Invelox Reference Thesis

Efficient use of wind energy to generate
Electrical power by means of wind tunnel

effect and Coanda effect
By
Naveen Khadka
May 2015
Supervisors:
Professor Jai Singh
Dr. Monishka Rita Narayan
Unit Coordinator
Dr Kamal Debnath
School of Engineering and Logistics
Charles Darwin University
School of Engineering and Logistics

Abstract
Wind energy is one of the best substitutes for future energy sources as the fossil fuels are
diminishing and their use for generating power is not environmentally friendly. Current wind
turbines do not produce electricity all the time. Although the wind might be available for as
much as 70% of the time, it is often not strong enough to operate the wind turbine at full
capacity. The combination of absence of wind and inadequate wind strength means that even
in a good location the wind turbine, over the course of a year, will generate only about 30% of
the amount it could generate in a constant strong wind.
The power available from wind is proportional to the cubed of the wind speed. This project
looks at increasing the speed of the wind by means of passive devices like venturi tube and
making the speed of the wind inside the system constant by means of a built in small wind
tunnel. By doing this the efficiency of the wind turbine would be greatly increased and if we
can maintain the wind speed constant the power output would be constant over time.
The final outcome of this project is to build a wind power generation station which is small
i.e. it could be installed in a house and could be integrated with the current wind turbine
ventilation system. It is a challenging project but if successful, it will minimise the current
disadvantages of wind turbines and open new gates for development in this regard.
Keywords: (wind energy, future energy source, wind turbines, wind speed, wind tunnel,
venturi tube, wind turbine ventilation)
Naveen Khadka Page 2

Table of Contents
Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. 2
Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................... 3
List of symbols and abbreviations: ......................................................................................................... 4
List of tables:.......................................................................................................................................... 4
List of Figures: ....................................................................................................................................... 4
List of Photographs: ............................................................................................................................... 5
Introduction: ........................................................................................................................................... 6
Background: ........................................................................................................................................... 6
Objective of the project: ......................................................................................................................... 9
Literature Review: ................................................................................................................................ 10
Coanda Effect:.................................................................................................................................. 10
INVELOX - Currently available system: ......................................................................................... 12
Continuity Principle: ........................................................................................................................ 13
Mathematical Model for Energy in the Wind: ...................................................................................... 14
The main idea for improving efficiency of wind turbines: ................................................................... 16
Section 1: Input to the system .......................................................................................................... 16
Section 2: Increasing wind velocity .................................................................................................. 16
Section 3: Generating wind power ................................................................................................... 17
Optional section: Further improvement in efficiency of wind turbine system .................................. 17
The overall system: .............................................................................................................................. 17
Validating the project by software simulations: ................................................................................... 19
Model Building: ................................................................................................................................... 19
Testing Coanda effect: ..................................................................................................................... 20
Testing Venturi tube: ........................................................................................................................ 21
Analysis of Results obtained: ............................................................................................................... 23
Prediction of output velocity and density: ............................................................................................ 24
Calculation of Power: ........................................................................................................................... 27
Final Project Specifications: ................................................................................................................. 27
Efficiency calculation:.......................................................................................................................... 28
Summary of the Project: ....................................................................................................................... 28
Conclusions: ......................................................................................................................................... 29
Recommendations: ............................................................................................................................... 29
References: ........................................................................................................................................... 30
Appendix:............................................................................................................................................. 31

List of symbols and abbreviations:
KE = Kinetic Energy (J) P = Power (W)
m = Mass (Kg) 𝜌 = Density of air (Kg/m3)
v = Wind Speed (m/s) A = Swept area (m2)
𝑑𝑚
= Mass Flow rate (Kg/s) t = time (s)
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝐸
= Energy Flow rate (J/s) d = distance (m)
𝑑𝑡
Cp = Power Coefficient r = Radius of turbine (m)
List of tables:
Table 1: Results obtained for a venturi tube
Table 2: Application of Continuity principle for different setup
List of Figures:
Figure 1: Wind Turbines used to pump water for irrigation ( Reproduced from:
http://www.daviddarling.info/images/early_US_windmill.jpg)
Figure 2: Wind energy used for sailing boat ( Reproduced from:

http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/content/2012/1029/1029-us-
abounty/14158433-1-eng-US/1029-us-abounty_full_600.jpg)
Figure 3: An example of wind farm (Reproduced from:

https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQj
Rw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FWind_farm&ei=lvRLVfb2LYTsmAXttIHICQ&bvm=
bv.92765956,d.dGY&psig=AFQjCNEPt6brXAMFZ4w2nqFIctufjzTTxg&ust=1431127518458418 )
Figure 4: Eco Installation Australia’s 3KW wind turbine (left) and its power output plotted as
a fraction of wind speed (right). (Reproduced from: http://www.ecoinstallationsaustralia.com/wind-
turbines )
Figure 5: Deflection of vertical jet of water by a curved body due to Coanda effect.
(Reproduced from: http://theoriesandideas.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/spoonCoanda.gif)
Figure 6: A typical UAV flying due to Coanda effect. ( Reproduced from:

http://api.ning.com/files/UozYEWcYSPIp-
EoY7z6OD4ku1KS01zVAXyblVU0Jk30yhHk9B008bTGwQKwTPYXtQbo3aHIgI16hy3iuPL6Bdw__/ces01jln1.jpg )

Figure 7: The airflow pattern around an UVA. ( Reproduced from:
http://api.ning.com/files/Sx0WjEk7OVu0ac8ZL8shHqSM4BZDZE9c5O*ACY1D7dOEdfkV37ojGViwOf2O3bi
UruzSInvhBRPj8LyDF0EvUA__/CESeffectCFDsim.jpg)
Figure 8: Currently available INVELOX system (Reproduced from:

http://d3z1rkrtcvm2b.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/INVELOX-Wind-Turbine.jpg)
Figure 9: Daily energy production improvements – the INVELOX with respect to traditional
turbine system. (Reproduced from: http://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0360544214002837-
gr10.jpg)
Figure 10: A venturi tube (Reproduced from: http://www.itacanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/fig2-

