Computational Modeling of Design of Low Cost Windmills for Sustainable Energy Applications in the Rural Sector

Abstract

Computational modeling of flowfields in the vicinity of this low cost horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) for supporting an efficient design, to assess its performance and to analyze the wake patterns in its vicinity owing to changing wind speed magnitudes and direction is presented in this study. In order to understand the flowfield and wake structures generated by the low cost horizontal axis wind mill and to lay the base for performance optimization of the windmill, a time accurate unsteady flow past a CAD model of the HAWT with a directional vane fitted to the turbine and mounted on a structural framework is computed using a finite volume Navier-Stokes solver. The model also lays the basis for future investigations on the optimal layout of a network of HAWTs in a wind farm to mitigate impact of the wind farm on the environment.