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Betz'slawWikipedia

Betz'slaw
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Betz'slawindicatesthemaximumpowerthatcanbeextracted
fromthewind,independentofthedesignofawindturbinein
openflow.Itwaspublishedin1919,bytheGermanphysicist
AlbertBetz.[1]Thelawisderivedfromtheprinciplesof
conservationofmassandmomentumoftheairstreamflowing
throughanidealized"actuatordisk"thatextractsenergyfromthe
windstream.AccordingtoBetz'slaw,noturbinecancapturemore
than16/27(59.3%)ofthekineticenergyinwind.Thefactor
16/27(0.593)isknownasBetz'scoefficient.Practicalutilityscale
windturbinesachieveatpeak75%to80%oftheBetzlimit.[2][3]
TheBetzlimitisbasedonanopendiskactuator.Ifadiffuseris
usedtocollectadditionalwindflowanddirectitthroughthe
turbine,moreenergycanbeextracted,butthelimitstillappliesto
thecrosssectionoftheentirestructure.

Schematicoffluidflowthroughadiskshaped
actuator.Foraconstantdensityfluid,cross
sectionalareavariesinverselywithspeed.

Contents
1
2
3
4

Concepts
Threeindependentdiscoveriesoftheturbineefficiencylimit
Economicrelevance
Proof
4.1 Assumptions
4.2 Applicationofconservationofmass(continuityequation)
4.3 Powerandwork
5 Betz'lawandcoefficientofperformance
6 UnderstandingtheBetzresults
7 Pointsofinterest
8 Moderndevelopment
9 References
10 Externallinks

Concepts
Betz'LawappliestoallNewtonianfluids,butthisarticlewillusewindasanexample.Considerthatifallofthe
energycomingfromwindmovementthroughaturbinewasextractedasusefulenergythewindspeedafterwards
woulddroptozero.Ifthewindstoppedmovingattheexitoftheturbine,thennomorefreshwindcouldgetinit
wouldbeblocked.Inordertokeepthewindmovingthroughtheturbinetherehastobesomewindmovement,
howeversmall,ontheothersidewithawindspeedgreaterthanzero.Betz'lawshowsthatasairflowsthrougha
certainarea,andwhenitslowsfromlosingenergytoextractionfromaturbine,itmustspreadouttoawiderarea.
Asaresultgeometrylimitsanyturbineefficiencyto59.3%.

Threeindependentdiscoveriesoftheturbineefficiencylimit
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TheBritishscientistFrederickW.Lanchesterderivedthesamemaximum
in1915.TheleaderoftheRussianaerodynamicschool,Nikolay
Zhukowsky,alsopublishedthesameresultforanidealwindturbinein
1920,thesameyearasBetzdid.[4]ItisthusanexampleofStigler'sLaw
whichstatesthatstatistically,noscientificdiscoveryisnamedafterits
actualdiscoverer.

Economicrelevance

Simplecartoonoftwoairmolecules
showswhywindturbinescannot
actuallyrunat100%efficiency.

TheBetzlimitplacesanupperboundontheannualenergythatcanbe
extractedatasite.Evenifahypotheticalwindblewconsistentlyforafull
year,nomorethantheBetzlimitoftheenergycontainedinthatyear'swindcouldbeextracted.Inpractice,the
annualcapacityfactorofawindsitevariesaround25%to60%oftheenergythatcouldbegeneratedwithconstant
wind,limitingtheenergythatcanpossiblybeobtainedevenfurthertotypicallyarangeof14.8%to35%
respectively.
Essentiallyincreasingsystemeconomicefficiencyresultsfromincreasedproductionperunit,measuredpersquare
meterofvaneexposure.Anincreaseinsystemefficiencyisrequiredtobringdownthecostofelectricalpower
productionmeasuredinkWh.Efficiencyincreasesmaybetheresultofengineeringofthewindcapturedevices,
suchastheconfigurationanddynamicsofwindturbines,thatmaypushthepowergenerationfromthesesystems
intohigherlevelsoftheBetzlimit.Systemefficiencyincreasesinpowerapplication,transmissionorstoragemay
alsocontributetoalowercostofpowerperunit.
Inpracticality,mostsystemsdonotreachaperformancerateofeven50%oftheBetzlimit,beforethefurther
limitsoftheairstreamareeverconsidered,furtherloweringthetypicalratesto717%.Somehaveclaimedto
approachtheBetzconstantandeventosurpassit,butnonehaveproventodoso.[5][6]

