International Journal of Renewable Energy Sources

Ho S. Ji et al. http://www.iaras.org/iaras/journals/ijres

The Aerodynamic Performance Study on Small Wind Turbine with

500W Class through Wind Tunnel Experiments

Ho Seong JI1†, Joon Ho BAEK2, Rinus MIEREMET2, Kyung Chun KIM3

1†
MEMS Technology Center, Pusan National University, Busan, 609-735, Republic of KOREA
([email protected])
2
Department of Engineering Research, ESCO RTS, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
3
School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan, 609-735, Republic of KOREA

Abstract: - For urban usage of an Archimedes spiral horizontal axis wind turbine, the aerodynamic
characteristics including output power, power coefficient, and effect of the angle of attack was
investigated using proto-type wind turbine model with Archimedes spiral shape. To provide the
aerodynamic performance, the experimental model was consisted with Archimedes spiral wind turbine
model, torque meter, powder brake with PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control basic and RPM
sensor. The power coefficient as a function of tip speed ratio with more than 85% of Betz limit can be
observed successfully. The Archimedes spiral wind turbine model employed in this study shows the
similarity with Modern multiblade turbine type. And the maximum power coefficient as a function of
the TSR shows the similar that of Ideal Efficiency of Propeller-type turbine. Through the experiments
on the angle of attack change, the fundamental information for the automatic yawing system may be
provided.

Key-Words: - Archimedes Wind Turbine, Power Coefficient, Tip Speed Ratio, Angle of Attack

described that small scale wind turbines installed

1 Introduction within the built environment is classified as
microgeneration technology and such turbines
Wind as a source of renewable energy receives a may soon become a commercial reality in the
great attention as an increasingly viable solution UK as a result of both advancements in
to one of the most important issues of our time, technology and new financial incentives
that is, pollution free electricity for sustainable provided by the government. And they also
living. The continued dependence on depleting mentioned the proliferation of small scale wind
fossil fuel sources or nuclear power has the turbine for urban and suburban usage within near
potential to wreck the world’s economy and future. Some researches into urban energy
security. If the issue is not addressed with a generation showed that it is possible to predict
sense of urgency, then the havoc that the recent with a high degree of accuracy the expected
nuclear power plant meltdown in Japan of 2011 financial payback period for a typical domestic
or oil spills of the Gulf of Mexico of 2010 household. A variety of wind turbines were
caused, will pale in comparison threatening analyzed (Simic et al. 2013, Bortolini et al. 2014,
mankind’s very existence (Ahmed, 2013). Skea Arifujjaman et al. 2008).
(2014) described that the make-up of the EU’s Howell et al. would like to provide the
energy RD & D portfolio has changed to new performance coefficient prediction on small
technologies such as wind and solar from fossil vertical axis wind turbine through experimental
energy conversion system. And he also and numerical study. They mentioned on
mentioned that the political environmental dynamic behavior of the over tip vortex as a
change related on renewable energy leaded the rotor blade rotating through each revolution.
growth of the investment and R & D funding on These studies reported the effects of the blade
the renewable energy system. Bahaj et al. (2007) geometry on the power curve, the turbine’s rated

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 International Journal of Renewable Energy Sources
Ho S. Ji et al. http://www.iaras.org/iaras/journals/ijres

