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Design and Fabrication and Testing of a Low Speed Wind Turbine Generator Using Tapered Type Rotor Blade Made from Fibre Reinforced Plastic

Received: 19 January 2014    Accepted:     Published: 20 February 2014
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Abstract

This study fabricated a three bladed wind turbine of 0.6 m rotor diameter. The blade was divided into ten sections and shape derived from the blade element and momentum theory with two linearization points at 70% and 90%.. Other design values chosen were; clark Y as the airfoil type, 2.5 as tip speed ratio, 1.1 as lift drag ratio, design angle of attack of 8o. The rotor blades were fabricated using two layers of fibre reinforced plastic and 2% hardenning on resin. The power coefficient of the turbine was tested in the wind tunnel by subjecting it to wind speeds ranging from 4 m/s to 10 m/s in the wind tunnel testing. The wind tunnel used for the study was the Effel type with an exit of 1.05 mX1.05 m and wind speed adjustable between 2 m/s to 22.5 m/s. An induction motor was used to provide the load in the experiment and the synchronized frequency controlled by an inverter. A direct connection generator was employed to the turbine rotors to determine the electricity generation capacity. The maximum coefficient of power for the blade was found to be 0.26 at 10 m/s and 651 rpm. A variable resistance was used to determine the electric power production at different rotational speed. A speed of 10 m/s gave the highest power of 29.69 W at 891 rpm, 8 m/s gave the highest power as 15.43 W at 688 rpm, 6 m/s gave the highest power as 6.38 W at 552 rpm while 4 m/s gave the highest power as 1.74 W at 302 rpm. The Wind generator was then used to charge a 54 AH, 12 V battery producing the highest electrical power of 32.03 W. The turbine is capapble of producing power for small wind regimes with small household usage however it is recommended that the design should be optimized to improve the coefficient of power.

Published in International Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy (Volume 3, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijrse.20140301.14
Page(s) 20-25
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Coefficient of Power, Tip Speed Ratio, Angle of Attack, Wind Tunnel, Wind Speed, Tapered Type, Rotor Blade

References
[1] Travis J. Carrigan, Brian H. Dennis, Zhen X. Han, and Bo P.Wang (2012). Aerodynamic Shape Optimization of a Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine Using Differential Evolution. International Scholarly Research Network Volume, Article ID 528418
[2] Drela M. (2000). Xfoil. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Cambridge, MA, USA, [3] Duquette M.M. and Visser K.D., (2003). Numerical implications of solidity and blade number on rotor performance of horizontal-axis wind turbines. J. Sol. Energy Eng.-Trans. ASME, 125, 425–432
[3] Griffiths R.T. (1977). The effect of aerofoil characteristics on windmill performance. Aeronaut. J. ,81, 322–326
[4] Michael S. S., James J. G., Andy P. B. and Philippe G. (1995). Summary of Low-Speed Airfoil Data Volume 1. SOARTECH PUBLICATIONS, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23451, USA
[5] Maalawi K.Y., Badr M.A., (2003). A practical approach for selecting optimum wind rotors. Renewable Ener gy, 28, 803–822.
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  • APA Style

    Saoke Churchill Otieno, Kamau Joseph Ngugi, Nishizawa Yoshifumi, Kinyua Robert, Ushiyama Izumi, et al. (2014). Design and Fabrication and Testing of a Low Speed Wind Turbine Generator Using Tapered Type Rotor Blade Made from Fibre Reinforced Plastic. International Journal of Sustainable and Green Energy, 3(1), 20-25. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijrse.20140301.14

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    ACS Style

    Saoke Churchill Otieno; Kamau Joseph Ngugi; Nishizawa Yoshifumi; Kinyua Robert; Ushiyama Izumi, et al. Design and Fabrication and Testing of a Low Speed Wind Turbine Generator Using Tapered Type Rotor Blade Made from Fibre Reinforced Plastic. Int. J. Sustain. Green Energy 2014, 3(1), 20-25. doi: 10.11648/j.ijrse.20140301.14

