Propeller-style wind turbines that look like traditional windmills have become a familiar sight throughout our countryside and coastline.
With the amount of energy we produce through wind expected to double over the next decade, wind farms and generators will become even more common – but that familiar bladed design might not.
This is because a new study suggests that vertical-axis turbines outperform the traditional horizontal-axis ones we’re used to seeing.
The axis refers not to the blades but to the generator and rotor shaft inside the turbine.
In a traditional horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT), these are located at the top of the tower and positioned horizontally in relation to the ground.
In a vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT), the generator and rotor shaft are on a vertical axis to the ground and tend to be located at the base of the turbine structure.
There are a number of designs used for the blade parts in a VAWT, with some resembling a drum, some shaped more like an egg beater, and still others that look like a spiralling strand of DNA.
Now, a new study from Oxford Brookes University has shown that these vertically rotating turbines are much more efficient than the traditional designs when deployed at scale.
Study involved thousands of hours of computer simulations
Researchers from the university’s School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics (ECM) ran more than 11,500 hours of detailed computer simulation to compare the difference between the different models.
The study showed for the first time that VAWTs significantly outperformed HAWTs on a realistic scale.
One key issue in the planning and design of wind farms is not only how each turbine performs in isolation, but also how the positioning of multiple units affects each other.
Lead author Joachim Toftegaard Hansen explained that as wind passed the front row of turbines, turbulence was created, and this affected the performance of turbines in subsequent rows.
While the front rows converted around half of the wind’s kinetic energy into electricity, this could be reduced to around 25% to 30% towards the back.
Using computer models to study the flow physics involved, the team found that the VAWTs could be situated much closer together, reducing the effect of the turbulence.
They also work better in a grid pattern, and positioning vertical turbines in pairs could even increase the performance of each by up to 15%, improving efficiency and ultimately lowering the cost of renewable electricity produced at such sites.
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