Process for Calculating Design Parameters of a Small Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine of 300W

Abstract

Wind turbines are the technology that makes good use of wind energy and have achieved many remarkable achievements. In particular, rotor blades are considered the most important part of the wind turbine system. They are responsible for converting the kinetic energy obtained from the wind into mechanical energy to rotate a generator. The electrical power output of the turbine is largely determined by this part. The design features of the rotor such as rotor sweep area, tip speed ratio, number of blades, design blade profiles, chord and blade twist angle distribution, thickness, and blade material will significantly affect turbine performance. In this paper, the research object will be a small horizontal axis wind turbine, with an expected design capacity of 300 W. Thereby, the research will go from the first steps of a design process, calculate the design and select an effective design for the rotor blade, estimate and test the durability limit of the design according to the international standards. The main purpose of the research is to study, analyse aerodynamic characteristics, select and calculate design parameters of wind turbine rotor blades, then compare the results of different design cases (blade profile, tip speed ratio, Reynolds number) to select the most optimal design solution in terms of performance and design cost with the support mainly by QBlade software (based on the blade element momentum theory BEM with wake rotation and loss). Based on the IEC61400-2 design standard for small wind turbines, this research will find out the loads available to a wind turbine in a simple load case for rotor blades under wind load with QBlade's QFEM tool. Use QBlade's QLLT (Nonlinear Lifting Line Simulation) to simulate the behaviour and collect load estimation data of a wind turbine operating in a turbulent wind velocity field.