Wind-lens turbine design for low wind speed

Abstract

This research proposes a wind-lens turbine design that can startup and operate at a low wind speed (< 5m/s). The performance of the wind-lens turbine was investigated using CFD and wind tunnel testing. The wind-lens turbine consists of a 3-bladed horizontal axis wind turbine with a diameter of 0.6m and a diffuser-shaped shroud that uses the suction side of the thin airfoil SD2030 as a cross-section profile. The performance of the 3-bladed wind-lens turbine was then compared to the two-bladed rotor configuration while keeping the blade geometry the same. The 3-bladed wind-lens turbine successfully startup at 1m/s and produced a torque of 66% higher than the bare turbine, while the two-bladed wind-lens turbine startup at less than 4m/s and produced a torque of 186 % higher than the two-bladed bare turbine at the design point. Findings testify that adding the wind-lens could improve the bare turbine's performance at low wind speed.