Wind Energy

A Report on Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT’s)

By
 Table of Contents (plus role divisions)

Samreen
1. Introduction

2. General Design and Aerodynamics

Atif

3. Comparison between Horizontal and Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

Mahvish

4. Types of Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

Mubassir

5. Current Research & Development in Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs)

Tariq

6. VAWT Manufacturers

7. Cost of VAWTs

8. Global Market of Vertical Wind Turbines

 1. Introduction:

VAWTs are a type of wind turbines where the main rotor shaft
is set vertically and the main components are located at the
base of the turbine as shown in Figure 1. The generator and
gearbox are placed near the ground, which makes it more
accessible for maintenance. These turbines have lower wind
startup speeds and may be built at locations where tall turbines
are prohibited. VAWTs do not need to be pointed into the
wind which removes the need for wind-sensing and orientation
mechanisms. VAWT has the ability to accept wind from any
direction so it does not require a yaw mechanism. An
omnidirectional turbine can be situated at places where the
wind is turbulent and where the wind direction changes often.
Figure 1-Schematic of vertical axis wind turbine
Nacelle is excluded, so the tower is lighter for a VAWT.

2. General Aerodynamics

The forces and the velocities acting in a Darrieus turbine

are depicted in

Figure 2.

The resultant velocity vector, W is the vectorial sum of

the undisturbed upstream air velocity, U, and the
velocity vector of the advancing blade, V = −ωR.

Thus the oncoming fluid velocity varies during each

cycle. Maximum velocity is found for θ=0o and the
minimum is found for θ=180o , where θ is the
azimuthal or orbital blade position. The angle of attackα
is the angle between the oncoming air speed, W, and
the blade's chord.

The resultant airflow creates a varying, positive angle Figure 2-Forces and velocities acting in a Darrieus turbine for various
of attack to the blade in the upstream zone of the azimuthal positions

machine, switching sign in the downstream zone of the

machine.
A torque ripple is caused by the continuously changing angle of attack between the blades and
the apparent wind.

From geometrical considerations, the resultant airspeed flow and the angle of attack are
calculated as follows:

Where, is the tip speed ratio parameter. where ω is the rotational frequency of the
turbine, R is the turbine radius and U is the wind speed.

The amount of power, P, which can be absorbed by a wind turbine, can be found from
1
P = 2 CPρAU 3 , where CP is the power coefficient, ρ is the density of the air, A is the swept area
of the turbine and U is the wind speed. The power coefficient represents the aerodynamic
efficiency of the wind turbine and is a function of the tip speed ratio, λ.The performance of a
wind turbine depends on the power coefficient, CP, which states how much of the power in the
wind that is absorbed by the wind turbine. The theoretical maximum power coefficient is called
the Betz limit and is 0.59 for an ideal wind turbine. It is difficult to state the exact value of CP for
VAWTs since there are few turbines operating. Values of CP are therefore based on theoretical
studies and on experimental results from different studies and are usually around 0.40.

3. Comparison between Horizontal and Vertical axis Wind Turbines

a. Structure:

As to the Vertical axis wind turbine, during the process of rotation of the blades, the condition of
receiving effects is better than that of the Horizontal axis wind turbine, because the directions of
the inertial force and gravity keep stable ever. Therefore, the blades receive a fixed load, and
accordingly the fatigue longevity is longer than the Horizontal axis wind turbine. At the same
time, the generator of the Vertical axis wind turbine is often placed under the rotor or on the
ground, and so it is easy for repair and maintenance.

b. Starting wind speed:

In the field of wind turbines, it is also commonly said that the Vertical axis wind turbine suffers a
bad starting performance, especially the Ф structure of Darrieus wind turbine, which has no
initial starting ability to speak of. This is also an obstacle on the way of the development of the
Vertical axis wind turbine. Nevertheless, as for the H structure of Darrieus wind turbine, it has an
opposite conclusion. As long as the airfoil and installing angle are selected appropriately, the
wind turbine can gain quite satisfactorily starting performance. Considering the air-hole test, the
H structure of Darrieus wind turbine can start at a wind speed of 2m/s, which is undoubtedly
preferable than the Horizontal axis wind turbine.

c. Environmental impacts:

Although the wind is called as the clean energy, and can be friendly to the environment, with
more and more large-scale wind power farms being built, some environmental problems caused
by the wind turbines have been also prominent. These problems are mainly reflected in two
aspects:

a) The noise problem

b) The negative impact on the local ecological environment.

