Numerical study on aerodynamic performances of the wind turbine rotor with leading-edge rotation

The flow control using leading-edge rotating cylinder on both two-dimensional NACA 63418 airfoil section and three-dimensional two-bladed wind turbine rotor has been studied by means of numerical simulations. For the two-dimensional NACA 63418 airfoil with a fasting spinning cylinder at the leading-edge, flow separation occurs on the pressure side of the airfoil near the clearance between rotating cylinder and stationary airfoil at small angles of attack; however, flow separation on the suction side of the airfoil can be suppressed at large angles of attack. The aerodynamic performances of the leading-edge rotation (LER) wind turbine rotors with two twisted/non-tapered blades and with two twisted/tapered blades have been studied, respectively. The result shows that the power efficiency of the LER wind turbine with twisted/non-tapered blades is superior to the uncontrolled wind turbine rotor remarkably at high tip speed ratios. The aerodynamic control effects of the leading-edge rotating cylinder have also been studied under various wind speeds. On the basis of the aerodynamic characteristics of non-tapered LER wind turbine rotor, the power output of the rotor can be optimized through adjusting the cylinder rotational speed in various wind speeds.