Investigation of the Power Generation by Small-Scle Wind Turbines
Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Program
Automotive engineering (MPAUT), MSc
Publicerad
2021
Författare
Gebel, Till Rune
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
The area of wind turbines is the subject of many contemporary researches given
the importance of the field for electricity production. The purpose of this research
project is to use additive manufacturing techniques to 3-D print several resin based
wind turbine profiles, and test them for electricity production in the McCoy School
of Engineering closed loop wind tunnel at the Midwestern State University. Dif ferent prototypes of wind turbines will be designed, printed, and tested for their
performance and power production using a small scale electric generator. Differ ent obstacle designs will be tested to efficiently channel the air flow toward the
blades of the wind turbine. This coupling between obstacles and wind turbines is
designed to increase the efficiency and the power production of the wind turbine.
Inside the wind tunnel, the blades of the wind turbine will be subjected to different
wind speeds. Their optimal performance will be experimentally determined using
LabVIEW software. This research puts an emphasis on vertical axis wind turbines
for the purpose to shift the placement of the gearbox and the generator from high
horizontal elevation configuration to a ground level configuration. This design shows
to have a significant impact on the efficiency, dimension, cost, and maintenance of
the wind turbine themselves. This vertical configuration opens the possibility to
equip future wind turbines with a high powered generator. Equipment and supplies
for this research requires the purchase of miniature generators, resin for 3D printing
of the blades, and electrical measurement devices. A LabVIEW program will be
created to monitor continuously the output power of the wind turbine as well as the
voltage and current output at different wind speeds and resistance loads. Further more, the flow field around the turbine blades, will be investigated using a Particle
Image Velocimetry (PIV) system. The PIV system will be essentially used to check
the system design and optimize the flow channeled toward the wind turbine blades.
Using the powerful fluid dynamic sofware ANSYS, a simulation will be run to obtain
a velocity flow field around the obstacle.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
wind turbine, vertical wind turbine, 3-D printing, PIV, CFD, vortex