fairfolio
Saved Projects

Spira Mirabilis: Improving the Performance of Archimedes Wind Turbine with Logarithmic Spiral Concept

CSEF · 2019 Alternative Energy (Junior Division Only) Second Award

Jordan Prawira · Altamont Elementary School, Mountain House, San Joaquin County

Overview

Objectives To develop higher efficiency of Archimedes Wind Turbines (AWT) by applying the logarithmic spiral concept for small-scale wind turbines below 30m. Methods AWT curvatures were remixed to incorporate different logarithmic spiral formulas from Desmos (2 Blades, 3 Blades A/B/C). Prototypes were 3D-printed, with a stand and generator connected for testing in three wind speeds and different latitudes/longitudes. Power is calculated by measuring the voltage and current using the multimeter. Efficiency is calculated by comparing AWT power to the wind power available in the sweep area and also compared to HAWT and V AWT from my prior science projects. Results Power generated is affected consistently by wind speed. However, a higher power doesn't always translate to higher efficiency. Efficiency increases by 17%-174% in 3.8 m/s compared to 2.6 m/s wind speeds in various turbines. 2 Blades outperforms 3 Blades in low wind speed. Latitude/longitude of the wind affects the power generated. The highest power is at 0,0; producing 83%-93% within 45 degrees and 15%-23% within 90 degrees, except 45 S and 90 S. The stand blocks some airflow and reduced the power by 20%-46% in 45 S. Logarithmic spiral wind turbine prototype (3 Blades B) efficiency is up to 27.4% at 3.8m/s wind speed, exceeding my HAWT, V AWT designs and one commercial AWT at 12m/s wind speed. Based on logarithmic regression prediction, 3 Blades B has the potential to reach up to 38% efficiency at 6-8m/s and up to 44% efficiency at 12 m/s; 10-20 percentage points higher than commercial AWTs. Conclusions My hypothesis was proven correct, as different blade curvatures produce different powers in the same wind speed and in different latitudes/longitudes of wind direction. Since the logarithmic spiral is a growth spiral, an increase in curvature results in more surface area to capture the wind energy spiraling from high-to-low pressure. However, an optimal point is reached as tighter curvature adds weight, diminishes the Coanda effect and power is reduced. Implementing a Logarithmic spiral in AWT is proven to generate higher efficiency and meets stated design criteria.

Summary statement

I developed Logarithmic-spiral based wind turbine prototypes with high efficiency in relatively low wind speeds and in various latitude/longitude wind directions for urban settings.

Help received

Thanks to Mr. Nager Shareghi, Director of Public Work Department at Mountain House Community Services District; Mrs. Gillmore, Mr. States, Ms. Nora for feedback and support; My parents for providing materials and assisting me in Excel and board.

Awards (1)

Competition history

  • CSEF 2019 Alternative Energy (Junior Division Only) · Entry J0213

Resources

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

Source: California Science & Engineering Fair public projects

Save projects to your library

Sign in with Google to keep track of projects you find interesting, organized into folders. An account also raises your daily allowance for “Has this been done?”, and lets you create a key for the MCP server with a much higher limit than anonymous use. Browsing stays public.

Continue with Google