A computational fluid dynamics model for horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) analysis using finite-volume methods

The regulation of fossil-fuel consumption has prompted governments in the development of clean and renewable energy systems. Wind energy is by far the most promising of these systems in the Philippines due to its numerous potential sites. However, the technology in the development of wind turbines requires the design to be site specific due to geographical variation of the wind resource. History shows that the design of wind turbines has evolved from the actuator disc concept to the current blade element-momentum theory. However, these analytical approaches can be very difficult when the fluid reaches the turbulent region as such in the case in wind systems. Until recently, wind energy researches use numerical techniques pioneered by the aircraft industry in the development of more efficient and adaptive wind turbines. This technique in the area of fluid mechanics is known as computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In this study, finite volume method is used in the analysis of a 3m diameter rotor having a pitch angle of 50 and a fixed wind speed of 5m/s