S809 AIRFOIL: REYNOLDS NUMBER EFFECT ON THE AERODYNAMICS OF WIND TURBINE BLADES
João Gaigher1; Julio Cesar Costa Campos1; Álvaro M. Bigonha Tibiriça1; Antônio Carlos de Andrade2; Rogério Fernandes Brito3; Pedro Casanova Treto4; Henrique M. Pereira Rosa1
1 UFV; 2 UFMG; 3 UNIFEI; 4 Universidad de Costa Rica
doi:10.20906/CPS/COB-2015-0093
Resumo
Wind turbines developed rapidly in technological terms, showing reliability in generating energy from the wind. However, the technological level achieved must continue in order to achieve new improvements. These turbines operate under severe conditions of wind, in which the turbulence should not be ignored. In wind power projects the installation height of these turbines is an important parameter in the characterization of wind speed. This work has not simulated the wind turbine itself, but the aerodynamic profile of the blades. Therefore, an S809 airfoil dedicated to applications of horizontal axis wind turbines was used, and its aerodynamic characteristics were analyzed from the CFD simulations. The objective of this work is to study the S809 airfoil profile used in wind turbine blades. The methodology employed was the determination of parameters, such as lift, the drag coefficient, the relationship between lift and drag, speed, and the pressure contours for different angles of attack. Simulation results using FLUENT presented important features. The focus was in the study of Reynolds numbers of about 75,400 and 135,400, using the turbulence model κ-omega (κ-ω). Stall has been noticed from 15°, where the detachment of the boundary layer over the contours of the simulated speed for this angle of attack was. On the contours of the simulated pressure there was a significant effect of pressure on the S809 airfoil aerodynamics, mainly for this angle of attack. The blade inclination of wind turbines are important when the design of such turbines is analyzed. Thus, we have concluded that in the detailed study, as it was done, the S809 airfoil served to characterize the aerodynamics of these turbine blades because it is known that turbines operate for a longer period of time with significant variations of wind speed.
Palavras-chave: S809 airfoil ; aerodynamic coefficients; turbulence model; numerical simulation