The wind turbine power decreases at low wind speed. A flanged diffuser plays a role of a device for collecting and accelerating the approaching wind, and thus the optimization of the diffuser shape presents an important way to enhance the wind turbine power. In this work, a numerical parametric study was conducted on the diffuser to obtain the initial optimum form of flanged diffuser. Then, the Simplex algorithm is used to obtain the optimal diffuser shape starting from the obtained initial shape. Finally, the obtained optimum diffuser shape is used with conventional wind turbine blade. The diffuser shape is defined by four variables: open angle, flange height, centerbody length, and flange angle. The numerical simulation of flanged diffuser is carried out using the “CFDRC package. The results indicated that, the optimum diffuser shape can be obtained using simplex algorithm which maximizes the entrance average velocity to reach 1.77 times wind speed. The power augmented by a factor about 2.76:5.26 of a selected small wind turbine using the obtained diffuser shape compared to that without diffuser.

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Film cooling is vital to gas turbine blades to protect them from high temperatures and hence high thermal stresses. In the current work, optimization of film cooling parameters on a flat plate is investigated numerically. The effect of film cooling parameters such as inlet velocity direction, lateral and forward diffusion angles, blowing ratio, and streamwise angle on the cooling effectiveness is studied, and optimum cooling parameters are selected. The numerical simulation of the coolant flow through flat plate hole system is carried out using the “CFDRC package” coupled with the optimization algorithm “simplex” to maximize overall film cooling effectiveness. Unstructured finite volume technique is used to solve the steady, three-dimensional and compressible Navier-Stokes equations. The results are compared with the published numerical and experimental data of a cylindrically round-simple hole, and the results show good agreement. In addition, the results indicate that the average overall film cooling effectiveness is enhanced by decreasing the streamwise angle for high blowing ratio and by increasing the lateral and forward diffusion angles. Optimum geometry of the cooling hole on a flat plate is determined. In addition, numerical simulations of film cooling on actual turbine blade are performed using the flat plate optimal hole geometry.

Wind energy is one of the most abundant renewable energy resources that have been used to generate electricity. A new used method called Vortex Bladeless Wind Turbines which is basically a rod oscillating and vibrating in response to the vortices originating from the wind passing by the rod. This paper presents a mathematical model used in analysis the work of the VBWT. A prototype design was be created using solidwork to calculate the physical properties. In addition, a numerical study was carried out using Ansys software to calculate the forces affecting the VBWT. Finally, the safety of VBWT structure is studied. The results indicated that, the obtained model can be applied practically in studying the performance of general VBWT with low wind speed, as VBWT use less space, low maintenance and hence economical. The mathematical formula of VBWT power is function of air velocity, aerodynamic coefficients, and prototype physical properties.

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