The tip speed ratio of the Vertical axis wind turbine is usually 1.5 to 2, which is much lower than
that of the Horizontal model. Such low rotating speed basically can't produce aerodynamic noise,
and completely mute the noise. The benefits of muteness are apparent, because it solved the
difficult that in the past the wind turbine couldn't be erected in some circumstances, such as
urban public facilities, residential areas, etc. With this regard, it can be said that the Vertical
model will enjoy a wider field of application than the Horizontal model.

d. Benefit of Low Tip Speed:

The benefits brought by the low tip speed ratio are not only the environmental advantages, but
also beneficial to the overall performance of the wind turbines. Based on their aerodynamic
analysis, the faster the object, greater the impact of the shape of outlook on the flow field. When
the wind turbine runs in the outdoors, the blades are inevitably contaminated by the pollution,
and the pollution can actually change the shape of the blades. In terms of the Horizontal model,
even if this kind of change to the blades is trivial, it can also reduce the energy utilization. But as
for the Vertical model, its rotating speed is quite low, so it is not so sensitive to the change of the
shape, which means that the contamination to the blades has no effect on the aerodynamic
performance of the wind turbine.

e. Summary:
 4.
5.

4. Types of Vertical Axis Wind Turbines:

A. Savonius Wind Turbine:

These are drag type device with two or more scoops (use in anemometers), flattener vents and
high-reliability low efficiency power turbines. If three scoops are used then they become self
starting machines. To get smooth torque long helical scoop is used. Because of drag-type
devices, Savonius turbines extract much less power as compared to other similarly-sized lift-type
turbines. Wind speed is lower at lower height hence less power is extracted as much of the swept
area of a rotor is near the ground. Three rotors are often stacked together with each section
rotated by 120.
 Figure 3: Savonius Turbine

B. Darrieus Wind Turbine

Darrieus turbines or “eggbeater” turbine named after a French inventor. They are efficient but
produce large torque ripple and cyclic stress on tower. Due to low starting torque , they required
external power source or an additional Savonius rotor. Torque ripple can be minimized by using
three or more blades. Newer Darrieus type turbines are not held up by guy-wires rather have
external superstructure connected to the top bearing.

Figure 4: Darrieus Wind Turbine

Turbine consists of a number of aerofoils vertically mounted on shaft. They are arranged
symmetrically to achieve zero rigging angles, that is, the angle that the aero foils are set relative
to the structure on which they are mounted.. The rotor spins at a rate unrelated to the wind speed,
and usually many times faster. The energy arising from the torque and speed is extracted by
generator.

Figure 3 : Working Mechanism of Darrieus Wind Turbine

C. Giromill

Giromill or H-bar design, in which "egg beater" blades of the Darrieus design are replaced with
straight vertical blade sections attached to the central tower with horizontal supports. The blade
design is simple to build, but puts more weight into the structure as opposed to blades. The
blades of a Darrieus turbine can be arranged into a helix, e.g. three blades and a helical twist of
60. Since the wind pulls each blade around on both the windward and downward sides of the
turbine, resulting flat torque and reduce pulsations.
 Figure 4Giromill Vertical Turbine

D. Cycloturbine
Another variation in the Giromill is the Cycloturbine having blades mounted in such a way that
they can rotate around their vertical axis.

The cycloturbine variety pitches to reduce the torque pulsation and is self-starting.The
advantages of variable pitch are

 High starting torque

 Wide flat torque curve
 Low blade speed ratio,
 Higher coefficient of performance
 Lower blade speed ratio to reduce blade bending stress
 More efficient in turbulent winds

E. Ropatec Vertical Wind turbine

It is a hybrid design of Savonius and Darrieus. Rotors are made of airfoil sections.
The central pole referred to as the axis has the electrical generator bolted to the top. The axis and
generator are inserted into the rotor assembly and the generator in the inner tube. Generator starts
as the rotor rotates. It possesses the following characteristics.

