Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Engineering - Department of Aerospace Engineering

The thesis objective is to design a diffuser wind turbine equipped with a flange. The Blade Element Theory model is used to obtain an initial geometry of the free wind turbine. Then the diffuser is designed by carrying out a numerical investigation for flow fields inside the diffuser using the ANSYS FLUENT. A parametric study is performed to determine the optimum diffuser geometry for maximum wind velocity inside the diffuser. The effect of the diffuser expansion angle, the diffuser length and the flange height on the diffuser performance is studied numerically. The study reveals that the optimum expansion angle of the diffuser is 12 {u0366}, the diffuser length to the inlet diameter ratio is 1.25, and the flange height to inlet diameter ratio is 0.75. The velocity passing through the diffuser is increased 2.2 times the free stream velocity. The diffuser wind turbine is then simulated numerically to study the effect of the diffuser on the wind turbine performance and the generated power. The results are validated with the published experimental and numerical data. The study reveals that the generated power using the diffuser wind turbine increases the power generated to be five times the power generated by the free turbine

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