Basic equations for estimating the aerodynamic power captured by the Anderson vertical-axis wind turbine (AVAWT) are derived from a solution of Navier–Stokes (N–S) equations for a baroclinic inviscid flow. In a nutshell, the pressure difference across the AVAWT is derived from the Bernoulli’s equation—an upshot of the integration of the Euler’s momentum equation, which is the N–S momentum equation for a baroclinic inviscid flow. The resulting expression for the pressure difference across the AVAWT rotor is plotted as a function of the free-stream speed. Experimentally determined airstream speeds at the AVAWT inlet and outlet, coupled with corresponding free-stream speeds, are used in estimating the aerodynamic power captured. The aerodynamic power of the AVAWT is subsequently used in calculating its aerodynamic power coefficient. The actual power coefficient is calculated from the power generated by the AVAWT at various free-stream speeds and plotted as a function of the latter. Experimental results show that at all free-stream speeds and tip-speed ratios, the aerodynamic power coefficient of the AVAWT is higher than its actual power coefficient. Consequently, the power generated by the AVAWT prototype is lower than the aerodynamic power captured, given the same inflow wind conditions. Besides the foregoing, the main purpose of this experiment is to investigate the technical feasibility of the AVAWT. This proof of concept enables the inventor to commercialize the AVAWT.

Currently, the actuator disk theory (ADT) and the rotating annular stream-tube theory (RAST), both of which predicate on the axial momentum and generalized momentum theories, among others, are commonly used in investigating the aerodynamic characteristics of horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs). These theories, which are based on a rotor with an infinite number of blades, typically do not properly capture the flow physics of wind blowing past the rotors of HAWTs. A vortex ring theory (VRT) that analyzes HAWTs based solely on the characteristics of fluids flowing past obstructions is proposed. The VRT is not predicated on the assertion that the induced velocity in the wake is twice the induced velocity at the rotor. On the contrary, it splits the axial induction factor in the wake into two components, namely, the induction or interference factor due to the solidity of the rotor and the induction factor due to the wake of the rotor a_w; a_w and its azimuthal counterpart are determined using the Biot–Savart law. The pressure differences across the rotor segments of a HAWT are derived from the Bernoulli equation for all the three theories. Blade segment/local areas based on the blade sectional geometry of the rotor are used in the case of the VRT to estimate the local forces. All the calculations in this study are based on the design parameters of the 5 MW National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s reference offshore wind turbine. Pressure differences are plotted as functions of local radii using the calculated axial and azimuthal induction factors for each theory. The local power coefficient is plotted as a function of the local tip-speed ratio, while the local thrust coefficient is plotted as a function of the local radii for all the three theories. There is piece-wise agreement between the VRT, the ADT, the RAST and numerical and experimental data available in the literature.

The basic equation for estimating the aerodynamic power captured by an Anderson Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (AVAWT) is a solution of the Navier-Stokes(N-S) equations for a baroclinic, inviscid flow. In a nutshell, the pressure difference across the AVAWT is derived from Bernoulli’s equation; an upshot of the integration of the N-S momentum equation for a baroclinic inviscid flow, Euler’s momentum equation. The resulting expression for the pressure difference across the AVAWT rotor is plotted as a function of freestream speed. Experimentally determined airstream speeds at the AVAWT inlet and outlet, coupled with corresponding freestream speeds are used in estimating the aerodynamic power captured. The aerodynamic power is subsequently used in calculating the aerodynamic power coefficient of the AVAWT. The actual power coefficient is calculated from the power generated by the AVAWT at various free stream speeds and plotted as a function of the latter. Experimental results show that, at all free stream speeds and tip speed ratios, the aerodynamic power coefficient is higher than the actual power coefficient of the AVAWT. Consequently, the power generated by the AVAWT prototype is lower than the aerodynamic power captured, given the same inflow wind condition.