Designing of 500 watt wind turbine blades for manufacturing

Abstract

Small-scale Wind Power Plants (PLTB) is very suitable in remote locations in Indonesia. This generator converts wind energy into motion through the blades to then rotate the generator and produce electrical energy. The blade design is a determining factor for the ability to convert wind energy into kinetic motion as the blade rotates. In general, the blades are divided into tapper, taper less and inverse tapper designs. The taper less blades (base and end are the same) are suitable for areas where there is low and high wind speed. This study aims to design a taper less blade with a capacity of 500 Watt, which has a high coefficient of power (Cp) and is easy to produce. The taper less design was chosen for its flexibility in performance at low & high wind speeds. The blade design was made using Qblade software, with blade design parameters including 500 W system output, 1 m radius, 40% Coefficient of Power (Cp), 4 digit, Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) airfoil, 3 blades, tip speed ratio of 6-8 m/s, Chord ratio & radius of 0.12, cut in speed of 2 m/s and rated in speed of 12 m/s. With Qblade software, several NACA airfoil series simulated, namely NACA 3412, 3415, 3418, 4412, & 4415. The simulation results with Reynolds number 92,000 show that NACA 4415 airfoil is the most optimal type with a CP value of 40%. In addition, the ratio of the coefficient of lift (Cl) to the coefficient of drag (Cd) is relatively moderate.