Development of a New Type of Vortex Bladeless Wind Turbine for Urban Energy Systems

TL;DR

This paper presents the design, simulation, and development of a novel Vortex Bladeless Wind Turbine tailored for urban environments, emphasizing its potential for sustainable city energy solutions.

Contribution

It introduces a new bladeless wind turbine design optimized for urban settings, combining simulation and 3D printing for practical implementation.

Findings

Optimized turbine parameters via simulation

Successful hardware assembly using 3D printing

Improved turbine performance through testing and adjustments

Abstract

Innovation and development of renewable energy devices are crucial for reaching a sustainable and environmentally conscious future. This work focuses on the development of a new type of renewable energy devices in the context of Smart Garden at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which aims to design a bladeless wind turbine for urban areas, addressing the pressing need for clean energy locally and globally. Traditional wind turbines have been widely adopted in recent decades, while bladeless wind turbines have also displayed their advantages and uniqueness in urban areas. A Vortex Bladeless Wind Turbine (VBWT) is modeled by using Fusion 360 to optimize wind energy generation in urban settings with limited space and buildings-dominated landscape. Optimal parameters of the VBWT were obtained by comparing the results of drag force, lift force and deflection, via the simulations in Ansys. Hardware of proposed bladeless wind turbine has been assembled and developed by 3-dimensional printing. Additional tests and adjustments on hardware further improve the performance of the developed wind turbine. The outcomes of this work have the potential to contribute to future renewable energy initiatives and devote the sustainability efforts in urban energy systems.