Kang, Daniel (2013) A Shrouded Vertical Axis Wind Turbine. [USQ Project]
Abstract
The brief for this project was to design wind turbine that is suitable for use in rural Australia. This design should be economical, capable of utilising both high and low wind speeds, able to be deployed in the most extreme climates, be easily installed with minimal equipment, be compatible with commercially available components (such as inverters) and durable.
The basic concept was to employ a self-adjusting shroud surrounding a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine. It is envisaged that the shroud will be a series of flat shutters that circumscribe a regular geometric polygon. The shroud should have 3 functions; 1. Increase wind flow through turbine during low wind conditions. 2. Regulate wind flow through turbine during normal operation. 3. Shutdown the turbine during storms.
To justify the additional cost of the shroud the shrouded design produces more electricity through a greater range of wind conditions. In a cross section through the turbine the proposed shroud uses 120% more matterial than the turbine so in any given period the turbine would have to produceat least 220% more power than a bare bladed design. The additional cost of the control systems would also need to be accounted for in a self-adjusting design.
A series of CFD simulations were conducted to determine the optimum configuration of shroud and turbine. These simulations showed that the best configuration is a Savonius rotor enclosed in a hexagonal shroud.
The analysis also showed that there appears to be a wind speed where the shroud stops amplifing the output of the turbine and further increases in wind speed decreases he output. It is proposed that this phenomena be exploited to produce the effects originally proposed but without the added cost and complication of the adjustable shroud. In the CFD model this phenomena occured at some point between 5 m/s and 5.5 m/s, which is too slow. The flow rate at which this phenomena occurs appears to be a function of the size and geometry of the shroud and futher experiments are required to determine a combination that would be useful in the real world.
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| Item Type: | USQ Project |
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| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Civil Engineering and Surveying (1 Jul 2013 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Epaarachchi, Jayantha |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) |
| Date Deposited: | 23 Mar 2026 05:05 |
| Last Modified: | 23 Mar 2026 05:05 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | wind turbine; rural Australia |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/53192 |
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