Effects of Sand Particle Size on the Performance Characteristics of a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) are used to harness wind energy to meet renewable energy targets. Operations in dusty environments, such as in deserts, could adversely impact on its performance output. In order to analyse this, both clean and dusty environments have been numerically simulated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based techniques, where the dusty environments constitute of various sand particle sizes. Comparative studies between clean and dusty environments have been presented. Critical analysis of the erosion rate on a rotor blade of the VAWT has also been carried out. It has been shown that sand particles decrease the torque output of the VAWT. It has also been shown that increase in sand particle size decreases the performance of the VAWT. The results obtained have been used to develop a novel semi-empirical prediction model for the torque output of the VAWT as a function of sand particles’ size.