Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Fall 10-9-2024

Abstract

Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) are becoming a key player in small wind power applications. Recent research on turbine performance focused on methods to augment turbine performance to secure a more efficient and reliable wind energy conversion system to electrical power. Most of these research works rely on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations given the excessive cost of wind tunnel testing. Many research papers investigated innovative blade shapes in order to improve turbine performance. In the present paper, a new bioinspired, blade shape is proposed to enhance the power output of VAWT. This shape is based on modifying NACA 0018 airfoil by forming wavy surface on the airfoil. Such surface is found in many birds such as Hawk’s wing shape which is formed by layers of feathered structures. Experimental testing of both the baseline and wavy surface blade turbines was performed using a cost-effective open field test rig to create a flow field that resembles the real practical operating conditions for wind turbines, especially in urban applications where relatively high level of turbulence is inevitable. The results of the study show that blades made of wavy shape of on suction side of the blade produce higher power output than basic NACA 0018 blades. The power coefficient improved by 23% at slightly lower tip speed ratio than that of the baseline turbine.

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