Investigations on the integration of Vertical Axis Wind Turbines in High-rise Buildings
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Date
2009-04
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The British University in Dubai (BUiD)
Abstract
The potential of wind energy as a renewable source is widely recognized these days, with wind farms multiplying all around the world. However another application for wind turbine is now gaining interest, the concept of integrating wind power harnessing in the urban environment. The prospective of harnessing energy were it is needed the most and avoiding expensive long distance networks is quiet appealing.
This thesis investigates this potential by studying the suitability of different turbine types for urban integration. From the literature review, it seems that VAWTs though much less common of the two main types, is much more suitable for urban integration.
A mathematical study was then conducted on four different cities with different wind characteristics to estimate the potential power that can be harnessed by each turbine type in each case. Two modern turbine prototypes were then selected from the two main categories and their power curves was applied to the wind data to calculate the potential power output. Last, the enhancement of the wind energy potential for turbines mounted on high-rise buildings was investigated, through calculating the wind speeds at the respective heights.
The second study approach evolved the use of CFD to simulate a number of VAWT integration scenarios in high-rise buildings based on the first part of the research. The wind movement characteristics where observed for the turbine installation location and a calculation was made to estimate the available mass flow rate in each case.
Results show a big potential in the integration of VAWT in buildings and promising power gains from increasing the installation height.
Description
DISSERTATION WITH DISTINCTION
Keywords
wind turbines, high-rise buildings, wind energy, renewable energy, urban environment