ESRIG-EES colloquium: Salar Mahfoozi, MSc EES student
| When: | Tu 22-10-2019 16:00 - 16:30 |
| Where: | 5159.0110, Energy Academy, Nijenborgh 6. |
Title: Testing and Analysis of a New Wind Turbine. Utilizing Unsteady Aerodynamics for Enhanced Lift.
By: Salar Mahfoozi, MSc EES student.
Summary:
The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of unsteady aerodynamics on a newly designed wind turbine and see whether there is a gain in power production. Unsteady aerodynamics can influence the production of lift on wind turbine blades through quick changes in angle of attack. This pitching motion can be implemented on a wind turbine by selectively moving a portion of a specially designed wind turbine blade known as a LEO-blade in an oscillating motion to change the angle of incidence and cause periodic increases in the lift coefficient of the blade. The origin of oscillating outer blades is inspired from the flight behavior of an albatross in which it periodically changes its angle of attack from low to high as a means of steering and controlling stall.
The main idea was proven to be true based on a previous study which involved the construction and testing of a wind turbine. However the performance of the turbine was not optimal for the criteria needed to test the hypothesis and suffered from limitations such as low tested oscillation frequencies, heavy rotor design and etc. Based on this, a new wind turbine had to be designed that could overcome these limitations. Design and construction of the new turbine proved to be challenging and required it’s own unique planning which was carried out in part I of this study. Part II involved finalizing the construction and testing the turbine in a wind tunnel.
It was verified that oscillating the outer blades attested frequencies of 5, 7.5, 10, 15 Hz under amplitude ranges of (-5°) – (+5°)and (0°) – (15°) does lead to a solid gain in power output compared to anon-oscillating setup. Oscillation frequencies of 15Hz had the highest power output up to wind-speeds of 2.8 m/s but did lose their edge above these wind-speeds and 10 Hz frequencies proved to be more superior above the aforementioned wind speed. The turbine did also manage to run at wind-speeds as lows as 1.1 ms-1 and optimal oscillation frequency tests were done to determine power output under very low wind-speeds.