Effect of Tail Shapes on Yawing Performance of Micro Wind Turbine

Abstract

Wind energy is one of the most widely used renewable energy resources. Large amounts of research and resources are being spent today in order to harness the energy from wind effectively. Large wind turbines are erected at windy site and delivering satisfactory performance. Small wind turbines are erected in low wind regions and are in development stage. Research activities are increasing at a significant rate in the field of small wind turbines. World wind energy association forecast considerable development in this field. To face the wind directions, small wind turbines are using mechanical systems in the form of tail. The conventional tail changes the direction of the wind turbine to accommodate the variation of the incoming direction of winds. Quick and steady response is important as per change in wind directions. It has considerable effect on the wind turbine performance. The tails are having different shapes, but literature is not available about it. Different manufacturers used different tail shapes for their model, but the effect of tail shapes has not been studied yet. Hence, it is necessary to study the effect of tail shapes on the performance of wind turbine. This paper presents the effect of tail shapes on the performance of wind turbine. In this work three different tail shapes; rectangular, trapezoidal and triangular are considered. The yawing performance for these tail shapes using CFD analysis is carried out and presented in this paper.