power related to its swept area, the total placed on atmospheric boundary layer wind
electricity production, and the pay-back period. tunnel at Pusan National University. The open
Herbert et al. reviewed the wind resources suction type wind tunnel employed in this study
assessment models, site selection models and has 2m×2m as a cross-sectional area. The
aerodynamic models including wake effect. experimental model was placed in the center of
They also discussed that the differences exist in the wind tunnel. The ball bearings were
performance and reliability evaluation models, installed in the frontward and backward of the
various problems related to wind turbine blade shaft. Wind turbine model employed in
components (blade, gearbox, generator and this study was consisted with Archimedes spiral
transformer) and grid for wind energy system. wind blade, torque meter, powder brake and
Hirahara et al. studied on very small wind rpm sensor. The torque meter was mechanically
turbine system with 500 mm as a diameter of assembled backward of Archimedes spiral wind
blades. Through their experimental study, they blade through main shaft of wind turbine model.
mentioned that the maximum power coefficient For the power coefficient calculation as a
employed in their study showed approximately function of tip speed ratio, Torque meter,
40 % at 2.7 as a tip speed ratio. Quasim et al. Powder Brake and RPM sensor was employed,
have studied for the power coefficient on cavity respectively.
shape vane vertical axis wind turbine model
through wind tunnel experiment. Through their
experimental study, they mentioned that the
frame of vertical axis wind turbine may affect
the power coefficient. Ragheb et al. discussed
the Betz limit for horizontal and vertical axis
wind turbine systems. And they also mentioned
that the wind turbine must be designed to operate
at their optimal wind tip speed ratio in order to
extract as much power as possible from the wind
stream.
Even though there are lots of previous
research work on small wind turbine, there are
strong needs on the aerodynamic characteristics Figure 1 Archimedes wind turbine model
including Power coefficient, Output power placed in the wind tunnel (at PNU)
according to the approaching wind condition
and blade feature. In this study, we would like The Archimedes Spiral wind blade with
to provide the aerodynamic characteristics on 1.5m as a diameter was made of FRP resin and
the 500 watt class Archimedes Spiral Wind Fiber Glass Sheet through by-layer process. The
Turbine through two types of wind tunnel thickness of the blade was approximately 3 mm
employed in this study. And to provide the in the blade tip region and approximately more
fundamental information on yawing system, the than 5 mm in the center region for bonding
aerodynamic characteristics with respect to the force with stainless steel shaft, respectively.
angle of attack were also investigated through The rotating force control from powder
large wind tunnel experiments. The results brake employed in this study can provide an
employed in this study on aerodynamic optimal performance of generator. And to
characteristics through wind tunnel experiments calculate the aerodynamic power, torque meter
may be applied for generator optimal design. was employed downstream of the blade model.
To prevent of the downstream wake flow
2 Experimental Setup and Methods passing through the frame, the frames of wind
turbine model have airfoil shape.
Figure 1 shows the experimental model of
In the case of high flow condition, to
Archimedes spiral wind turbine with 0.5kW
provide the stability of the spiral wind turbine

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 International Journal of Renewable Energy Sources
Ho S. Ji et al. http://www.iaras.org/iaras/journals/ijres

model, the frame was tied up the wind tunnel

with damper for minimizing the vibration
between the wind turbine model and wind
tunnel. To investigate the approaching wind
speed, the Pitot tube was placed 2 m
downstream from the wind turbine model same
with the center of the experimental model.

3 Results and Discussions

Aerodynamic power production and power
coefficient from wind turbine is closely related
with the interaction between the rotor and the
incoming wind speed. The power coefficient of Figure 2 Generated Power as a function of the
wind turbine is defined as how efficiently the Angular Velocity [from PNU Wind Tunnel]
wind turbine converts the energy from wind
into electricity. Tip speed ratio of wind turbine
is an essential parameter to how efficient that Figure 2 shows the power curve with respect to
turbine will perform. the angular velocity through wind tunnel
Equation (1) represents the definition on Tip experiments. The experiments condition on the
Speed Ratio. approaching wind speed were controlled from 3
m/s to 11 m/s with step of 1 m/s. In the case of
R×ω 3m/s as wind speed, even though the generated
TSR = 𝑈𝑈𝑖𝑖𝑛𝑛
(1)
power was not so sufficient, the generated
maximum aerodynamic power with
Where R[m] is the radius of the wind blade, approximately 13.32 Watt through Archimedes
ω[rad/s] is the angular velocity and 𝑈𝑈𝑖𝑖𝑛𝑛 [m/s] is spiral wind blade can be observed at 8.08 as
the approaching wind velocity. angular velocity. The rotational power was
The input and output power through the controlled using powder brake and the
wind energy conversion can be represented as maximum aerodynamic power was observed at
equation (2) and (3), respectively. 16% as PWM (Pulse Width Modulation)
control value. In the case of 4m/s as wind speed,
𝑃𝑃𝑜𝑜𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢 = 𝑇𝑇 × 𝜔𝜔 (2) the generated the maximum aerodynamic power
seems to be approximately 32.03 Watt at 12.26
1 3
𝑃𝑃𝑖𝑖𝑛𝑛 = 2
× 𝜌𝜌 × 𝐴𝐴 × 𝑈𝑈𝑖𝑖𝑛𝑛 (3) as angular velocity. In this case, PWM control
value had 17%. In the case of 5m/s as wind
Where, ρ means the air density, A means the speed, the generated the maximum aerodynamic
cross sectional dimension of wind turbine, 𝑈𝑈𝑖𝑖𝑛𝑛 power seems to be approximately 60.27 Watt at
means the wind speed, T means the torque, ω 12.44 as angular velocity. In this case, PWM
means the angular velocity of wind turbine, control value had 24%. In the case of 6m/s as
wind speed, the generated the maximum
respectively. As following to IEC-61400, ρ can
be represented as 1.225 kg/m3. aerodynamic power seems to be approximately
According to the Betz Limit, the theoretical 102.58 Watt at 20.34 as angular velocity. In this
maximum coefficient of power for any wind case, PWM control value had 20%. In the case
turbines could not convert more than 59.3% of of 7m/s as wind speed, the generated the
the kinetic energy of the wind into mechanical maximum aerodynamic power seems to be
energy rotating the wind blade. Good wind approximately 168.96 Watt at 19.96 as angular
turbine generally fall in the 35~45% range of velocity. In this case, PWM control value had
electricity. 25%. In the case of 8m/s as wind speed, the

