Aerodynamicstudyofinnovativesmallwindturbine

NConstantin1andADragomirescu2,3
1
Professor,UniversityPolitehnicaofBucharest,DepartmentofStrengthofMaterials,
313SplaiulIndependentei,060042Bucharest,Romania
2
AssistantProfessor,UniversityPolitehnicaofBucharest,DepartmentofHydraulics,
HydraulicMachinery,andEnvironmentalEngineering,313SplaiulIndependentei,
060042Bucharest,Romania
Email:andrei.dragomirescu@upb.ro
Abstract. Inthispapertheauthorspresentresultsofanaerodynamicstudycarriedoutfora
windturbinerunnerwithhighsolidity.Therunnerisintendedtoequipasmallhorizontalaxis
windturbine,partofanintegratedinstallationmeanttoproviderenewableenergytocustomers
lookingforincreasedenergyautonomy.Theturbineisdesignedtoharvestwindenergywith
highefficiency,inalargerangeofwindspeeds.Theresultsofthestudyprovethat,toalarge
extent,thedesignsolutionwasadequatetofacetheproposedefficiencytargets.

1.Introduction
Small wind turbines account for considerable number of variants, in which innovation plays an
important role in achieving high efficiency of wind power to mechanical energy conversion.
Apparently,thistendencywasmorepresentinconceivingverticalaxiswindturbines(VAWT),while
forhorizontalaxiswindturbines(HAWT)thethreebladeconcept[1],commonwiththatusedforbig
wind turbines, seems to have been solidified. Nevertheless, small HAWT still require creative
approachesforachievinghighefficiencyandreliableoperationduringtheirservicelife,invarious
atmosphericconditions.
TherearetwomainaerodynamicchallengesforsmallHAWT:theappropriateselectionofthe
numberofbladesforensuringhighconversionratesinspecificaverageatmosphericconditionsand
adequatecontrolofthebladepitchforreachingthesametargetinconditionsofrapidchangesinwind
speed,orforprovidingstructuralsafetyinextremewindspeedconditions.Allauthorsagreethatthe
numberofbladeshastobeincreasedinareaswithaveragetosmallwindvelocities,ontheexpenseof
lowertipspeedratio(TSR),aparameterdirectlylinkedwiththeconversionrates[2,3].Concerning
thebladepitch,theconsiderablylessexpensivepassive/automaticcontrolisgeneralizedforsmall
HAWT[1,3],invariousvariants,generallyusingthecentrifugalforces.Inmanycases,constantpitch
ischosenforstructuralsimplicityandrelatedlowfinalcost.
ThepresentstudyaimedatthedesignofasmallHAWT,abletodeliverenergyinlowwind
conditionsandupto4kWofelectricalpowerinhighwindconditions.Additionally,thedesignhadin
viewsurvivabilityin operatingconditions up tothe wind speedlimit historicallyrecorded across
Romania,ofabout30m/s.Theaerodynamicdesignhadalsotobecorrelatedwithstructuraland
3

Towhomanycorrespondenceshouldbeaddressed.

Figure1.Sixblade,highsolidityductedrunner.

manufacturingrequirements,aimingatahighinservicereliability,easytransportandmounting,and
lowmanufacturing,mountingandoperationalcosts.
2.Runnergeometry
In order to meet the aforementioned requirements, the solution of a sixblade ducted runner was
adopted(figure1),withpassivebladepitchcontrol,ensuredbyspringsplacedatbothbladeends,
balancingtheaerodynamicforces.Whilethepitchwillbequasiconstantalongtheblade,thesprings
willallowforittochangedependingonwindspeed.
Thishighsolidityturbinedesign,withlowaspectratiovaluesforthebladesisexpectedtoofferthe
possibilitytoharvestenergystartingfromwindspeedsof34m/s.Theducteddesignisexpectedto
increasetheconversioncoefficient,byimprovingtheairflowacrosstherunnerinlinewiththebasic
assumptionconsideredbyA.Betzinhisreferencestudy[4],andtohelpinstabilizingtheturbinein
variablewindconditions.
ThechosenairfoilforthebladesisRAF6, with12%relativethickness(figure2).Thisairfoil
presents some clear advantages: attractive aerodynamic characteristics in terms of lift, drag and
momentcoefficients,andaflatinnersurfacethatwillconsiderablyeasetheblademanufacturing.
Thebladesparwaspushedforwardinordertoeasethepositioningofthebladesinfeathering
positioninhighwinds,thusassuringstructuralprotectionofthewholeinstallationinextremeweather
conditions.
3.Aerodynamicstudy

Figure3.PolardiagramsoftheRAF6airfoilwith12%relativethickness.

The runner investigated has a blade tip diameter

. At the hub, the diameter is

.ThechordlengthoftheRAF6airfoil, ,remainsconstantandequalto400mmalong
the entire blade. Air properties were calculated for an atmospheric pressure of 101325 Pa and a
temperatureof15C.Thetargetpoweroftheturbineisof4kW.Theaerodynamicstudyaimedat
assessingbladeloadsandturbineperformanceforwindspeeds rangingfrom2m/sto30m/s,
runnerspeeds rangingfrom5rpmto200rpm,andpitchangles

rangingfrom20to80.

