Experimental Measurements of Wind Flow Characteristics on an Ellipsoidal Vertical Farm

The rise of high-rise vertical farms in cities is helping to mitigate urban constraints on crop production, including land, transportation, and yield requirements. However, separate issues arise regarding energy consumption. The utilisation of wind energy resources in high-rise vertical farms is the...

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Main Authors: Simeng Xie, Pedro Martinez-Vazquez, Charalampos Baniotopoulos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:Buildings
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/14/11/3646
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author Simeng Xie
Pedro Martinez-Vazquez
Charalampos Baniotopoulos
author_facet Simeng Xie
Pedro Martinez-Vazquez
Charalampos Baniotopoulos
author_sort Simeng Xie
collection DOAJ
description The rise of high-rise vertical farms in cities is helping to mitigate urban constraints on crop production, including land, transportation, and yield requirements. However, separate issues arise regarding energy consumption. The utilisation of wind energy resources in high-rise vertical farms is therefore on the agenda. In this study, we investigate the aerodynamic performance of an ellipsoidal tall building with large openings to determine, on the one hand, the threshold income wind that could impact human comfort, and on the other, the turbulence intensity at specific locations on the roof and façade where micro-wind turbines could operate. To this end, we calculate the wind pressure coefficient and turbulence intensity of two scale models tested within a wind tunnel facility and compare the results with a separate CFD simulation completed in the past. The results confirm that the wind turbines installed on the building façade at a height of at least z/h = 0.725 can operate properly when the inlet wind speed is greater than 7 m/s. Meanwhile, the wind regime on the roof is more stable, which could yield higher energy harvesting via wind turbines. Furthermore, we observe that the overall aerodynamic performance of the models tested best under wind flowing at angles of 45° and 60° with respect to their centreline, whereas the turbulence at the wind envelope compares to that of the free wind flow at roof height.
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spelling doaj-art-b2e17eca2c014e02b4caabee4ccd9d312025-08-20T02:07:59ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092024-11-011411364610.3390/buildings14113646Experimental Measurements of Wind Flow Characteristics on an Ellipsoidal Vertical FarmSimeng Xie0Pedro Martinez-Vazquez1Charalampos Baniotopoulos2Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UKDepartment of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UKDepartment of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UKThe rise of high-rise vertical farms in cities is helping to mitigate urban constraints on crop production, including land, transportation, and yield requirements. However, separate issues arise regarding energy consumption. The utilisation of wind energy resources in high-rise vertical farms is therefore on the agenda. In this study, we investigate the aerodynamic performance of an ellipsoidal tall building with large openings to determine, on the one hand, the threshold income wind that could impact human comfort, and on the other, the turbulence intensity at specific locations on the roof and façade where micro-wind turbines could operate. To this end, we calculate the wind pressure coefficient and turbulence intensity of two scale models tested within a wind tunnel facility and compare the results with a separate CFD simulation completed in the past. The results confirm that the wind turbines installed on the building façade at a height of at least z/h = 0.725 can operate properly when the inlet wind speed is greater than 7 m/s. Meanwhile, the wind regime on the roof is more stable, which could yield higher energy harvesting via wind turbines. Furthermore, we observe that the overall aerodynamic performance of the models tested best under wind flowing at angles of 45° and 60° with respect to their centreline, whereas the turbulence at the wind envelope compares to that of the free wind flow at roof height.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/14/11/3646wind tunnel testCFDhigh-rise vertical farm prototypewind energywind turbineurban environments
spellingShingle Simeng Xie
Pedro Martinez-Vazquez
Charalampos Baniotopoulos
Experimental Measurements of Wind Flow Characteristics on an Ellipsoidal Vertical Farm
Buildings
wind tunnel test
CFD
high-rise vertical farm prototype
wind energy
wind turbine
urban environments
title Experimental Measurements of Wind Flow Characteristics on an Ellipsoidal Vertical Farm
title_full Experimental Measurements of Wind Flow Characteristics on an Ellipsoidal Vertical Farm
title_fullStr Experimental Measurements of Wind Flow Characteristics on an Ellipsoidal Vertical Farm
title_full_unstemmed Experimental Measurements of Wind Flow Characteristics on an Ellipsoidal Vertical Farm
title_short Experimental Measurements of Wind Flow Characteristics on an Ellipsoidal Vertical Farm
title_sort experimental measurements of wind flow characteristics on an ellipsoidal vertical farm
topic wind tunnel test
CFD
high-rise vertical farm prototype
wind energy
wind turbine
urban environments
url https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/14/11/3646
work_keys_str_mv AT simengxie experimentalmeasurementsofwindflowcharacteristicsonanellipsoidalverticalfarm
AT pedromartinezvazquez experimentalmeasurementsofwindflowcharacteristicsonanellipsoidalverticalfarm
AT charalamposbaniotopoulos experimentalmeasurementsofwindflowcharacteristicsonanellipsoidalverticalfarm