Proof
TheBetzLimitshowsthemaximumpossibleenergythatmaybederivedbymeansofaninfinitelythinrotorfrom
afluidflowingatacertainspeed.[7]
Inordertocalculatethemaximumtheoreticalefficiencyofathinrotor(of,forexample,awindmill)oneimagines
ittobereplacedbyadiscthatwithdrawsenergyfromthefluidpassingthroughit.Atacertaindistancebehindthis
discthefluidthathaspassedthroughflowswithareducedvelocity.[7]

Assumptions
1.Therotordoesnotpossessahubandisideal,withaninfinitenumberofbladeswhichhavenodrag.Any
resultingdragwouldonlylowerthisidealizedvalue.
2.Theflowintoandoutoftherotorisaxial.Thisisacontrolvolumeanalysis,andtoconstructasolutionthe
controlvolumemustcontainallflowgoinginandout,failuretoaccountforthatflowwouldviolatethe
conservationequations.
3.Theflowisnoncompressible.Densityremainsconstant,andthereisnoheattransfer.
4.Uniformthrustoverthediscorrotorarea.

Applicationofconservationofmass(continuityequation)
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Applyingconservationofmasstothiscontrolvolume,themassflowrate(themassoffluidflowingperunittime)
isgivenby:

wherev1isthespeedinthefrontoftherotorandv2isthespeeddownstreamoftherotor,andvisthespeedatthe
fluidpowerdevice.isthefluiddensity,andtheareaoftheturbineisgivenbySand
thefluidbeforeandafterreachingtheturbine.

and

aretheareaof

Sothedensitytimestheareaandspeedshouldbeequalineachofthethreeregions,before,whilegoingthrough
theturbineandafterwards.
Theforceexertedonthewindbytherotormaybewrittenas

orinwords,themassmultipliedbytheacceleration,sowecalculatetheairdensitytimestheareaandspeedforthe
massandmultiplythatbythedifferenceinwindspeedsbeforeandafterfortheacceleration.

Powerandwork
Theworkdonebytheforcemaybewrittenincrementallyas

andthepower(rateofworkdone)ofthewindis

NowsubstitutingtheforceFcomputedaboveintothepowerequationwillyieldthepowerextractedfromthe
wind:

However,powercanbecomputedanotherway,byusingthekineticenergy.Applyingtheconservationofenergy
equationtothecontrolvolumeyields

Lookingbackatthecontinuityequation,asubstitutionforthemassflowrateyieldsthefollowing

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Bothoftheseexpressionsforpowerarecompletelyvalid,onewasderivedbyexaminingtheincrementalwork
doneandtheotherbytheconservationofenergy.Equatingthesetwoexpressionsyields

Examiningthetwoequatedexpressionsyieldsaninterestingresult,namely

or

Therefore,thewindvelocityattherotormaybetakenastheaverageoftheupstreamanddownstreamvelocities.
(ThisisarguablythemostcounterintuitivestageofthederivationofBetz'law.)

Betz'lawandcoefficientofperformance
Returningtothepreviousexpressionforpowerbasedonkineticenergy:

Bydifferentiating withrespectto

foragivenfluidspeedv1

andagivenareaSonefindsthemaximumorminimumvaluefor
.Theresultisthat reachesmaximumvaluewhen
.
Substitutingthisvalueresultsin:

Thepowerobtainablefromacylinderoffluidwithcrosssectional
areaSandvelocityv1is:
Thehorizontalaxisreflectstheratiov2/v1,the

ThereferencepowerfortheBetzefficiencycalculationisthe
powerinamovingfluidinacylinderwithcrosssectionalareaS
andvelocityv1:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betz%27s_law

verticalaxisisthe"powercoefficient[1](http://
www.talentfactory.dk/en/tour/wres/cp.htm)"Cp.

