Minimum induced loss windmills and propellers

Abstract

Horizontal axis wind turbines can be designed advantageously to utilize minimum induced loss radial loading, exactly inverse to that of high efficiency airplane propellers, as described by Betz, Prandtl, (1919) and Goldstein (1929). Benefits include reduced tower load and increased wind energy for windmills downstream in an array. At M.I.T. the authors have developed a rotor design and analysis code, HELICE, which exploits analytic simplications possible with near minimum induced loss loading. Earlier versions have been used to design propellers for human powered airplanes (1979) and windmills (1980). Algorithms and exmples are given.