Design and Development of Vortex Generators on Cylindrical Tower

This work presents a numerical study on flow configurations and pressure distribution of cylindrical towers attached with different shapes of vortex generators. The vortex-generator attachment is done with the main aim of reducing the energy of ventilation for the cylindrical tower. The two different types of vortex generators, namely, a cylindrical-shaped vortex generator and a diffuser-shaped vortex generator, are compared with an original square-shaped vortex generator. The effects of air velocity (2, 4, 6, and 8 m/s) and vortex generator size (D/2, D, and 2D) on flow structure are considered. The finite element method (a commercial code) is selected for the main problem-solving. The numerical models of the cylindrical towers attached with various vortex generators are validated to confirm the reliability of the numerical results. From the numerical results, it was found that the suctioned updraft speed in the tower was proportional to the crosswind speed. In addition, the vortex generator with h=2D performs the highest updraft speed, which leads to the best efficiency for ventilation.