Multilevel Diffuser Augmented for Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine

Departement of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: kutut@ugm.ac.id

Abstract

Indonesia is an area with the low and fluctuating wind speed. Therefore, the implementation of the wind turbine to generate electricity become ineffective and economically unprofitable. Diffuser Augmented Wind Turbine (DAWT) is the augmentation technology in wind turbine which could increase wind speed flow that arrives on the turbine blade. The working principle of the diffuser is to create a difference in pressure inside and outside the diffuser. The pressure inside the diffuser is lower than the pressure outside so that the wind will be accelerated into the diffuser and wind speed will dramatically increase at the inlet of the diffuser. This study will be presenting a modified design of diffuser augmented wind turbine (DAWT) by designing multilevel diffuser with additional inlet curvature and flange. This research aims to evaluate the amplification of flow velocity profile around the diffuser that has been engineered. The numerical study is performed using computational fluid dynamic (CFD) to obtain the highest ratio of speed increment. The verification of numerical initial condition is validated by comparing the result of validation with experimental data available in the literature. The result shows that a ratio of increase in speed is 2.08 times higher than conventional wind turbine over 4 m/s inlet velocity. In the equation of a wind power output, the wind speed is proportional to the cubic power of its wind power output. Therefore, the utilization of dual-stage diffuser device in wind turbine would give significant increment on the power output of wind turbine.