Abstract
This paper describes the starting behavior of small horizontal axis wind turbines at high angles of attack and low Reynolds number. The unfavorable relative wind direction during the starting time leads to low starting torque and more idling time. Wind turbine models of sizes less than 5 meters were simulated at wind speed range of 2 m/s to 5 m/s. Wind turbines were modeled in Pro/E and based on the optimized designs given by MATLAB codes. Wind turbine models were simulated in ADAMS for improving the starting behavior. The models with high starting torques and less idling times were selected. The starting behavior was successfully improved and the optimized wind turbine models were able to produce more starting torque even at wind speeds less than 5 m/s.
Highlights
From ancient times the kinetic energy of the wind is used for various household activities like milling of wheat and corns
A MATLAB function within simulation gives the coefficient of performance for this wind turbine model to be 0.38
First of all the initial wind turbine designs were imported into ADAMS
Summary
From ancient times the kinetic energy of the wind is used for various household activities like milling of wheat and corns. Based on blade element momentum theory various wind turbine designs were proposed for various wind conditions. It is not possible to start wind turbine at low wind speeds, so changes should be made in the existing wind turbine models in order to increase their sensitivity [1, 2]. To increase the lift force in order to start the wind turbine at wind speeds various designs must be tested. In developing countries the practical experimentation is not possible so computer simulations are usually carried out to get the optimized design for a specific area [4]. Singh and Ahmed [6] practically made various wind turbine models of wood with low Reynolds number and they suggest various models for low and medium wind speed areas. Wichser and Klink [10] measured wind speed at a height between 70 and 75 meters above the ground level for Journal of Wind Energy
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