600x181.png )
List of Photographs:
Figure 11: The overall system
Figure 12: Software simulation for output velocity in venturi tube
Figure 13: Model for testing Coanda Effect
Figure 14: Velocity of wind measuring instrument
Figure 15: Coanda effect verification
Figure 16: The venturi tube testing setup
Figure 17: The velocity of wind at input and output of venturi tube
Figure 18: The expected trend of output velocity and density of air inside venturi tube
Figure 19: Calculation of expected power

Introduction:
With the development of technology the dependence on electrical power is quite inevitable. It
is very hard to believe that in future the major energy resource i.e. fossil fuels will be extinct.
Therefore, it has been an agenda throughout the world to search for alternative energy
resources. In this regard, the search has given energy resources like nuclear, natural gas, solar,
wind, geothermal, tidal energy and many more. However, the renewable energy resources
have become very interesting resources as they provide clean energy which is sustainable.
These renewable energy resources make it possible to conserve the environment and save the
environment from unavoidable future destruction from other forms of energy sources. The
most promising energy resource which was always available and will be available in future is
the wind energy. Development of wind energy sector will secure the future of human beings
by making the environment clean and sustainable. However, the current wind turbines have
certain drawbacks and should be minimised to make it a dependable energy resource.
This project studies/presents ways to develop the current method of electricity generation
from wind and improve efficiency of current wind turbines, resulting in increasing the
dependability on wind generated power.
Background:
Wind energy has always been very important energy source for human beings. For thousands
of years human beings have been using the wind energy as a cheap, safe and clean source of
energy. Application of wind energy was diverse in the history for instance the earliest wind
machines were used to pump underground water for irrigation. Figure 1 show how the wind
turbines are used to pump water.
Figure 1: Wind Turbines used to pump water for irrigation

Earlier wind machines were also used to grind corn and to cut wood at sawmills. One of the
best used applications of wind was to propel boats.
Figure 2: Wind energy used for sailing boat
Figure 2 shows a boat used by ancient people to navigate from one place to another via water.
These wind machines, i.e., wind driven boats made possible to discover many places in the
World. With the development of electric power the wind energy was introduced as one of the
sources of energy and a small amount of power was generated from it during the early 20th
century.
As the time advanced more robust technology was developed for harvesting wind energy.
Today, the wind power is still in use to pump water and grind corn in some part of the world.
The boats using wind power are still in use in adventure sports and recreation. Many more
ways of using wind energy have been developed and this energy source is well exploited.
Nowadays Governments all over the world are making policies that ensure certain percentage
of power should be generated in their country from wind energy. Many big companies are
putting large amount of money to construct large wind farms. All these favourable conditions
for development have made it possible to construct very large wind farms like one shown in
figure 3, which can generate electric power required for a small town. The electricity
produced by these farms can also be exported to other towns via national electricity grid.

Figure 3: An example of wind farm
However, constructing such a big wind farm requires huge capital investment. And as a
matter of fact the atmospheric wind is not available all the times and if available it is not
strong enough to generate the rated power. This means the current wind turbines have a
capacity factor of approximately 35% only in a good site. This also means that the capacity of
a wind turbine to generate the rated power is only 35% on average over a year. Apart from the
wind speed problems, other issues like wastage of kinetic energy of the wind due to the gear
and shaft losses and the sound energy makes the efficiency even less.
If only a single wind turbine is considered then the drawbacks of such systems are clearly
visible. For instance, according to Eco Installations Australia their 3KW system would
perform as follows:
Figure 4: Eco Installation Australia’s 3KW wind turbine (left) and its power output plotted as
a fraction of wind speed (right).

This particular wind turbine (figure 4) has a rotor diameter of 4 meters and it starts to rotate at
a wind speed of 2.5m/s and reaches its 2KW rating at 8.5m/s. Its maximum output of 3.5KW
is obtained at wind speed of 12m/s and after that speed the generation of power decreases
with increase in wind speed.
As it is clear from figure 4 (right part) that in order to generate the rated power of 3KW the
system needs a constant wind speed of 12m/s. Apart from this there are several other
disadvantages of the current wind turbine generators like:
i. People could not fully depend on these wind turbine systems as the electrical power
generated varies because the wind speed and direction varies and sometimes the speed
of the wind is very low to even start the rotation.
ii. These wind turbines subjected to very high speed wind generate less than the rated
power output and could be easily damaged.
iii. In many countries, the wind turbines are installed off-shore because they generate
noise pollution and people usually don’t want wind turbines around them. As a result
they are subjected to salt present in the air and could be easily corroded by salt.
iv. It is very expensive to construct wind turbines in off-shore locations and even more
costly to connect them with the electricity grid.
Thus the abovementioned drawbacks of wind turbines make them less favourable even if the
wind energy is free and clean. There is a strong need to address the above issues of wind
turbines so that the efficiency of the wind turbines could be improved and people could
depend on such a system without any fear of power outage. This project aims at minimising
the drawbacks of current wind turbines and increasing the efficiency of the system.
Objective of the project:

This project has the following objectives:
1. Using physics principles, explore ways to increase wind speed, thus making possible
to harness wind power even in low wind speed areas.
2. To determine the overall system efficiency and if possible increasing the efficiency of
this system by using a custom built wind tunnel attachment into this system.
3. To predict the overall output power by this system.