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The"powercoefficient[8]"Cp(=P/Pwind)hasamaximumvalueof:Cp.max=16/27=0.593(or59.3%however,
coefficientsofperformanceareusuallyexpressedasadecimal,notapercentage).
ModernlargewindturbinesachievepeakvaluesforCpintherangeof0.45to0.50,[2]about75%to85%ofthe
theoreticallypossiblemaximum.Inhighwindspeedwheretheturbineisoperatingatitsratedpowertheturbine
rotates(pitches)itsbladestolowerCptoprotectitselffromdamage.Thepowerinthewindincreasesbyafactor
of8from12.5to25m/s,soCpmustfallaccordingly,gettingaslowas0.06forwindsof25m/s.

UnderstandingtheBetzresults
Intuitively,thespeedratioof[V2/V1=0.333]betweenoutgoingandincomingwind,leavingataboutathirdofthe
speeditcamein,wouldimplyhigherlossesofkineticenergy.Butsincealargerareaisneededforthenowlower
densityofslowermoving(andthereforelesspressured)air,energyisconserved.
Allenergyenteringthesystemistakenintoconsideration,andlocal"radial"kineticenergycanhavenoeffecton
theoutcome,whichisthefinalenergystateoftheairleavingthesystem,ataslowerspeed,largerareaand
accordinglyitslowerenergycanbecalculated.
ThelaststepincalculatingtheBetzefficiencyCpistodividethecalculatedpowerextractedfromtheflowbya
referencepowervalue.TheBetzanalysisusesforitspowerreference,reasonably,thepowerofairupstream
movingatV1containedinacylinderwiththecrosssectionalareaoftherotor(S).

Pointsofinterest
TheBetzlimithasnodependenceonthegeometryofthewindextractionsystem,thereforeSmaytakeanyform
providedthattheflowtravelsfromtheentrancetothecontrolvolumetotheexit,andthecontrolvolumehas
uniformentryandexitvelocities.Anyextraneouseffectscanonlydecreasetheperformanceofthesystem(usually
aturbine)sincethisanalysiswasidealizedtodisregardfriction.Anynonidealeffectswoulddetractfromthe
energyavailableintheincomingfluid,loweringtheoverallefficiency.
SomemanufacturersandinventorshavemadeclaimsofexceedingtheBetz'limitbyusingnozzlesandotherwind
diversiondevices,usuallybymisrepresentingtheBetzlimitandcalculatingonlytherotorareaandnotthetotal
inputofaircontributingtothewindenergyextractedfromthesystem.

Moderndevelopment
In1935H.Glauertderivedtheexpressionforturbineefficiency,whentheangularcomponentofvelocityistaken
intoaccount,byapplyinganenergybalanceacrosstherotorplane.[9]DuetotheGlauertmodel,efficiencyisbelow
theBetzlimit,andasymptoticallyapproachesthislimitwhenthetipspeedratiogoestoinfinity.
In2001,Gorban,GorlovandSilantyevintroducedanexactlysolvablemodel(GGS),thatconsidersnonuniform
pressuredistributionandcurvilinearflowacrosstheturbineplane(issuesnotincludedintheBetzapproach).[10]
TheyutilizedandmodifiedtheKirchhoffmodel,[11]whichdescribestheturbulentwakebehindtheactuatorasthe
`degenerated'flowandusestheEulerequationoutsidethedegeneratearea.TheGGSmodelpredictsthatpeak
efficiencyisachievedwhentheflowthroughtheturbineisapproximately61%ofthetotalflowwhichisvery
similartotheBetzresultof2/3foraflowresultinginpeakefficiency,buttheGGSpredictedthatthepeak
efficiencyitselfismuchsmaller:30.1%.
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Recently,viscouscomputationsbasedoncomputationalfluiddynamics(CFD)wereappliedtowindturbine
modellinganddemonstratedsatisfactoryagreementwithexperiment.[12]Computedoptimalefficiencyis,typically,
betweentheBetzlimitandtheGGSsolution.

