Hello all,
I’m working on a project which implements a very large (12m diameter) tube axial fan to collect energy from an air stream being pulled into a large structure. Since the airflow is driven by a drop in pressure from outside to inside of the structure, the airflow dynamics are considerable different than an aerodynamic rotor in an open wind stream, and so standard simulation approaches using BEM and disc actuator theory such as WT Perf do not seem appropriate. I’ve been unsuccessful at find reasonable literature on the aerodynamic analysis of tube axial fans, particularly operated for energy extraction. Would any of the esteemed members of the group have any suggestions for avenues of research, or applicable tools or white papers? I’ve been playing around a bit using Bernoulli’s principles for energy balances, but I haven’t figured a reasonable way to incorporate airfoil performance. Any help is greatly appreciated!
Many thanks,
Tim Sasseen
www.timsasseen.com