Essentialfortheaerodynamicstudyarethepolardiagramsoftheairfoils.Suchdiagramscouldnotbe
foundintheliteratureforthewiderangesofanglesofattackandReynoldsnumbersthatresultfrom
thewindspeeds,runnerspeeds,andpitchanglesconsidered.Therefore,wereliedontheprogram
JavaFoil[5]toobtainthepolardiagrams.TheresultsobtainedforReynoldsnumbersrangingfrom
5104to5106andanglesofattack rangingfrom20to60arepresentedinfigure3.
Tocalculatelift,drag,andpoweratdifferentradii fromhubtobladetip,abladewasdividedinto
19bladeelementsboundedby20equallyspacedbladecrosssections.Suchacrosssectionwiththe
corresponding kinematic and dynamic quantities is presented in figure 4. At the leading
edge(index1),thetangentialvelocity(orbladelinearvelocity),
,andtherelativevelocity,
,
havethethefollowingexpressions:
(1)
Theangleofattackcanbecalculatedwiththeformula
(2)

Figure2.RAF6airfoilwith12%relativethickness.

Figure4.Kinematicanddynamicquantitiesatabladecrosssection.

TheReynoldsnumberatradius wasdefinedas
(3)
where istheairkinematicviscosity.FortheanglesofattackandReynoldsnumbersobtainedateach
radius, the lift, drag, and moment coefficients

, and

respectively were

calculatedbylinearinterpolationbasedonthedatasuppliedbyJavaFoil.Withthesecoefficientsthe
lift,drag,andmomentontheairfoilatradius werecalculatedwiththeusualformulas:
(
4)
where istheairdensity.Theaxialandtangentialforces, and

respectively,havetheexpressions
(5)

and
(6)
Thepoweronthebladecrosssectionis
(7)
Theloadsandpowerdefinedaboveareperbladeunitlengthandcanbeusedforthestructural
analysisoftheblade.Theaxialforceisimportantfromthepointofviewofproperlydesigningboth
theaxialbearingoftheturbineandthemast,whilethetangentialforceistheonethatproducespower.
Themomentisessentialfordesigningthespringsthatwillassurethepassivebladepitchcontrol.
Byintegratingthepowervariationalongthebladeandmultiplyingwiththenumberofblades, ,
theturbinepowerisobtained:

(8)
TheintegralwascalculatedwiththeSimpsonsrule.Oncetheturbinepowerisknown,thetorqueat
theturbineshaftresults:
(9)
Additionally,thepowercoefficientoftheturbinecanalsobeevaluated:
(1
0)
Someresultsobtainedfollowingtheaboveworkflowaresummarizedinfigure5asvariationsof
torque at turbine shaft and turbine power depending on runner speed and variation of power
coefficientdependingonturbinetipspeedratio(TSR).Theresultscorrespondtooperatingscenarios
in which the pitch angle of the blades equals35. The results suggest that, even in low wind
conditions,theturbineisabletodeliverupto0.5kWwhenproperlyoperated.Thetargetpowerof4
kWcanbeattainedatwindspeedsofabout10m/swhentherunneroperatesatabout80rpm.The
powercoefficientcouldbeashighas0.4,whichisnotanunrealisticresultconsideringthegood
performanceofHAWTs.

Figure5.Performancecurvesoftheturbinefor=35.

4.Conclusions
This study is part of a comprehensive approach meant to cover all aspects linked to the design,
manufacturing,andmaintenanceofanintegratedinstallationforproducingrenewableenergy.Itwas
intendedtoprovidebasicinputdataconcerningtheloadsrequiredbythestructuralanalysis.Thestudy
alsooffersinformationforanadequatedesignofthepassivebladepitchcontrol.Next,itwillserveas
avaluabledatabasismeanttooptimizethewindenergyharvesting,alongthewholechain:runner,
directdriveelectricgenerator,inverter,regulator,storagebatteries,andendusers.
Inthistheoreticalstage,themainparameterscharacterizingtherunnerdesignadoptedforthis
HAWThaveencouragingspanningalongthewiderangeofwindspeedsinviewtobeharnessed.
Subsequentinsitumeasurementsonthephysicaldemonstratorwillfinallyprovethevalidityofthe
chosenarchitectureofthewindturbineandthewholeintegrateddesign.
5.Acknowledgment
Theresearchworkwasperformedunderproject258/2014,financedbytheRomanianMinistryof
NationalEducationthroughitsdedicatedbody(MENUEFISCDI),intheframeofthePartnershipin
prioritydomainsPNIIprogramme.

6.References
[1] HauE2006WindTurbines:Fundamentals,Technologies,Application,Economics(Springer)
[2] BurtonTandSharpD2006WindEnergyHandbook.(Chichester:JohnWiley&SonsLtd)
[3] RaghebMandRaghebAM2011WindturbinestheorytheBetzequationandoptimalrotor
tipspeedratioFundamentalandAdvancedTopicsinWindPoweredRCarriveau(InTech)
[4] BetzA 1966 Introduction tothe Theory of FlowMachines (Oxford, NewYork: Pergamon
Press)
[5] HepperleM2007JavaFoilhttp://www.mhaerotools.de/airfoils/javafoil.htm