Improving Wind Turbine Efficiency

Overview

Objectives/Goals The purpose of this experiment is to determine which variable (the number of blades, length, or pitch of blades) has the greatest impact on wind turbines' electricity generation Methods/Materials 3 wind speed window fan, Voltmeter, DC motor, wooden strips, 5 inch 4 blade, 3 blade and 2 blade propellers. 7 inch 4 degree and 6 degree pitch angle 2 blade propeller I took 10 voltage readings for each blade at each wind speed, tabulated it, averaged readings for each blade at each wind speed and compared the results Results 1) Number of Blades: The 4 blade 5 inch turbine was the most efficient across all wind speeds with an average of 0.22 V across all wind speeds and the 2 blade 5 inch turbine was the least efficient with a 0.16 V average. However, the 2 blade turbine was the most efficient at the highest wind speed with 0.27 V generated. 2) Length of blades: The 7 inch blade turbine was the most efficient across all wind speeds. However, the 5 inch blade turbine was the most efficient at the highest wind speed 3) Pitch Angle: The 4 degree pitch angle blade turbine was the most efficient across all wind speeds compared to the 6 degree pitch angle blade turbine Conclusions/Discussion Different blades may be required to get peak efficiencies from a wind turbine in different wind conditions. A 4 blade or longer blade turbine may be the most efficient where the wind speed varies a lot. However, in an area where the winds are consistently high, a 2 blade turbine or smaller blade turbine may be more efficient. Lower pitch angles improve the efficiency of the turbine

Competition history

• CSEF 2018 Aerodynamics/ Hydrodynamics (Junior Division Only) · Entry J0104

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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