Improving vertical-axis wind turbine performance through innovative combination of deflector and plasma actuator

Abstract

Vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) are efficient tools for harvesting wind energy, especially in urban areas; however, aerodynamic losses owing to dynamic stall and negative torque reduce their efficiency. Therefore, it is necessary to use flow-control methods for VAWTs. In the present study, a two-dimensional VAWT is numerically modeled and simulated. Subsequently, a novel combined actuator is proposed to improve the performance of VAWT. This novel combined actuator included plasma actuators and deflector plate as active and passive actuators, respectively. First, 16 cases were examined to determine the optimal deflector angle and distance. In the best case, the deflector with an angle of 45° and a radius ratio of 3.3 increased the power coefficient by 13.37% compared to the open rotor. Then, the effect of the combined use of the deflector and plasma actuator was investigated. The results showed that the activation of the plasma actuator from an azimuth angle of 55° to 145° increased the power coefficient by 45.68% in comparison to the open rotor. Considering the energy consumed by actuators, the net energy produced by the VAWT per rotation cycle increased by 26.72% compared to the open rotor.