Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations of an Innovative System of Wind Power Generation

In this work an innovative system for wind power generation in urban areas is proposed. The generation system substitutes the roof of the building and it consists of a static part, the stator, and a moving part, called impeller or rotor, which is a centripetal turbine with vertical axis of rotation. The rotary motion of the rotor is transferred through a shaft to a generator that produces electricity. Since the objective is to conveying the air flow in the stator in order to avoid the formation of vortices, the logarithmic spiral has been chosen as the shape for the stator blades. A 2D and a 3D model of the system are analyzed in order to evaluate the efficiency of the new system proposed considering both the influence of the profile of the building and the effect of impedance of the duct on the available power to the impeller.