References
1.Betz,A.(1966)IntroductiontotheTheoryofFlowMachines.(D.G.Randall,Trans.)Oxford:PergamonPress.
2."EnerconEfamily,330Kwto7.5Mw,WindTurbineSpecification"(http://www.enercon.de/p/downloads/EN_Productoverview_0710.pd
f)
3.TonyBurtonetal.,(ed),WindEnergyHandbook,JohnWileyandSons2001ISBN0471489972page65
4.GijsA.M.vanKuik,TheLanchesterBetzJoukowskyLimit(http://www.tudelft.nl/live/ServeBinary?id=5b6d6215c7cd48679712e4c9
d74ed533&binary=/doc/The%20Lancheste%20Betz%20Joukowsky%20limit%20WE103%20GvK.pdf)Archived(https://web.archive.or
g/web/20110609032218/http://www.tudelft.nl/live/ServeBinary?id=5b6d6215c7cd48679712e4c9d74ed533&binary=/doc/The%20Lanc
heste%20Betz%20Joukowsky%20limit%20WE103%20GvK.pdf)June9,2011,attheWaybackMachine. ThetemplateWaybackisbeing
consideredformerging. ,WindEnerg.200710:289291
5.WindPowerFraud,CharlesOpalekISBN9780557483280page66
6.Dodgywind?Why"innovative"turbinesareoftenanythingbut(http://www.gizmag.com/dodgywindturbines/27876/)MikeBarnard,
Gizmagonlinemagazine,June4,2013
7.Manwell,J.F.McGowan,J.G.Rogers,A.L.(February2012).WindEnergyExplained:Theory,DesignandApplication.Chichester,
WestSussex,UK:JohnWiley&SonsLtd.pp.9296.ISBN9780470015001.
8."DanishWindIndustryAssociation"(http://www.talentfactory.dk/en/tour/wres/cp.htm)Archived(https://web.archive.org/web/20091031
151206/http://www.talentfactory.dk/en/tour/wres/cp.htm)October31,2009,attheWaybackMachine. ThetemplateWaybackisbeingconsideredfor
merging.
9.White,F.M.,FluidMechanics,2ndEdition,1988,McGrawHill,Singapore
10.Gorban'A.N.,GorlovA.M.,SilantyevV.M.,LimitsoftheTurbineEfficiencyforFreeFluidFlow(http://www.math.le.ac.uk/people/ag1
53/homepage/Gorlov2001.pdf),JournalofEnergyResourcesTechnologyDecember2001Volume123,Issue4,pp.311317.
11.L.M.MilneThomson,TheoreticalHydrodynamics,FourthEdition.p.632,Macmillan,NewYork,(1960).
12.Hartwanger,D.,Horvat,A.,3DModellingofAWindTurbineUsingCFD(http://www.caspus.eclipse.co.uk/ah/publications/3dmwtucfd.p
df)Archived(https://web.archive.org/web/20090807014308/http://www.caspus.eclipse.co.uk/ah/publications/3dmwtucfd.pdf)August7,
2009,attheWaybackMachine. ThetemplateWaybackisbeingconsideredformerging. ,NAFEMSUKConference2008"EngineeringSimulation:
EffectiveUseandBestPractice",Cheltenham,UK,June1011,2008,Proceedings.

Ahmed,N.A.&Miyatake,M.AStandAloneHybridGenerationSystemCombiningSolarPhotovoltaicandWind
TurbinewithSimpleMaximumPowerPointTrackingControl,IEEEPowerElectronicsandMotionControlConference,
2006.IPEMC'06.CES/IEEE5thInternational,Volume1,Aug.2006pages17.
Betz,A.TheMaximumofthetheoreticallypossibleexploitationofwindbymeansofawindmotor,WindEngineering,
37,4,441446,2013,Translationof:DasMaximumdertheoretischmglichenAusntzungdesWindesdurch
Windmotoren,ZeitschriftfrdasgesamteTurbinenwesen,Heft26,1920

Externallinks
TheBetzlimitandthemaximumefficiencyforhorizontalaxiswindturbines(http://www.windpowerprog
ram.com/betz.htm)
PierreLecanu,JoelBreard,DominiqueMouaz.Betzlimitappliedtoverticalaxiswindturbinetheory(http
s://hal.inria.fr/hal01300531/)
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