CFD Analysis Of MEXICO Rotor

Wind energy, as one of important renewable energy resources, is getting more and more attention in recent years. Wind turbine is a device which can convert wind energy into mechanical energy through the turbine to drive the generator for electricity. The aerodynamic performance of wind turbine determines the capability of transforming wind energy to mechanical energy and also affects the work efficiency and longevity of the wind turbine. Experimental measurement and CFD numerical simulation have become the important methods to study wind turbine aerodynamic performance. As the rapid progress of simulation technology, it puts towards a high request on the calculation accuracy of wind turbine aerodynamic performance. In order to establish a more perfect pneumatic test data, several countries participate in The MEXICO (Model Experiments In Controlled cOnditions) project. The main objective was to create a database of detailed aerodynamic and load measurements on a wind turbine model, in a large and high quality wind tunnel, to be used for model validation.Numerical simulation for the three-dimensional MEXICO rotor on the conditions of different wind speeds and const rotor speed was carried out by using ANSYS CFX software based on the SST k-ω turbulence model. Comparing the calculations with the measurement results of the aerodynamic experiment in the MEXICO project and the overall agreement between the calculations and the reference data sources was found to be satisfied. The pressure distribution on the five spans was analyzed, the flow separation developed with the tunnel speed was studied. The effects of different flow velocities on the main aerodynamic characteristics parameters of the airfoil and wind turbine aerodynamic performance were investigated. The performance of shaft power varied with the wind speed was obtained. The mechanism of power regulation by stall was illuminated.The present thesis describes the modeling of vortex generators which are based on the MEXICO rotor Model. The influence of vortex generator on the aerodynamic performance of wind turbine was given by the numerical simulation. It was found that the vortex generator type and arrangement can suppress the flow separation and increase the performance under certain conditions. While when the wind speed is too large, the blades will run into deep stall, it may reduce the aerodynamic performance.