Self-starting capability of a Darrieus turbine

Abstract

Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. The manuscript was received on 10 July 2006 and was accepted after revision for publication on 14 September 2006. DOI: 10.1243/09576509JPE340Abstract: Darrieus-type vertical axis wind turbines have a number of potential advantages for small-scale and domestic applications. For such applications, the issues of cost and reliability are paramount and hence simplicity of design of the structure, the generator, and any control system is vital. A particular concern relating to Darrieus turbines is their potential to selfstart. If, as has been suggested by several authors, they require external assistance to start then much of their advantage is lost. The purpose of the study described here is, therefore, to investigate their starting performance through the development and validation of computational simulation and to determine the parameters that govern the capability to self-start. A case study is presented based upon the use of the widely used and well documented, symmetrical NACA 0012 turbine blade profile. It is shown that a lightly loaded, three-bladed rotor always has the potential to self start under steady wind conditions, whereas the starting of a two-bladed device is dependent upon its initial starting orientation.

The Physics of H-Darrieus Turbine Starting Behavior

“…Despite this perception, it has been increasingly reported that the turbine can self-start in even its simplest configuration of fixed-pitch, straight blades with a symmetrical aerofoil section [3][4][5][6][7]. These conflicting perceptions and observations indicates that there may be a physical aerodynamic mechanism which is not well understood.…”

“…In general, the latter is better suited to the urban environment where wind direction rapidly changes as it is insensitive to wind direction. However, Darrieus (vertical-axis) turbines are commonly believed to be non self-starting [1,2].Despite this perception, it has been increasingly reported that the turbine can self-start in even its simplest configuration of fixed-pitch, straight blades with a symmetrical aerofoil section [3][4][5][6][7]. These conflicting perceptions and observations indicates that there may be a physical aerodynamic mechanism which is not well understood.…”

Design and Testing of a Novel Building Integrated Cross Axis Wind Turbine

“…Although Darrieus wind turbine was previously known for its difficulty in self-start [13][14][15], recent studies have shown that there are certain conditions that can make it otherwise. According to the recent literature on self-starting ability of the H-Darrieus wind turbine, Dominy et al [16] and Hill et al [17] demonstrated that it is possible to have a self-start three-bladed H-rotor VAWT using Figure 1. Wind profile in the internal boundary layer in a built environment [6].…”

“…Kirke [19] reported that the self-starting torque and low speed torque problem of VAWTs can be overcome either by passive variable pitch or by a combination of suitable blade airfoil sections. Dominy et al [16] asserted that a lightly loaded, three-bladed rotor always has the potential to self-start under steady wind condition. Similar studies on the self-starting ability of VAWTs are reported in [20][21][22].…”

Application and Economic Viability of Wind Turbine Installation in Lutak, Iran

“…NACA0012, and in the NACA0030 the forces are 150%higher than in NACA0012.The thicker blades are able to provide the wind turbine the self-start capabilities, while the thinner blade wind turbines are observed most likely unable to self-start [14,15].The NACA0030 present 26% better performance than NACA0012 [13].…”