A double-multiple-streamtube vertical axis wind turbine simulation and design module has been integrated within the open-source wind turbine simulator QBlade. QBlade also contains the XFOIL airfoil analysis functionalities, which makes the software a single tool that comprises all functionality needed for the design and simulation of vertical or horizontal axis wind turbines. The functionality includes two dimensional airfoil design and analysis, lift and drag polar extrapolation, rotor blade design and wind turbine performance simulation. The QBlade software also inherits a generator module, pitch and rotational speed controllers, geometry export functionality and the simulation of rotor characteristics maps. Besides that, QBlade serves as a tool to compare different blade designs and their performance and to thoroughly investigate the distribution of all relevant variables along the rotor in an included post processor. The benefits of this code will be illustrated with two different case studies. The first case deals with the effect of stall delaying vortex generators on a vertical axis wind turbine rotor. The second case outlines the impact of helical blades and blade number on the time varying loads of a vertical axis wind turbine.

This paper describes the introduction of an unsteady aerodynamics model applicable for horizontal and vertical axis wind turbines (HAWT/VAWT) into the advanced blade design and simulation code QBlade, developed at the HFI of the TU Berlin. The software contains a module based on lifting line theory including a free vortex wake algorithm (LLFVW) which has recently been coupled to the structural solver of FAST to allow for time-resolved aeroelastic simulations of large, flexible wind turbine blades. The aerodynamic model yields an accuracy improvement with respect to Blade Element Momentum (BEM) theory and a more practical approach compared to higher fidelity methods such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) which are too computationally demanding for load case calculations. To capture the dynamics of flow separation, a semi-empirical method based on the Beddoes-Leishman model now extends the simple table lookups of static polar data by predicting the unsteady lift and drag coefficients from steady data and the current state of motion. The model modifications for wind turbines and the coupling to QBlade’s vortex method are described. A 2D validation of the implementation is presented in this paper to demonstrate the capability and reliability of the resulting simulation scheme. The applicability of the model is shown for exemplary HAWT and VAWT test cases. The modelling of the dynamic stall vortex, the empiric model constants as well as the influence of the dynamic coefficients on performance predictions are investigated.

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It is generally accepted that combustion of hydrogen and natural gas mixtures will become more prevalent in the near future, to allow for a further penetration of renewables in the European power generation system. The current work aims at the demonstration of the advantages of steam dilution, when highly reactive combustible mixtures are used in a swirl-stabilized combustor. To this end, high-pressure experiments have been conducted with a generic swirl-stabilized combustor featuring axial air injection to increase flashback safety. The experiments have been conducted with two fuel mixtures, at various pressure levels up to 9 bar and at four levels of steam dilution up to 25% steam-to-air mass flow ratio. Natural gas has been used as a reference fuel, whereas a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen (10% hydrogen by mass) represented an upper limit of hydrogen concentration in a natural gas network with hydrogen enrichment. The results of the emissions measurements are presented along with a reactor network model. The latter is applied as a means to qualitatively understand the chemical processes responsible for the observed emissions and their trends with increasing pressure and steam injection.

It is generally accepted that combustion of hydrogen and natural gas mixtures will become more prevalent in the near future, to allow for a further penetration of renewables in the European power generation system. The current work aims at the demonstration of the advantages of steam dilution, when highly reactive combustible mixtures are used in a swirl-stabilized combustor. To this end, high-pressure experiments have been conducted with a generic swirl-stabilized combustor featuring axial air injection to increase flashback safety. The experiments have been conducted with two fuel mixtures, at various pressure levels up to 9 bar and at four levels of steam dilution up to 25% steam-to-air mass flow ratio. Natural gas has been used as a reference fuel, whereas a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen (10% hydrogen by mass) represented an upper limit of hydrogen concentration in a natural gas network with hydrogen enrichment. The results of the emissions measurements are presented along with a reactor network model. The latter is applied as a means to qualitatively understand the chemical processes responsible for the observed emissions and their trends with increasing pressure and steam injection.