 A low cut in wind speed

 Independent of wind direction
 Low maintenance system
 Low noise
 Reliable and long life
 Does not require cut off wind speed

Figure 5: Ropatec Vertical Wind turbine

F. Solwind Vertical Axis wind turbine

This type of turbine is designed by New Zealand. Blades are made up of composite fiber glass,
stainless steel and aluminum making them strong yet flexible. They produce power at wind
speed of just 3.7 m/s and their rated output at 10m/s. At higher wind speed, the turbine starts to
stall and slow down at around 27m/s.

G. Venturi Wind Turbine

In this type of turbine, the rotor blades are attached to the hub at both ends. A spherical surface is
generated when rotor rotates. By this aerodynamic behavior, Venturi effect turbine creats a wind
flow pattern that converges like a rapid river. This enables the turbine to generate at low wind
speed. It can generate power 80 to 90 % at island location.

Figure 6: Venturi Wind Turbine

The key Advantages of this type of turbines are:

 Reduced sound effects

 Low down time
 High Reliability
 Cost Effectiveness

The idea for vertical Axis wind turbine has been blowing for decades, but despite many
advantages the technology has so far attracted little interest.
 5. Current Research & Development in Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs):

VAWTs are gaining popularity over the more common horizontal axis wind turbines, primarily
due to their potential increase in packing density (spacing between turbines). However, in order
to make VAWTs more widely adopted their advantages need to explored and developed further,
hence the demand for attention in turbine and farm designs.

Wind based power is among the fastest growing energy technologies in the US over the past few
years, and being leaders in global scientific research, the whole world is starting to realize the
potential of this technology in general.

ElieBou-Zeid and AlenxanderSmitts, researchers at Princeton University have been working on

the optimization of vertical axis wind turbines from the scale of individual blades to the scale of
large wind farms. Briefly, their first task involved building of a wind tunnel which replicates the
actual environment for the accurate testing of the wind turbine models. On the simulation side,
they implemented an actuator line model (ALM) to represent each blade of the VAWT in a
large-eddy simulation code of the atmospheric boundary layer.

Among other important studied aspects, the use of VAWTs on offshore wind farms is also an
area of ongoing research. Sandia National Laboratories’ researchers are currently focused on this
domain of vertical axis wind energy in particular. Financial aspects of offshore wind power are
different from onshore, because of operational and installation challenges. However, the use of
VAWTs here offers 3 key promising aspects which could lower the overall costs of wind energy;
a lower turbine centre of gravity, reduced machine complexity and better scalability to very large
sizes.

Moreover, a Caltech researcher believes arrays of tiny wind turbines could produce cheaper
power than bigger ones. John Dabiri, claims the way to lower cost of wind power is to use small
scale VAWTs, while using computer models to optimize their arrangement in a wind farm. This
would ensure each turbine boosts the power of its neighboring turbines.

In another perspective, Princeton Satellite Systems is designing VAWTs which employ novel
control methods for individual blade pitch. The vertical orientation is ideal for small turbines
since they do not get effected by wind direction. By regulating each blade’s angle of attack
allows for a wider range of operational wind speeds, thus improving the overall efficiency of the
turbine. Simulations have proven this individual pitch control of blades has led to generate
energy where normally there was loss of it. These researchers are also working on developing a
high efficiency power conversion system and an aerodynamically optimized blade design to
maximize the turbine power output.
To highlight some other developments in this domain of wind energy, it has been seen that Dean
Kamen has filed a patent application for an inflatable, illuminated wind turbine. Not only will the
turbine be generating power, but the LEDs covering the turbine itself can be utilized for
advertisement purposes.