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 International Journal of Renewable Energy Sources
Ho S. Ji et al. http://www.iaras.org/iaras/journals/ijres

Table 1 Aerodynamic Characteristics on Spiral Wind Blade

Wind Maximum Maximum Angular
Velocity Aerodynamic Power RPM Velocity Tip Speed Ratio
Power Coefficient[%]
3 m/s 13.32 45.57 77.15 8.08 2.02

4 m/s 32.03 46.24 117.09 12.26 2.30

5 m/s 60.27 44.55 118.84 12.44 1.87

6 m/s 102.58 43.88 194.27 20.34 2.54

7 m/s 168.96 45.51 190.55 19.96 2.14

8 m/s 250.31 45.17 255.98 26.81 2.51

9 m/s 339.10 42.98 217.26 22.75 1.90

10 m/s 544.16 50.27 298.27 31.23 2.34

11 m/s 737.22 51.17 284.27 29.77 2.03

on Spiral Wind Blade generated the maximum the optimal value of the performance coefficient
aerodynamic power seems to be approximately called as Betz Limit. From this figure, the
250.31 Watt at 26.81 as angular velocity. In this performance characteristics of the Archimedes
case, PWM control value had 25%. In the case spiral wind turbine employed in this study
of 9m/s as wind speed, the generated the shows the similarity with Modern multiblade
maximum aerodynamic power seems to be turbine. And the maximum power coefficient as
approximately 339.10 Watt at 22.75 as angular a function of the TSR shows the similar that of
velocity. In this case, PWM control value had Ideal Efficiency of Propeller-type turbine (J. N.
30%. In the case of 10m/s as wind speed, the Libii, 2013). Table 1 represents the
generated the maximum aerodynamic power experimental results through the Wind Tunnel
seems to be approximately 544.16 Watt at 31.23 of Pusan National University with 2 m × 2 m as
as angular velocity. In this case, PWM control a test section.
value had 30%. In the case of 11m/s as wind
speed, the generated the maximum aerodynamic
power seems to be approximately 737.22 Watt
at 29.77 as angular velocity. In this case, PWM
control value had 35%.
Figure 3 shows the power coefficient as a
function of tip speed ratio with respect to the
wind speed change from 3m/s to 11m/s with
step as 1m/s. The maximum power coefficient
for each experimental condition from 3 m/s to
11 m/s as an approaching wind velocity can be
observed between 1.87 ~ 2.54. In the case of 11
m/s, the maximum power coefficient with
51.17 % can be observed. From this result, we
can consider that approximately 86.35% from Figure 3 Power Coefficient as a function of Tip
Speed Ratio [from PNU Wind Tunnel]

