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Sustainability

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Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wind turbine

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Comparative Life Cycle Assessment Of Small Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines And Natural Gas Facility At An Urban University, Mary Kate Ranii Aug 2023

Comparative Life Cycle Assessment Of Small Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines And Natural Gas Facility At An Urban University, Mary Kate Ranii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fossil fuels generate the majority of the electricity in the United States and generate pollutants that negatively affect public and environmental health. Renewable energy projects serve as an opportunity for low-pollution and low-carbon electricity; small-scale projects, such as vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs), provide opportunities for generation in urban areas close to consumers. Researchers collected wind speed and directional data from a potential turbine installation site at Duquesne University to better demonstrate the potential benefits in an urban university location. The data was used in a life cycle assessment framework and a social review to better understand the value of …


Automated Cfd Optimization To Maximize Wind Farms Performance And Land Use, Rafael Valotta Rodrigues Jan 2018

Automated Cfd Optimization To Maximize Wind Farms Performance And Land Use, Rafael Valotta Rodrigues

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this research, a computational system was designed to analyze and optimize the layout of wind farms under variable operational conditions. At first, a wind turbine computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model was developed covering the near wake. The near wake flow field was validated against near wake velocity data from the MEXICO experiment. The CFD simulation demonstrated that the tip speed ratio and the pitch angle greatly influence the near wake behavior, affecting the velocity deficit and the turbulence intensity profile in this region. The CFD model was extended to cover the far wake, aiming to become a computational tool …