4. To predict if the overall system has better efficiency than the currently available
systems or to develop educational suggestions for integrating such a system into the
current wind turbine industry.
Literature Review:
In order to meet the objectives of this project a literature review was carried out and different
topics were investigated. The main objective of this project requires increasing the wind speed
by passive means and for this continuity principle was studied. However, there was a
challenge of putting the wind into the vertical venturi tube. After quite a bit of search the
solution was found as the Coanda effect. The literature review also includes the existing
Invelox system that claims to increase the velocity of atmospheric wind by using a venturi
tube and experimental findings of that system showed improvements in power generation.
The overall literature review is briefly outlined in the following sections.
Coanda Effect:
The Coanda effect described in a French patent by Henri Coanda (1932) is the phenomenon in
which the airflow (or jet of water) attaches itself to the nearby surface and remains attached
even when the surface curves away from the initial airflow direction. This phenomenon could
be readily observed by holding a spoon against a jet of water running out of a tap; the jet of
water will adhere to some extent to the spoon and be deflected (figure 5).
Figure 5: Deflection of vertical jet of water by a curved body due to Coanda effect.
This Coanda effect has many practical applications and most of these lie in the aviation
industry. This phenomenon has greatly proved its importance in developing Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles (UAVs). As the Coanda effect can be used to produce lift for UAVs in two ways;
firstly, this effect can be modelled around UAVs to change the direction of airflow to point
downwards, resulting in upwards thrust. Secondly, it can also be used to pass airflow from

above UAVs which causes low pressure at the top of UAVs and results in lifting them.
Figure 6: A typical UAV flying due to Coanda effect.
The figure6 shows a typical UAV and it generates lift by creating an air velocity in the centre
of the UAV with the aid of a fan and then directing the air flow out of the outlet. Here the air
will follow the curved surface creating low pressure at the top of the UAV resulting in upward
thrust. One might think why the author is explaining about the UAV instead of explaining
about the efficient use of wind energy to generate wind power; the answer is because if one
understands the concept of Coanda effect it is very easy to understand how this effect will
help in using the wind energy efficiently. The main reason for looking at the UAV’s is to
understand the airflow pattern around the UAV’s surface.
The UAV in figure6 was created by JL Naudin, during the process of manufacturing UAV he
simulated the Coanda effect and found the airflow distribution around the surface of the UAV
(figure 7). He concluded that the airflow following the curved surface will gain velocity due
to its radial expansion on the circular shape pattern, this creates a low pressure above the
UAV and it results upward motion of the UAV.
Figure 7: The airflow pattern around an UVA

The figure 7 outlines the results obtained by JL Naudin, in a simulation and it verifies the
airflow speed around the UAV. So, the working of UAV by using the phenomenon of Coanda
effect and the experiments conducted by Naudin (2010) gives some idea that this effect could
be exploited in harvesting wind energy. This project will shine some light on how Coanda
effect could be used in generating reliable wind power more efficiently.
INVELOX - Currently available system:

According to SheerWind, a wind power company from Minnesota, USA their new wind
power generating system called INVELOX can generate approximately 600% more power
than the conventional wind turbines.
The INVELOX system captures the wind from all the directions and uses funnels to channel
the wind to the ground based turbine. The wind is channel through a tapering passageway i.e.
a venturi tube which naturally accelerates the wind flow. The INVELOX system with the
working principle is as follows:
Figure 8: Currently available INVELOX system

SheerWind Company built the above system in 2012 and tested and compared the power
generated with a 600 W traditional wind turbine generator. The results obtained are as
follows:
Figure 9: Daily energy production improvements – the INVELOX with respect to traditional
turbine system.
According to SheerWind the experimental results obtained for both the traditional wind
turbine and the INVELOX system showed that the power generated in the INVELOX system
was 80 – 560% more as compared to the traditional turbine with same power ratings over the
period of 8 days. The total average power improvement was about 314%. Therefore, this
impressive improvement in power generation motivated the author to think about a similar
system which could be used effectively in low wind speed areas to generate reliable amount
of wind power.
Continuity Principle:
According to law of conservation of mass the volume of fluid entering the pipe must be equal
to the volume of fluid leaving the pipe irrespective of the diameter of the pipe.
Figure 10: A venturi tube

Here,
The volume of fluid flowing in at A1 = 𝜌1A1V1∆t
The volume of fluid flowing in at A2 = 𝜌2A2V2∆t
Therefore,
𝜌1A1V1∆t = 𝜌2A2V2∆t
Or, 𝜌1A1V1 = 𝜌2A2V2
Therefore, the volume of fluid moving through the pipe at any instant of time must be
constant. Thus if the fluid is incompressible; the above equation says that if the cross-section
area of the pipe is small, then the velocity of the fluid flow must increase to make the overall
volume constant. Otherwise, for compressible fluids the density of fluid can be calculated
using:
𝜌1A1V1
𝜌2 = A2V2
Thus, the principle of continuity was used to calculate the density of air and the velocity of
the air at output terminal. This project estimates how the velocity will change based on the
experimental findings and the continuity principle.
Mathematical Model for Energy in the Wind:

According to laws of energy and force, under constant acceleration, the kinetic energy of an
object is equal to the work done in displacing that object from rest to a distance ‘d’ under a
force F:
 KE = W = Fd
Also according to Newton’s second law of motion, we have:
 F = ma
So, we have,
 KE = mad ………………… (1)
The third equation of motion is:
 v2 = u2 + 2ad
Or,
𝑣 2 −𝑢2
 a=
2𝑑
Since, the initial velocity of the object is zero, i.e. u = 0, we get:
𝑣2
 a=
2𝑑
And substituting it in equation (1), we get the kinetic energy of a mass in motion as:
𝑚𝑣 2
 KE = ……. (2)
2
The power in the wind is given by the rate of change of energy:
𝑑𝐸 1 𝑑𝑚
 P= == 𝑣2 𝑑𝑡
………….. (3)
𝑑𝑡 2
As mass flow rate is given by:
𝑑𝑚 𝑑(𝑑)
 = 𝜌A
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
And the rate of change of distance (d) is velocity, we get:
𝑑𝑚
 = 𝜌A v
𝑑𝑡
Hence, from equation (3), the power is given by;
𝑑𝐸 1 𝑑𝑚 1 1
 P= == 𝑣2 𝑑𝑡
= 2 𝑣 2 𝜌A𝑣 = 2 𝜌A𝑣 3 ………… (4)
𝑑𝑡 2
The above equation shows the power produced by a wind turbine will be proportional to the
swept area and proportional to the cubed of the wind speed. It can be clearly seen that
doubling the swept area doubles the power output, but doubling the wind speed increases the
power by eight times. In reality, no wind turbine could be 100 per cent efficient because
making the wind turbine 100 per cent would mean bringing the air in front of wind turbine to
standstill, leaving no space into which the energy-carrying air could move, resulting in
stalling the blades.

Albert Betz in 1919 showed that no wind turbine could convert more than 59.3 per cent of the
kinetic energy of the wind into mechanical energy turning a rotor. This is known as “power-
coefficient” and is given as:
 Cp = 0.593
It is also clear that we cannot operate the wind turbine at this maximum limit. The C p value
for each turbines is unique and is a function of wind velocity that the wind turbine is
operating in. When all the other factors affecting the efficiency of the wind turbine system
like the gearbox, bearings, generators etc. were considered the real world Betz Limit ranges
approximately 0.35 – 0.45.
Hence, the total power available could be given by;
𝟏
 Pelectrical = 𝝆𝐀𝒗𝟑 Cp ………….(5)
𝟐
The main idea for improving efficiency of wind turbines:

After the brief description of Coanda effect, UAVs, the INVELOX system and the continuity
principle the projects idea could be formed based on the results obtained in above projects.
The idea is to combine the Coanda effect with the existing INVELOX system. This project
has three main sections and one optional section:
Section 1: Input to the system

In the existing INVOLEX system in order to capture large amount of air the input sections
should be made very large and apart from capturing air the input section is doing no work.
Now, if the input section is made similar to the UAV i.e. a turbine which is rotated by
atmospheric wind and the entire structure allows the horizontal moving wind to be directed
into vertical venturi tube resulting in compact system size and a generator could be attached
with the turbines to generate some electrical power. Therefore, the input section does two jobs
one to convert the horizontal moving airflow to vertically moving airflow and direct into the
venturi tube, and second the turbine generates some electrical power.
Section 2: Increasing wind velocity

The main function of the section 2 is to increase the velocity of wind exactly same as the
INVELOX technology is doing. This project will examine how much increase in velocity can
be achieved and correspondingly how much density of air will increase.

Section 3: Generating wind power
This section mainly focusses on generating power by using the higher velocity wind. As the
power generation is directly proportional to the cubed of the wind velocity a higher power
output is expected. However, the size of the wind turbine should be reduced to handle the
higher velocity wind which will make the overall system smaller and compact. Hence, the
idea of generating considerable amount of power required for a single house seems to be
achievable with this project.
Optional section: Further improvement in efficiency of wind turbine system

The efficiency of this wind turbine system could be further improved by attaching a custom-
designed wind tunnel with this system. Here, the wind tunnel will use the residual wind after
it passes through the turbine and with the help of small fan rotated by a motor redirects the
wind to the turbine. By doing this the overall efficiency of the complete system could be
greatly increased.
This system works best with a wind velocity sensor mounted just in front of the wind turbine
and feedbacks the velocity information to the motor which would run according to the
velocity feedback. For instance, if the velocity in front of the wind turbines is 15m/s but the
system requires approximately 25m/s to generate the rated power then this velocity
information is sent to the motor which will make the fan to rotate faster and eventually
increase the velocity of wind in front of the turbine to increase and generate the rated power
output. However, further studies need to be done in order to incorporate such a system. This
part of improving efficiency of the system could be considered if the abovementioned system
becomes successful. In other words if the system is constructed that works by using the
Coanda effect and uses continuity principle to increase the velocity of the wind and eventually
generates a considerable amount of power than the attachment of small wind tunnel could be
made to improve the efficiency of this system further. The overall system will have better
efficiency then the existing wind turbine systems.
The overall system:

The main idea of the overall system could be represented as figure 11. The small impeller
blades could be considered the turbine but with a much larger size. The whole system works
as follows:
1. The atmospheric wind rotates the turbine similar to impeller blade used here,

2. Due to Coanda effect the horizontal moving airflow will be converted into vertical
moving airflow and the small generator connected with the turbine can generate some
electrical power,
3. The vertical moving airflow will than enter the venturi tube where the velocity of the
wind is increased,
4. This increased velocity wind will be directed towards the turbine which will than
convert the kinetic energy into electrical energy.
Figure 11: The overall system
The main reason for using the Coanda effect is to convert the horizontal moving airflow into
vertical moving airflow. The venturi tube will only increase the velocity of wind similar to the
INVELOX technology.
The following section tries to verify the useability of Coanda effect by doing experiment on a
model and also tries to test the venturi tube for velocity and density behaviour in both input
and output side.

