Simulation of Vertical Solar Power Plants with Different Turbine Blades

Abstract

The performances of turbine blades have a significant impact on the energy conversion efficiency of vertical solar power plants. In the present study, such a relationship is assessed by considering two kinds of airfoil blades, designed by using the Wilson theory. In particular, numerical simulations are conducted using the SST K − ω model and assuming a wind speed of 3-6 m/s and seven or eight blades. The two airfoils are the NACA63121 (with a larger chord length) and the AMES63212; It is shown that the torsion angle of the former is smaller, and its wind drag ratio is larger; furthermore, the resistance is increased by about 66.3% on average. Within the scope of the study, the results show that the NACA63212 airfoil is better than the AMES63212 airfoil in terms of power, with an average improvement of about 2.8%. The simulation results have a certain guiding significance for selecting turbine blade airfoils and improving turbine efficiency.