Impact of relative spacing of two adjacent vertical axis wind turbines on their aerodynamics

The impact of relative spacing on the individual and overall performance of two adjacent co-rotating Darrieus H-type VAWTs is investigated through high-fidelity URANS simulations, validated with experimental data. The simulations cover relative distances of 1.25d ≤ R ≤ 10d (d: turbine diameter) and relative angles of 0° ≤ Φ ≤ 90°. The relative angles of 30° ≤ Φ ≤ 75 with relative distance range of 1.25d ≤ R ≤ 5d are identified as the optimal regime with the highest overall power performance for the array. In this regime, the downstream turbine has a maximum increase of 5.1% in CP (R = 1.5d and Φ = 45°) with respect to an isolated solo rotor with similar characteristics. Local flow characteristics including wake length, wake expansion, vorticity and velocity fields are also investigated. It is found that for azimuthal angles of 90° ≤ θ ≤ 160° in the optimal regime, regions of accelerated flow are created due to the contraction of the flow between the turbines which benefit the downstream turbine CP and thus the overall power performance of the array. This provides an opportunity for a compact placement of turbines within a vertical-axis wind turbine farm and consequently increasing the farm power density.