Numerical simulation of interaction between two Savonius turbines aimed at practical application of ocean current power generation

Abstract

One of the vertical axis wind turbines that utilize drag force is the Savonius wind turbine. Savonius wind turbines are characterized by low speed rotation and high torque, so they are rarely used for wind power generation but have possibility to apply to ocean current power generation, which has been attracting attention recently. In this report, we actually performed a numerical simulation of the flow using suitable grid, focusing mainly on the case where two wind turbines are rotating in reverse at a constant speed, and investigated the state of the flow field. Two-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are adopted as the basic equation and solved numerically using the finite difference method. In addition, in order to enable calculation even in a high Reynolds number flow, the nonlinear term of the equations are approximated by using the third-order accuracy upstream difference method. The simulation is performed under the condition that the flow corresponds to three types of angles of 90 degrees, 45 degrees, and 0 degrees with respect to the line connecting the centers of the two wind turbines. The flow field differs greatly depending on each angle, and the interaction between the two wind turbines has been clarified.

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