Validating the project by software simulations:
During the semester the model of venturi tube was checked for its usefulness in software
called SolidWorks flow simulations. For, this the model of venturi tube was drawn in
SolidWorks software and simulated by putting the input velocity of wind and calculating the
output velocity of wind. The results obtained for input velocity of 4 m/s and the simulated
output velocity are as follows:
Figure 12: Software simulation for output velocity in venturi tube
Here, venturi tube inlet diameter was 1.55 meters and the outlet diameter of venturi tube was
0.52 meters. The results showed similarity with the calculations when the density of air was
considered constant. However, in reality the density of air will increase when it is passed
through the venturi tube as the air is compressible.
Therefore, the results obtained were considered unsatisfactory and decision was made to build
a small model for the project. Considering, the budget of project ($200) the model could only
be built partly, that is, to check the principles of Coanda effect and the venturi effect
separately.
Model Building:
Hence, two models were built one to check the Coanda effect and other to increase the
velocity of wind. The following section describes how the model was built and tested.

Testing Coanda effect:
The model to verify the Coanda effect was built by using a plastic mixing bowl and a motor
of a fan. The turbine that was used is an impeller blade currently used in a vacuum cleaner.
The overall setup of the model looks as follows:
Figure 13: Model for testing Coanda Effect
The main idea behind the model shown in figure 13 is to verify if the air moving out of the
impeller blade follows the structure in this case the mixing bowl. The impeller blade in this
model is driven by a motor of a fan, however, in actual project the blade similar to impeller
blade but larger in size should be built and that blade would be driven by atmospheric wind.
After building this model, the velocity of wind was measured throughout the surface of the
bowl. For measuring the velocity a handheld anemometer was used which can display the
wind speed in m/s, the picture of the instrument is as follows:
Figure 14: Velocity of wind measuring instrument

During the experiment the velocity of wind was checked throughout the surface of the bowl.
The velocity of wind close to the impeller blade was noted to be around 2 m/s and the velocity
throughout the bowl surface was noted to be around 1 m/s. Hence, it was clear after the
experiment that the wind does follows the curved surfaces and proves the Coanda effect does
happen in this model. The following picture summarizes the results obtained:
Figure 15: Coanda effect verification
This experiment showed that the Coanda effect could effectively be used to direct the airflow
into the venturi tube. However, more tests need to be done on finding the right amount of
wind directed into the venturi tube so that the venturi tube can increase the velocity of wind.
Testing Venturi tube:

The model of venturi tube was made by joining three plastic buckets together with cement
glue. The experimental setup to test the venturi tube looks like the following:
Figure 16: The venturi tube testing setup

The venturi tube was not perfectly smooth from inside but due to the lack of availability of
desired venturi tube in market the results obtained was considered to roughly meet the
required standards.
Similarly, a cardboard venturi tube was also built and tested for velocity same as plastic
venturi tube. The testing was done by using the handheld anemometer, the velocity of wind at
the input side and the velocity of wind at the output side were measured as follows:
Figure 17: The velocity of wind at input and output of venturi tube
The procedure of experiment is as follows:
1. Firstly, the fan was turned on at a fixed speed and the velocity of wind at the input
side of the venturi tube was measured and recorded.
2. After that the velocity of wind at corresponding position at the output side of venturi
tube was measured and recorded.
3. Similarly, the velocities of wind were measured at different positions (i.e. Right, Left,
Up, Down and Centre of venturi tube) at the input end and corresponding positions at
the output end and recorded.
4. As the fan has three speed limits, the similar measurements were carried out at each
speed limit and data recorded in a table.

The summary of results obtained is as follows:
Table 1: Results obtained for a venturi tube
Plastic Venturi Tube

Input Velocity (m/s) Output Velocity (m/s)
V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 Average V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 Average
# (L) (R) (Up) (D) (C) (m/s) (L) (R) (Up) (D) (C) (m/s)
1 1.5 2.1 2 1.3 1.7 1.7 3.7 2.7 3.2 3.4 3 3.2
2 1.9 2.1 2.2 2.1 2 2.1 3.9 3.3 3.8 4 3.2 3.6
3 1.7 2.2 2.4 2.1 2.2 2.1 4.2 4.4 3.9 4.1 3.7 4.1
Cardboard Venturi Tube

1 2.6 2.5 1.9 1.7 1.6 2.1 3.7 3 3.4 3.4 2.7 3.2
2 2.4 2.5 2.2 2.7 1.5 2.3 3.8 4 3.5 4 3.4 3.7
3 3.2 2.9 2.5 3 1.1 2.5 3.5 4.2 3.8 4.2 3.8 3.9
L = Left, R = Right, D = Down and C = Centre of venturi tube.

The results obtained indicate increase in velocity in both the venturi tubes. However, in the
case of cardboard venturi tube the output velocity was slightly lower than the plastic venturi
tube. The reason is that the cardboard venturi tube provided more friction for the wind as
compared to plastic venturi tube. Hence, the results obtained from plastic venturi tube were
used to analyse the results.
Analysis of Results obtained:

The results obtained were used to calculate the density of air at the output side of the venturi
tube as follows:
Details of experimental setup:
Inlet Diameter of venturi tube, D1 = 40.5 cm
Outlet Diameter of venturi tube, D2 = 19 cm
Inlet velocity of air, V1 = 2.1 m/s
Outlet Velocity of air, V2 = 4.1 m/s
Density of air, 𝜌1 = 1.225 kg/m3

We know that;
𝜌1A1V1 = 𝜌2A2V2
𝟒𝟎.𝟓 𝟐
𝝆𝟏𝐀𝟏𝐕𝟏 𝟏.𝟐𝟐𝟓∗𝟐.𝟏∗( )
𝟐
𝝆2 = = 𝟏𝟗 𝟐
= 2.8509 kg/m3
𝐀𝟐𝐕𝟐 ( 𝟐 ) ∗𝟒.𝟏
Therefore, the density of air at the output side of venturi tube comes to be equal to 2.8509
kg/m3 which are approximately 2.3 times the density of air at the input side. In this
experiment the following things are noted:
1. The diameter of the venturi tube at the input side is roughly twice the diameter of the
output side of the venturi tube.
2. The measurement of wind velocity in the plastic venturi tube at output side is
approximately twice the velocity at the input side.
Hence, the conclusion could be made that if the ratio of input diameter to output diameter is 2,
then the velocity of the wind at the output side of the venturi tube will be approximately twice
the velocity at the input side. And similarly the density of air at the output side is
approximately twice the density of air at the input side.
Prediction of output velocity and density:

