEM methods can predict the performance of a wind turbine quite well without requiring excessive computational power. With the CFD methods, not only the performance of the wind turbine can be predicted very well, but also good insight in the flow behaviour can be provided since the flow around the blade can be visualised. The work presented in this report is part of a 3 month internship at the CFD lab of the University of Liverpool. The internship is conducted as part of the final year of a master degree in Engineering Fluid Dynamics at the University of Twente. |
| Item Type: | Internship Report (Master) |
| Clients: | The University of Liverpool, United Kingdom |
| Faculty: | ET: Engineering Technology |
| Subject: | 52 mechanical engineering |
| Programme: | Mechanical Engineering MSc (60439) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/69276 |
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