TY - JOUR
T1 - A new approach toward power output enhancement using multirotor systems with shrouded wind turbines
AU - Yuji, Ohya
AU - Koichi, Watanabe
N1 - Funding Information:
We gratefully acknowledge our laboratory staff, Messrs. K. Matsushima and K. Watanabe, along with the students, Dr. U. Goltenbott, Mr. A. Munakata, Mr. J. Miyazaki, and Mr. T. Mor-iyama for their cooperation and assistance in the experiments and in the analysis of the data. This research was supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), Japan, and by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology-Japan (MEXT). This research is in cooperation with Dr. Peter Jamieson, who belongs to University of Strathclyde, UK.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 by ASME.
PY - 2019/5/1
Y1 - 2019/5/1
N2 - A multirotor system (MRS) is defined as containing more than one rotor in a single structure. MRSs have a great potential as a wind turbine system, saving mass and cost, and showing scale ability. The shrouded wind turbine with brimmed diffuser-augmented wind turbines (B-DAWT) has demonstrated power augmentation for a given turbine diameter and wind speed by a factor of about 2-5 compared with a bare wind turbine. In the present research, B-DAWTs are used in a multirotor system. The power output performance of MRSs using two and three B-DAWTs in a variety of configurations has been investigated in the previous works. In the present study, the aerodynamics of an MRS with five B-DAWTs, spaced in close vicinity in the same vertical plane normal to a uniform flow, has been analyzed. Power output increases of up to 21% in average for a five-rotor MRS configuration are achieved in comparison to that for the stand-alone configuration. Thus, when B-DAWTs are employed as the unit of a MRS, the total power output is remarkably increased. As the number of units for an MRS is increased from two to five, the increase in power output becomes larger and larger. This is because that the gap flows between B-DAWTs in a MRS are accelerated and cause lowered pressure regions due to vortex interaction behind the brimmed diffusers. Thus, a MRS with more B-DAWTs can draw more wind into turbines showing higher power output.
AB - A multirotor system (MRS) is defined as containing more than one rotor in a single structure. MRSs have a great potential as a wind turbine system, saving mass and cost, and showing scale ability. The shrouded wind turbine with brimmed diffuser-augmented wind turbines (B-DAWT) has demonstrated power augmentation for a given turbine diameter and wind speed by a factor of about 2-5 compared with a bare wind turbine. In the present research, B-DAWTs are used in a multirotor system. The power output performance of MRSs using two and three B-DAWTs in a variety of configurations has been investigated in the previous works. In the present study, the aerodynamics of an MRS with five B-DAWTs, spaced in close vicinity in the same vertical plane normal to a uniform flow, has been analyzed. Power output increases of up to 21% in average for a five-rotor MRS configuration are achieved in comparison to that for the stand-alone configuration. Thus, when B-DAWTs are employed as the unit of a MRS, the total power output is remarkably increased. As the number of units for an MRS is increased from two to five, the increase in power output becomes larger and larger. This is because that the gap flows between B-DAWTs in a MRS are accelerated and cause lowered pressure regions due to vortex interaction behind the brimmed diffusers. Thus, a MRS with more B-DAWTs can draw more wind into turbines showing higher power output.
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U2 - 10.1115/1.4042235
DO - 10.1115/1.4042235
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85059982041
VL - 141
JO - Journal of Energy Resources Technology, Transactions of the ASME
JF - Journal of Energy Resources Technology, Transactions of the ASME
SN - 0195-0738
IS - 5
M1 - 051203
ER -