RANS and Hybrid RANS-LES Simulations of an H-Type Darrieus Vertical Axis Water Turbine

• Main Authors: Omar D. Lopez Mejia, Jhon J. Quiñones, Santiago Laín
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-09-01
• Series: Energies
• Subjects: Darrieus turbine; Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation; Detached Eddy Simulation; vertical axis water turbine; Computational Fluid Dynamics; Hybrid RANS-LES models
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/9/2348

Nowadays, the global energy crisis has encouraged the use of alternative sources like the energy available in the water currents of seas and rivers. The vertical axis water turbine (VAWT) is an interesting option to harness this energy due to its advantages of facile installation, maintenance and operation. However, it is known that its efficiency is lower than that of other types of turbines due to the unsteady effects present in its flow physics. This work aims to analyse through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) the turbulent flow dynamics around a small scale VAWT confined in a hydrodynamic tunnel. The simulations were developed using the Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (URANS), Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) and Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (DDES) turbulence models, all of them based on k-ω Shear Stress Transport (SST). The results and analysis of the simulations are presented, illustrating the influence of the tip speed ratio. The numerical results of the URANS model show a similar behaviour with respect to the experimental power curve of the turbine using a lower number of elements than those used in the DES and DDES models. Finally, with the help of both the Q-criterion and field contours it is observed that the refinements made in the mesh adaptation process for the DES and DDES models improve the identification of the scales of the vorticity structures and the flow phenomena present on the near and far wake of the turbine.