The influence of a cubic building on a roof mounted wind turbine

The Science of Making Torque from Wind

Micallef, Daniel^1 ; Sant, Tonio^2 ; Ferreira, Carlos^3

Department of Environmental Design, Faculty for the Built Environment, University of Malta, Malta^1

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malta, Malta^2

Department of Aerodynamics, Wind Energy and Propulsion, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands^3

关键词: Building roof;    Computational fluid dynamics modeling;    Cubic building;    Power performance;    Separation zone;    Small scale wind turbines;    Small wind turbine;    Turbine installation;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/753/2/022044/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1742-6596/753/2/022044

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

The performance of a wind turbine located above a cubic building is not well understood. This issue is of fundamental importance for the design of small scale wind turbines. One variable which is of particular importance in this respect is the turbine height above roof level. In this work, the power performance of a small wind turbine is assessed as a function of the height above the roof of a generic cubic building. A 3D Computational Fluid Dynamics model of a 10m x 10m x 10m building is used with the turbine modelled as an actuator disc. Results have shown an improvement in the average power coefficient even in cases where the rotor is partially located within the roof separation zone. This goes against current notions of small wind turbine power production. This study can be of particular importance to guide the turbine installation height on building roof tops.