Wind Tunnel Experiment to Study Aerodynamics and Control of H-Rotor Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

This study focuses on wind tunnel testing of a 3-bladed H-rotor vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) under various conditions. Different performance metrics such as power coefficient (C_P), thrust load coefficient (C_X), and lateral load coefficient (C_Y) are presented at four wind speeds. Parked loads, which are key parameters in designing VAWTs, are reported for the baseline case. Apart from presenting the benchmark results for the baseline model, the impact of two control strategies to boost the energy production of the VAWT are investigated. First, the effect of installing the plasma actuators on all blades is tested at four plasma input voltages. The results indicate that plasma actuators are an efficient approach to enhance the aerodynamic efficiency of VAWTs through modification of drag and lift loads acting on the blades. The second control strategy evaluated is intracycle RPM control. In this control method, the rotational speed of the turbine is varied with the azimuthal location of blades at each cycle so that the power production is increased. The results observed for this control strategy encourage further research development to expand the limited knowledge on its application for VAWTs.