Sensitivity of Key Parameters in Aerodynamic Wind Turbine Rotor Design on Power and Energy Performance

Abstract

In this paper the influence of different key parameters in aerodynamic wind turbine rotor design on the power efficiency, Cp, and energy production has been investigated. The work was divided into an analysis of 2D airfoils/blade sections and of entire rotors. In the analysis of the 2D airfoils it was seen that there was a maximum of the local Cp for airfoils with finite maximum Cl/Cd values. The local speed ratio should be between 2.4 and 3.8 for airfoils with maximum cl/cd between 50 and 200, respectively, to obtain maximum local Cp. Also, the investigation showed that Re had a significant impact on CP and especially for Re<2mio corresponding to rotors below approximately 400kW this impact was pronounced. The investigation of Cp for rotors was made with three blades and showed that with the assumption of constant maximum cl/cd along the entire blade, the design tip speed ratio changed from X=6 to X=12 for cl/cd=50 and cl/cd=200, respectively, with corresponding values of maximum cp of 0.46 and 0.525. An analysis of existing rotors re-designed with new airfoils but maintaining the absolute thickness distribution to maintain the stiffness showed that big rotors are more aerodynamic efficient than small rotors caused by higher Re. It also showed that the design tip speed ratio was very dependent on the rotor size and on the assumptions of the airfoil flow being fully turbulent (contaminated airfoil) or free transitional (clean airfoil). The investigations showed that rotors with diameter D=1.75m, should be designed for X around 5.5, whereas rotors with diameter D=126m, should be designed for Xbetween 6.5 and 8.5, depending on the airfoil performance.