In real situations, for a larger system the results could be approximated keeping in mind the
theory of continuity principle and the experimental results. For example, consider the
following setup:
Inlet Diameter of venturi tube, D1 = 3.0 m
Outlet Diameter of venturi tube, D2 = 0.50 m
Inlet velocity of air, V1 = 4 m/s
Outlet Velocity of air, V2 =? m/s
Density of air, 𝜌1 = 1.225 kg/m3
We know that;
𝜌1A1V1 = 𝜌2A2V2

𝟑.𝟎 𝟐
𝝆𝟏𝐀𝟏𝐕𝟏 𝟏.𝟐𝟐𝟓∗𝟒∗( )
𝟐
𝝆2 V2 = = 𝟐 = 176.4 kg/m2s
𝐀𝟐 𝟎.𝟓𝟎
( 𝟐 )
Here, the product of the output velocity and density comes out to be a constant. Similarly,
other possible real systems could be analysed and the product of output velocity and the
density could be recorded as follows:
Table 2: Application of Continuity principle for different setup
Input Inlet Outlet Input density

S. Velocity Diameter Diameter Ratio of of air rho2*v2
No. (m/s) (m) (m) Diameters (kg/m^3) (Constant)
0 4 0.5 0.5 1 1.225 4.9
1 4 1.0 0.5 2 1.225 19.6
2 4 1.5 0.5 3 1.225 44.1
3 4 2.0 0.5 4 1.225 78.4
4 4 2.5 0.5 5 1.225 122.5
5 4 3.0 0.5 6 1.225 176.4
6 4 3.5 0.5 7 1.225 240.1
Hence, the analysis of results is straight forward by considering the following:
1. The continuity principle is valid for all types of fluid.

2. The output velocity and the density of air when the diameter of both the input and
output were equal comes out to be same, i.e. for input velocity of 4 m/s and density of
1.225 kg/m3 the output velocity becomes 4 m/s and density becomes 1.225 kg/m 3.
3. Further, the experimental results suggest that if the output diameter of venturi tube is
half of the input diameter than the output velocity will increase by approximately
twice the input velocity.
4. Similarly, the output density will also increase approximately twice the input air
density.
5. Since, the continuity principle is a linear principle and the product of output velocity
and output density of air is constant.
6. Both the output velocity and the output density of air will increase as the ratio of the
input to output diameter of venturi tube is increased.

All the above points’ helps to predict the output velocity and the density of air as the ratio of
diameters of venturi tube is changed. Therefore, according to the continuity principle and the
experimental findings the following assumptions could be made:
1. As the output diameter of venturi tube is made half of the input diameter the
experimental findings were increase in output velocity by approximately two times the
input velocity and increase in output density of air by approximately two times.
2. Similarly, the expected increase in output velocity when the output diameter is made
one-sixth is approximately six times the input velocity and the output density increase
by approximately six times.
3. Same assumptions could be made for all other ratios of input to output diameter of
venturi tube.
Let us suppose a venturi tube whose output diameter is made constant at 0.5 meters and the
input diameter of the venturi tube is varied from 0.5 meters to 3.0 meters. The trend of the
output velocity and the density of air could be calculated and plotted in matlab (Note: Refer
appendix for the matlab code used to plot the graph) as follows:
The trend of output velocity and density of air in venturi tube when input wind speed of 4m/s
The output velocity (m/s) and the output density (kg/m
)
3
20
15
Output Velocity
Output Density
10
0
1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
Ratio of (input/output) Diameter of Venturi tube
Figure 18: The expected trend of output velocity and density of air inside venturi tube
The figure 18 indicates the expected increase of the output velocity if the ratio between the
input and the output diameter is made 6 and the input velocity is 4 m/s comes out to be
approximately 19 m/s and the output density of air increases to about 9 kg/m3.

Calculation of Power:
For the same venturi tube considered above to calculate the velocity and density the power
could be calculated and plotted in matlab as follows: (refer appendix for matlab code)
The Comparison between the Power generated with venturi tube Vs without venturi tube when input wind speed of 4m/s
4
3.5
The generated Power (Kilo-Watts)
2.5
1.5
1
Power Generated with venturi tube
0.5 Power Generated without venturi tube
0
1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
Ratio of (input/output) Diameter of Venturi tube
Figure 19: Calculation of expected power
The graph shows the power generated inside the venturi tube and outside the venturi tube i.e.
traditional wind turbine generators. The power generated inside the venturi tube is
significantly high which makes the system very reliable. This whole process is expected to
generate approximately 3 kW of electrical power if the ratio of input to output diameter of
venturi tube is made approximately 6.
Final Project Specifications:

For a typical home in Darwin the specifications for a 3 kW system is as follows:
The atmospheric wind speed = 4 m/s.
Density of air (inlet side) = 1.225 kg/m3
Inlet Diameter = 3m and outlet diameter = 0.5m
Ratio of input/output diameter of venturi tube = 6
Expected power output ≈ 3 kW to 4kW