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 International Journal of Renewable Energy Sources
Ho S. Ji et al. http://www.iaras.org/iaras/journals/ijres

To investigate the aerodynamic value had 45%. In the case of 12m/s as wind
characteristics on the Archimedes wind turbine speed, the generated the maximum aerodynamic
model according to the angle of attack change power seems to be approximately 915.94 Watt
and to compare the results through Pusan at 37.95 as angular velocity. In this case, PWM
National University Wind Tunnel by reducing control value had 45%.
the blockage effect, the experimental model
with turning plate was placed on the large wind
tunnel with 4 m × 2 m (width × height) as a test
section. The blade model for aerodynamic
characteristics investigation except turning plate
was same as previous experimental model.
Figure 4 shows the definition of angle of attack.

Figure 5 Aerodynamic Power as a function of

the Angular Velocity [CKP Wind Solutions]

4 Conclusion
To investigate the aerodynamic characteristics
on the 500 Watt class Archimedes spiral wind
turbine, proto-type experimental model was
employed through two types of wind tunnel.
The aerodynamic characteristics on the small
wind turbine with Archimedes spiral shape
Figure 4 Definition of Angle of Attack
through an experimental studies can be
summarized as follows;
Figure 5 shows the power curve with
(1) Through wind tunnel experiments on 2
respect to the angular velocity through wind
types of wind tunnel, the higher output
tunnel experiments. The experiments condition
power as a function of rotational velocity
on the approaching wind speed were controlled
than design specification was investigated
from 6 m/s to 12 m/s with step as 3 m/s. In the
successfully. And also power coefficient as
case of 6m/s as wind speed, even though the
a function of tip speed ratio with more than
generated power was not so sufficient, the
85% of Betz limit can be observed
generated the maximum aerodynamic power
successfully. From this sense, aerodynamic
with approximately 123.80 Watt through
conversion performance through
Archimedes spiral wind blade can be observed
Archimedes spiral wind turbine model
at 19.44 as angular velocity. The rotational
employed in this study from wind energy
power was controlled using powder brake and
seems to have very higher efficiency
the maximum aerodynamic power was observed
between the small wind turbine models.
at 24% as PWM (Pulse Width Modulation)
The performance characteristics of the
control value.
Archimedes spiral wind turbine employed
In the case of 9m/s as wind speed, the
in this study shows the similarity with
generated the maximum aerodynamic power
Modern multiblade turbine. And the
seems to be approximately 382.33 Watt at 26.43
maximum power coefficient as a function
as angular velocity. In this case, PWM control

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Ho S. Ji et al. http://www.iaras.org/iaras/journals/ijres

of the TSR shows the similar that of Ideal [4] Z. Simic, J.G. Havelka, M.B. Vrhovcak Small
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for urban such as between 3 ~ 6 m/s, the [6] Md. Arifujjaman, M. Tariq Iqbal, John E.
highest output power and power coefficient Quaicoe, Energy capture by a small wind-
can be observed in the case of 0° wind energy conversion system, Applied Energy 85
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[8] G.M.J. Herbert, S. Iniyan, E. Sreevalsan, S.
to the approaching wind direction seems to
Rajapandian, A review of wind energy
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Acknowledgments [10] A.Y. Qasim, R. Usubamtov, Z.M. Zain and G.
A. Quadir, The parameters affect on Power
This work was supported by the Korea Institute coefficient vertical axis wind turbine, IIUM
of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning Engineering Journal, Vol. 13(1) (2012), 59-66
(KETEP), granted financial resource from the [11] M. Ragheb and A. M. Ragheb, Wind turbines
theory - The Betz equation and optimal rotor
Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, Republic
tip speed ratio, Fundamental and Advanced
of Korea. (G031711212 & 20153000000120) Topics in Wind Power (ISBN 978-953-307-
And this was financially supported by the 508-2) (2011), 19-38
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(MOTIE) and Korea Institute for Advancement coefficients of performance of a class of wind
of Technology (KIAT) through the Promoting turbines that produce power between 330 kW
Regional specialized Industry. and 7,500 kW, World Transactions on
(G02A01190063301) Engineering and Technology Education Vol.11
(1) (2013), 36-40

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