Furthermore, E Turbine has come up with the concept of using air movement caused by moving
cars to generate energy. Pedro Gomes came up with this idea, whereby moving vehicles turn the
turbine, a battery is charged which in turn is used to light the roadway, information panels as
well as emergency phones.

A novel design called the Aerogenerator X has a massive span of 275 metres and produces 10
MW of electricity, 3 times more than a typical modern HAWT, making it more viable for off
shore applications.

These are some of the more promising research outputs currently ongoing in the domain of
VAWTs, highlighting these selected ones mentioned here is intended to give an overview into
what to expect in the upcoming future of VAWTs.

6. Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Manufacturers:

The major manufacturers of vertical axis wind turbine are UGE (urban green energy), Liberty
energy limited and Aeolos wind turbine. The manufacturers of Roof Mounted Vertical Axis
Wind Generators are Platek Services, Quietrevolution, and Alternative EnergieSysteme

Manufacturers of Small Vertical Axis Wind Generators are Aerotecture International,

GualIndustrie, OyWindside Production, Ropatec. Manufacturers of Medium & Large Vertical
Axis Wind Generators are TMA – Global Wind Energy Systems, Wind Harvest Company,
Energy Resource Development and MagLev Wind Turbines – NuEnergy Technologies

Other Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Manufacturers are:

Rooftop Wind Power, Eastern Wind Power, SpinPower Technologies, AIRunner, Helix Wind,
Windterra Systems, Leviathan Energy, Clarian, Windation Energy Systems Inc, JL CarbonFree
Energy Co., Ltd, Capline Systems, UrWind, Shanghai Aeolus Windpower Technology Co.,Ltd,
Enargo, Yenny Industry Co., ANew Institute and State of the Art Wind Technologies (SAWT).

7. Cost of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine:

“For all wind turbines, other than those used for more decorative purposes, the cost of energy
(COE) is important.” Their cost has to compete with existing wind turbines and they must prove
their worth. Otherwise, they are just lawn ornaments or “dynamic sculptures.” Most often they
are not even dynamic and are merely “static” sculptures, but not wind turbines.
In the following table the HAWT is a 1.5 MW design done for NREL. The VAWTs are
represented by the DAF-Indal 6400, a large curved-blade Darrieus, and Sandia National
Laboratories 34 meter diameter “test bed” for curved-blade Darrieus. The gist of the table is that
at a decent wind site, the VAWTs will generate significantly less electricity relative to their
swept area than a conventional HAWT.

“The following recommendations are made concerning the viability of developing small VAWTs

The maximum aerodynamic efficiency of any VAWT will be lower than available HAWT
designs. This difference is likely to be between 15 and 25%. Due to the lower efficiency, the
VAWT will capture less energy for the same swept area. For a given swept area, the mass of the
rotor and support structure of a VAWT will be greater than that of an equivalent HAWT. This
mass difference is likely to translate into a cost difference. The savings that a VAWT may enjoy
due to lower drive train and maintenance costs are unlikely to balance the lower energy capture
and higher initial rotor costs. The same diseconomies of scale apply, in theory, to both HAWT
and VAWT configurations.

8. Global Market of Vertical Wind Turbine:

Nowadays the Global Market for Wind Energy & Wind Turbine is growing fast. Wind turbine
expected to attain market size of USD 93.1 billion in 2016 while wind energy cumulative
capacity will rise to 1,750,000 MW by 2030

The Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) and Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) together
form the two major segments for wind turbine market globally. However, the VAWT generate
the minor chunk of revenue to the turbine market capturing approximately 10% share. The Wind
turbine market is characterized as highly competitive market. Major Companies are GE Energy,
Gamesa, Vestas, Suzlon, Siemens, Mitsubishi etc. In the present scenario, the onshore
technology is leading with approximately 95% share and offshore technology owing to its
nascent stage is making its move with 5% market share. The cost propositions with offshore
technology rise because of their high O&M costs. So that’s why the offshore wind turbine
market occupies only 5% share in the global wind turbine market. In onshore wind energy
market, U.S. was the largest onshore wind energy market in 2010 followed
by Germany and China. However, China is expected to become leader of market in 2016.