Effectiveness enhancement of a cycloidal wind turbine by individual active control of blade motion

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this paper, a research for the effectiveness enhancemen t of a Cycloidal Wind Turbine by individual active control of blade motion is described. To improve the performance of the power generation system, which consists of several straight blades rotating about axis in pa rallel direction, the cycloidal blade system and the individual active blade control method are adopted. It has advantages comparing with horizontal axis wind turb ine or conventional vertical axis wind turbine because it maintain s optimal blade pitch angles acco rding to wind speed, wind di rection and rotor rotating speed to produce high electric power at any conditions. It can do s elf-starting and shows good efficiency at low wind speed and complex wind condition. Optimal blade pitch angle paths are obtained through CFD analysis according to rotor rotating speed and wind speed. The individual rotor blade control sy stem consists of sensors, actuators and microcontroller. To realize the actuating device, servo motors are installed to each rotor blade. Actuating speed and actuating force are calculated to compare with the capacities of servo motor, and some delays of blade pitch angles are corrected experimentally. Performance experiment is carried out by the wind blowing equipment and Labview system, and the rotor rotates from 50 to 100 rpm according to the electric load. From this research, it is concluded that developing new vertical axis wind turbine, Cycloidal Wi nd Turbine which is adopting individual active blade pitch control method can be a good model for small wind turbine in urban environment. Keywords : Cycloidal wind turbine, Vertical axis wind turbine, Individual blade cont rol, Active control of blade, Optimal rotor design