Introduction

This handbook is a guide to numerical and experimental processes that are used to analyze and improve the efficiency of vertical axis rotors. Chapters present information that is required to optimize the geometrical parameters of rotors or understand how to augment upstream water velocity.

The authors of this volume present a numerical model to characterize the water flow around the vertical axis rotors using commercial CFD code in Ansys Fluent®. The software has been used to select adequate parameters and perform computational simulations of spiral Darrieus turbines. The contents of the volume explain the experimental procedure carried out to evaluate the performance of the spiral Darrieus turbine, how to characterize the water flow in the vicinity of the tested turbine and the method to assess the spiral angle influence on the turbine performance parameters. Results for different spiral angles (ranging from 10° to 40°) are presented.

This volume is a useful handbook for engineers involved in power plant design and renewable energy sectors who are studying the computational fluid dynamics of vertical axis turbines (such as Darrieus turbines) that are used in hydropower projects.

Key features:

• - 4 chapters that cover the numerical and experimental analysis of vertical axis rotors and hydrokinetic turbines
• - Simple structured layout for easy reading (methodology, models and results)
• - Bibliographic study to introduce the reader to the subject
• - A wide range of parameters included in experiments
• - A comprehensive appendix of tables for mechanical parameters, statistical models, rotor parameters and geometric details.

Audience: Students, researchers and professional engineers studying computational fluid dynamics, turbine design and hydropower / renewable energy.