Efficiency calculation:
For a conventional wind turbine generator with the rotor diameter of 3 meters, the maximum
amount of electrical power generated at atmospheric wind speed of 4 m/s is 0.327 kW.
Therefore, the efficiency of the system could be calculated as followed:
𝑶𝒖𝒕𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝟑
𝜼= 100% = 𝟎.𝟑𝟐𝟕100% = 900%
𝑰𝒏𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓
This efficiency was calculated by taking the power coefficient of 0.59 for both the system.
However, in reality the power coefficient may be less than 0.59 and the overall efficiency may
be around 500% to 600% which is similar to the already existing INVELOX system. Hence, it
may be concluded that the efficiency of the overall system is greatly increased by using the
venturi tube to increase the velocity of the atmospheric wind.
Summary of the Project:

The author looked at various available wind power generation systems and found out that they
all directly depend on the atmospheric wind speed and if there is no wind available there is no
power generated. The author also looked at the current wind turbine development and found
that the wind turbines were only installed in places where the atmospheric wind speed was
considerable, in other words there is virtually nothing been done in places where the
atmospheric wind speeds were low like Darwin. This fact was concerning to the author and
investigated various other ways of increasing wind velocity and found out venturi tube as best
fit. There was a challenge of putting wind into the vertical venturi tube but the author realised
that the solution was already found in 1932 by Henry Coanda and the phenomenon is called
Coanda effect. The idea of increasing the wind speed by venturi tube was already done by
SheerWind Company and the results obtained were very impressive. Hence, the author tried
to combine these two principles first to convert the horizontal moving wind into vertical
moving wind and second to increase the velocity of the wind and resulting in increased power
generation. Already existing systems like UAVs and the INVELOX system are showing very
impressive results and the experimental findings suggested their validity. A custom-designed
wind tunnel could be installed in this system to make the velocity of the wind inside the
system almost constant, resulting in constant power generation. Finally the expected
efficiency of the completed system is very high as compared to the traditional wind turbine
generator.

Conclusions:
This project looks at a new way of generating wind power and looking at the current
efficiency of the wind power generation system giving a try to the new system is no harm
done. The existing projects success and theory behind the principles is promising and the
implementation of this system might not be very difficult to achieve. The projects finding that
while increasing the velocity due to the compressibility of air the density also increases which
in turn increases the total mass flow rate resulting in increased power generation. In other
words the power generation is directly proportional to the density of air; hence, increasing
density is increasing power output. If the reduction in turbine area is roughly taken care by the
increase in density of air, the velocity increase will make the overall power generation very
high as compared to the traditional wind turbine generators. Therefore, there are good
indications that the power generated inside the venturi tube or the system will be very high
make the electrical power generation from wind very efficient and reliable. Especially for
places where the atmospheric wind speed is low and installation of wind turbine generator is
not economical then this system could prove to be very efficient and economical.
Finally, it was demonstrated that the combination of Coanda effect and venturi tube increases
the wind speed to a level that enhances electrical power generation similar to INVELOX
system. This system can be used in places where the wind speed is too low to generate power
from conventional turbines. This system is not huge in structure and therefore can be installed
for domestic uses on individual houses.
Recommendations:
Apart from generating the electrical power this system also have other useful applications. For
instance, consider the currently available exhaust fans, these fans suck the air from inside the
room and throw it outside the same thing can be done by using the Coanda effect. In other
words, the input section i.e. the combination of turbine and bowl could also suck the air from
inside the room and throw it outside. Both of them should be powered to work and expected
similar results. Since, the experiment carried out to verify the Coanda effect showed that
when a turbine was rotated the air was following the structure and leaving away from the
structure, which makes the basics for recommending this Coanda effect exhaust fan.
With the development of construction industry, it is very common nowadays to build

underground floors in an apartment or house or anything underground, there is always a
challenge to transport the atmospheric air inside those underground floors. This system could
solve this problem of transporting atmospheric air inside the underground floors.

References:
1. D. Coley, Energy and Climate Change, Chapter 22, Wind power, John Wiley and
Sons Ltd, West Sussex, England, 2008
2. Daryoush Allaei, Yiannis Andreopoulos, INVELOX: Description of a new concept in
wind power and its performance evaluation, Energy, Volume 69, 1 May 2014, Pages
336-344, ISSN 0360-5442, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2014.03.021.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544214002837)
3. DIY DRONES, The Leading Community for Personal UAV’s, Coanda Effect Saucer
(CES) UAV with an ArdulMU+V2, viewed 20th Aug, 2014,
http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/coanda-effect-saucer-ces-
uav?id=705844%3ABlogPost%3A232052&page=2
4. ECO INSTALLATIONS AUSTRALIA, Wind Turbines, “Our Wind Turbine
Selection” viewed 20th Aug, 2014, http://www.ecoinstallationsaustralia.com/wind-
turbines
5. JLN Labs, The Vortex Technologies, The GFS UAV, a coanda effect flying saucer,
viewed 10th Aug, 2014, http://jnaudin.free.fr/html/vtxtech.htm
6. National Wind watch, Presenting the facts about industrial wind power, FAQ-output,
viewed 16 Sep, 2014, https://www.wind-watch.org/faq-output.php
7. New Fluid, Lift & the Coanda Effect, viewed 25 th August, 2014,
http://www.newfluidtechnology.com.au/lift-and-the-coanda-effect/
8. Npower, the royal academy of Engineering, Wind turbine Power Calculations, viewed
1st Sep, 2014, http://www.raeng.org.uk/publications/other/23-wind-turbine
9. S&C Thermofluids Ltd, Fast Flowing Solutions, Coanda Effect, viewed 18 th Aug,
2014, http://www.thermofluids.co.uk/effect.php
10. SHEERWIND, Changing the course of power generation, viewed 26th September
2014, http://sheerwind.com/
11. Terry Day, 2008, The Coanda Effect and lift, viewed 27 th Aug, 2014,
http://www.newfluidtechnology.com.au/wp-
content/uploads/THE_COANDA_EFFECT_AND_LIFT.pdf
12. U Dakeev, Management of wind power generation with the attachment of a wind
tunnel, IBSU Scientific Journal, 5(2):71-82, 2011 viewed 27th Aug, 2014,
http://journal.ibsu.edu.ge/index.php/ibsusj/article/download/201/201
13. Wind Energy Foundation, History, viewed 1st Oct, 2014,
http://www.windenergyfoundation.org/about-wind-energy/history

