Wind Catcher Technology: The Impact of Tower Cross Section and Turbine on Wind Power Harnessing

Abstract

This research explores utilizing distributed wind turbines in the built environment computationally. The targeted wind turbine design is an unconventional ducted turbine, called Wind Tower technology that its operation and performance metrics have been studied in earlier works in the team. Wind Tower is an established architectural technology that operates by catching wind and directing it into buildings, providing natural ventilation to support HVAC systems, and thus reducing cooling costs in urban environments. Wind power has long struggled to meet expectations in built (urban) environments. By combining wind towers at different cross sections with wind turbines, one might develop a device which provides natural ventilation and produces power in spite of a hostile wind environment. The preliminary results suggest that the maximum potential for a wind tower-turbine combination appears to be 700-1.46 kW under idealized conditions with a 4 m/s site dominant wind speed. This suggests that wind towers might be viable for power harvesting in both remote and grid connected regions. Further analysis suggested that additional turbine performance enhancements are needed to bring the turbine real power production closer to that ideal.