Design and Performance Investigation of Wind Turbine Blade for Solar Updraft Tower Under Low Wind Speeds

Abstract

The functioning of a turbine for solar updraft tower (SUT) power plant mainly relies upon the wind properties of the site and the streamlined structure of the blades. The power and torque generated by the rotor are determined by the rotor blade geometry. In this turbine blade design, few elements are different from a large wind turbine. For example, lower Reynolds number streams happen in the small wind turbines than the substantial ones, along these lines larger scale wind turbine airfoil blades may perform ineffectively in little applications. The small turbines are self-begun at lower wind velocities, in this way the hub (center part of a turbine) and tip parts are essential for the beginning up torque which ought to have the capacity to vanquish the resistance of the generator and the mechanical system. This paper shows the design of turbine blade for a prototype of SUT plant using direct method of approach (BEM theory). The solidity ratio, optimal chord length power, lift force and drag force, tip speed ratio, relative wind angle and blade pitch angle for different air velocities are evaluated and presented. At higher wind speeds, the performance of turbine was enhanced and vice versa.