Appendix:
The matlab code that was used to plot the output velocity and density is as follows:
close all
clear all
clc
D1 =0.5:0.5:3.0; % Venturi inlet diameter = from 0.5 meters to 3.0meters
D2 = 0.50;% Venturi Outlet Diameter = 50 cm
v01 =4; % input velocity of wind is 4 m/s
v02 =4:3:19; % Output velocity of wind ranging from 4 m/s to 19 m/s
rho1 = 1.225; % density of air 1.225 kg/m^3
A1 = pi.*(D1/2).^2;
A2 = pi*(D2/2)^2;
rho2 = (v01.*A1*rho1)./(A2.*v02);
Cp = 0.59;
ratio = D1./D2;
P0 = (1/2)*A2.*(v02.^3).*rho2*Cp./1000;
P1 = (1/2).*A1*(v01^3)*rho1*Cp./1000;
plot(ratio, v02)
title('The trend of output velocity and density of air in venturi tube when input wind speed of 4m/s')
ylabel('The output velocity (m/s) and the output density (kg/m^3)')
xlabel('Ratio of (input/output) Diameter of Venturi tube')
hold on
plot(ratio, rho2)
hold off
The matlab code to calculate the power with and without venturi tube is as follows:
close all
clear all
clc
D1 =0.5:0.5:3.0; % Venturi inlet diameter = from 0.5 meters to 3.0meters
D2 = 0.50;% Venturi Outlet Diameter = 50 cm
v01 =4; % input velocity of wind is 4 m/s
v02 =4:3:19; % Output velocity of wind ranging from 4 m/s to 19 m/s
rho1 = 1.225; % density of air 1.225 kg/m^3
A1 = pi.*(D1/2).^2;
A2 = pi*(D2/2)^2;
rho2 = (v01.*A1*rho1)./(A2.*v02);
Cp = 0.59;
ratio = D1./D2;

P0 = (1/2)*A2.*(v02.^3).*rho2*Cp./1000;
P1 = (1/2).*A1*(v01^3)*rho1*Cp./1000;
plot(ratio, P0)
title('The Comparison between the Power generated with venturi tube Vs without venturi tube when input wind
speed of 4m/s')
ylabel('The generated Power (Kilo-Watts)')
xlabel('Ratio of (input/output) Diameter of Venturi tube')
hold on
plot(ratio, P1)
hold off

Invelox Reference Thesis

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Invelox Reference Thesis

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Efficient use of wind energy to generate

Electrical power by means of wind tunnel

Professor Jai Singh

Dr. Monishka Rita Narayan

School of Engineering and Logistics

Charles Darwin University

School of Engineering and Logistics

Naveen Khadka Page 2

Naveen Khadka Page 3

m = Mass (Kg) 𝜌 = Density of air (Kg/m3)

v = Wind Speed (m/s) A = Swept area (m2)

Cp = Power Coefficient r = Radius of turbine (m)

Table 2: Application of Continuity principle for different setup

Figure 2: Wind energy used for sailing boat ( Reproduced from:

Figure 3: An example of wind farm (Reproduced from:

Figure 6: A typical UAV flying due to Coanda effect. ( Reproduced from:

Naveen Khadka Page 4

Figure 8: Currently available INVELOX system (Reproduced from:

Figure 10: A venturi tube (Reproduced from: http://www.itacanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/fig2-

Figure 12: Software simulation for output velocity in venturi tube

Figure 13: Model for testing Coanda Effect

Figure 14: Velocity of wind measuring instrument

Figure 15: Coanda effect verification

Figure 16: The venturi tube testing setup

Naveen Khadka Page 5

Figure 1: Wind Turbines used to pump water for irrigation

Naveen Khadka Page 6

Figure 2: Wind energy used for sailing boat

Naveen Khadka Page 7

Naveen Khadka Page 8

Objective of the project:

Naveen Khadka Page 9

Naveen Khadka Page 10

Figure 6: A typical UAV flying due to Coanda effect.

Figure 7: The airflow pattern around an UVA

Naveen Khadka Page 11

INVELOX - Currently available system:

Figure 8: Currently available INVELOX system

Naveen Khadka Page 12

Figure 10: A venturi tube

Naveen Khadka Page 13

The volume of fluid flowing in at A1 = 𝜌1A1V1∆t

The volume of fluid flowing in at A2 = 𝜌2A2V2∆t

Or, 𝜌1A1V1 = 𝜌2A2V2

Mathematical Model for Energy in the Wind:

Also according to Newton’s second law of motion, we have:

 KE = mad ………………… (1)

The third equation of motion is:

Since, the initial velocity of the object is zero, i.e. u = 0, we get:

The power in the wind is given by the rate of change of energy:

As mass flow rate is given by:

And the rate of change of distance (d) is velocity, we get:

Hence, from equation (3), the power is given by;

Naveen Khadka Page 15

Hence, the total power available could be given by;

The main idea for improving efficiency of wind turbines:

Section 1: Input to the system

Section 2: Increasing wind velocity

Naveen Khadka Page 16

Optional section: Further improvement in efficiency of wind turbine system

The overall system:

Naveen Khadka Page 17

Figure 11: The overall system

Naveen Khadka Page 18