Vertical axis wing turbines

Abstract

Consulta en la Biblioteca ETSI Industriales (Riunet)

[EN] In this master thesis we explain characteristics from the point of view of engineering about the vertical axis turbines (VAWT), different types of vertical turbines used today and future models that are being developed are presented. This project begins with a brief historical background of wind power and the factors which are being developed this renewable energy. It continues with the presentation of the different aerodynamic-physical concepts that govern the behavior of wind turbines, which explain different factors in the design and efficiency of these machines. The report deals with a more accurate analysis of the main type of VAWT’S, showing their characteristics and their operations. These concepts will be studied by analyzing graphs and equations that will allow us to get an idea of how these machines work in reality. Finally, several statistics are also presented, in order to explain how the importance of the wind energy has grown up during the last decades and also to show that this development of the market of wind power creates new opportunity also for VAWT, that are less used than the horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT), discussing their main advantages and disadvantages. I have decided to focus my final project on this topic because this is a new concept which will be a very important development in the next few years for our daily lives. Although I had some problems because there is still not much information on this subject, it is expected that vertical axis wind turbines replace conventional energy sources for domestic use and low-power applications soon. Therefore, I liked the work from the point of view of engineering because I understand it is the future trend in the wind energy industry.