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    AMA Style

    Saoke Churchill Otieno, Kamau Joseph Ngugi, Nishizawa Yoshifumi, Kinyua Robert, Ushiyama Izumi, et al. Design and Fabrication and Testing of a Low Speed Wind Turbine Generator Using Tapered Type Rotor Blade Made from Fibre Reinforced Plastic. Int J Sustain Green Energy. 2014;3(1):20-25. doi: 10.11648/j.ijrse.20140301.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijrse.20140301.14,
      author = {Saoke Churchill Otieno and Kamau Joseph Ngugi and Nishizawa Yoshifumi and Kinyua Robert and Ushiyama Izumi and Nakajo Yuishi},
      title = {Design and Fabrication and Testing of a Low Speed Wind Turbine Generator Using Tapered Type Rotor Blade Made from Fibre Reinforced Plastic},
      journal = {International Journal of Sustainable and Green Energy},
      volume = {3},
      number = {1},
      pages = {20-25},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijrse.20140301.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijrse.20140301.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijrse.20140301.14},
      abstract = {This study fabricated a three bladed wind turbine of 0.6 m rotor diameter. The blade was divided into ten sections and shape derived from the blade element and momentum theory with two linearization points at 70% and 90%.. Other design values chosen were; clark Y as the airfoil type, 2.5 as tip speed ratio, 1.1 as lift drag ratio, design angle of attack of 8o. The rotor blades were fabricated using two layers of fibre reinforced plastic and 2% hardenning on resin. The power coefficient of the turbine was tested in the wind tunnel by subjecting it to wind speeds ranging from 4 m/s to 10 m/s in the wind tunnel testing. The wind tunnel used for the study was the Effel type with an exit of 1.05 mX1.05 m and wind speed adjustable between 2 m/s to 22.5 m/s. An induction motor was used to provide the load in the experiment and the synchronized frequency controlled by an inverter. A direct connection generator was employed to the turbine rotors to determine the electricity generation capacity. The  maximum coefficient of power for the blade was found to be 0.26 at 10 m/s and 651 rpm. A variable resistance was used to determine the electric power production at different rotational speed. A speed of 10 m/s gave the highest power of 29.69 W at 891 rpm, 8 m/s gave the highest power as 15.43 W at 688 rpm, 6 m/s gave the highest power as 6.38 W at 552 rpm while 4 m/s gave the highest power as 1.74 W at 302 rpm. The Wind generator was then used to charge a 54 AH, 12 V battery producing the highest electrical power of 32.03 W. The turbine is capapble of producing power for small wind regimes with small household usage however it is recommended that the design should be optimized to improve the coefficient of power.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Design and Fabrication and Testing of a Low Speed Wind Turbine Generator Using Tapered Type Rotor Blade Made from Fibre Reinforced Plastic
    AU  - Saoke Churchill Otieno
    AU  - Kamau Joseph Ngugi
    AU  - Nishizawa Yoshifumi
    AU  - Kinyua Robert
    AU  - Ushiyama Izumi
    AU  - Nakajo Yuishi
    Y1  - 2014/02/20
    PY  - 2014
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijrse.20140301.14
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijrse.20140301.14
    T2  - International Journal of Sustainable and Green Energy
    JF  - International Journal of Sustainable and Green Energy
    JO  - International Journal of Sustainable and Green Energy
    SP  - 20
    EP  - 25
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-1549
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijrse.20140301.14
    AB  - This study fabricated a three bladed wind turbine of 0.6 m rotor diameter. The blade was divided into ten sections and shape derived from the blade element and momentum theory with two linearization points at 70% and 90%.. Other design values chosen were; clark Y as the airfoil type, 2.5 as tip speed ratio, 1.1 as lift drag ratio, design angle of attack of 8o. The rotor blades were fabricated using two layers of fibre reinforced plastic and 2% hardenning on resin. The power coefficient of the turbine was tested in the wind tunnel by subjecting it to wind speeds ranging from 4 m/s to 10 m/s in the wind tunnel testing. The wind tunnel used for the study was the Effel type with an exit of 1.05 mX1.05 m and wind speed adjustable between 2 m/s to 22.5 m/s. An induction motor was used to provide the load in the experiment and the synchronized frequency controlled by an inverter. A direct connection generator was employed to the turbine rotors to determine the electricity generation capacity. The  maximum coefficient of power for the blade was found to be 0.26 at 10 m/s and 651 rpm. A variable resistance was used to determine the electric power production at different rotational speed. A speed of 10 m/s gave the highest power of 29.69 W at 891 rpm, 8 m/s gave the highest power as 15.43 W at 688 rpm, 6 m/s gave the highest power as 6.38 W at 552 rpm while 4 m/s gave the highest power as 1.74 W at 302 rpm. The Wind generator was then used to charge a 54 AH, 12 V battery producing the highest electrical power of 32.03 W. The turbine is capapble of producing power for small wind regimes with small household usage however it is recommended that the design should be optimized to improve the coefficient of power.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Ashikaga Institute of Technology, Japan

  • Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Ashikaga Institute of Technology, Japan

  • Ashikaga Institute of Technology, Japan

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