1.

Wind Intro
Wind is generated from solar energy unevenly heating the earth. This uneven

heating creates pressure changes in the atmosphere, generating wind. This wind can then

be harnessed by a wind turbine. As the wind pushes the blades of a turbine, a generator

attached to the axis of the shaft and when spun creates electricity that can be sent to the

grid and used in households for electricity. (windies.gov, 2012)

Wind turbines are a clean way to generate power, yet there are many significant

problems with them as well. One problem is that they are extremely expensive to design

and install, and in order to generate enough energy for communities and cities require

space for wind farms. Another issue is that they have to be created in locations where there

is enough wind energy to generate enough electricity to justify the cost of the machine

2.Power Density
Geography can greatly effect wind speed, and in effect the power from the wind.

Knowing this information prior to setting up a wind turbine is imperative. Calculating the

average power from wind is a simple equation:

P=1/2pVA
indicates the importance of wind speed in power generation because power

generation increases proportionally as wind increases to the third power. Knowing the

power density will allow wind turbines to be placed in efficient locations for generating

electricity. Figure 2.1 shows a scale for power density using equation 1. Wind class one and

two contain relatively low amounts of power and have been tested to not be efficient for

wind energy generation. Class three does not have sufficient power for large scale energy

generation, yet it does potentially have value in personal wind turbine generation. Classes

4-6 have enough energy to be efficient in large scale wind turbine generation intended to
power communities and cities.

3.Widnd Spee
Another important factor is the height of the turbine rotor. One of the major reasons

wind turbine costs are so high is because the higher altitude the turbine is located, the

higher the velocity of the wind, which in turn increases the power output from the

generator. Equation 2 is the power model which estimates the effect that height has on

wind.

V(Z) =V(Zref ) [Z/Zref]

V(zref) is the reference point that can be looked up in a chart, z is the height above the

ground, and alpha is the power law exponent in which is affected by the surface geometry

of the land and needs to be researched.

4.Power Coefficient
The power coefficient is the percentage of power received by the wind turbine

through the swept area of the turbine blades. Equation depicts how to calculate the

coefficient of power.

In equation 3, Vu is the velocity of the wind as it approaches the wind turbine and Vt

is the velocity of the wind as it passes through the swept area of the wind turbine blades.

The maximum theoretically possible coefficient of power is called the Betz limit which is

0.593. Most current turbines today have a power coefficient between 0.3 and 0.4.

5. Tip Speed Ratio

Equation 4 defines the tip speed ratio is the ratio of the tip speed of the blade

divided by the wind speed. The equation for tip speed ratio is described below:

In equation 4, ƛ is the tip speed ratio, Omega is the rotor rotational speed in radians per

second, R is the rotor radius in meters and Vu is the wind speed.

6. Wind Turbine Classification

The two major classifications of wind turbines are horizontal and vertical axis wind
turbines, (HAWT and VAWT). The horizontal axis wind turbines are the most common and

have blades rotate on an axis parallel to the ground.

* VAWT
The other major classification for wind turbines are vertical axis wind turbines.

These turbines spin on a vertical axis. Figure 2.6 is an example of a Darrieus vertical axis

wind turbine. This turbine is an example of a commercially used vertical axis turbine. One

of the major problems with vertical axis wind turbines is that an initial force is required to

start the turbine’s spinning. Another issue is that they are difficult to be designed for high

altitudes. The blades on a vertical axis wind turbine can utilize an airfoil design like the

VAWT; however a VAWT can also use blades that directly face the wind

*The Effects of Shrouds on Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

(VAWT)
A previous Major Qualifying Project (MQP) report by Julie Eagle (Eagle, 2012)

addressed VAWT design, entitled Enclosed Vertical Axis Wind Turbines, shows preliminary

research on how a protective shroud affects vertical axis wind turbines placed within it.

The research confirms that a three bladed turbine design with air foil blades outperform

and is more efficient at lower speeds then the equivalent flat blade design.
The results from figure demonstrate poor potential for home rooftop wind

turbine potential because the airfoil design (labeled as A3) has a cut in speed of 10 miles

per hour. The flat bladed design (labeled as B3) takes even higher wind speeds to initiate

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spinning with a cut in wind speed of 20 miles per hour. The reason these results are poor

for a rooftop wind turbine is because in Massachusetts the estimated wind speed that will

approach a rooftop wind turbine is 6.24 miles per hour indicating that neither of these

designs can be expected to generate significant amounts of energy throughout the year. The

results also do not indicate their real performance because there was no load put on the

turbine system, such as a generator. The wind speeds indicated to spin the turbine are

much lower than actual wind speeds required to rotate a turbine with generator.

Further testing from the same project (Eagle, 2012) compares the previous test with

the same turbines, but with a protective shroud and a funnel that accelerates wind speed.

These results are depicted in figure. The x-axis represents the wind speed that is
produced by the wind tunnel and not the accelerated wind speed occurring within the

enclosure.

The results in figures, from Julie Eagles report, primarily indicate that

funneling wind into an enclosure increases the rotation rate of the turbines significantly.

This leads to a promising potential for vertical axis rooftop wind turbines. An unexpected

result from this test is that the flat bladed design (B3) performed better than the airfoil

design (A3) in this test. This is very surprising because without the funnel and shroud the

airfoil design performed better than the flat bladed design.

Similarly during the test shown in figure1, the airfoil design had a cut in speed

around 10 miles per hour in the test depicted in figure 2. However, the design peaked at

about 15 miles per hour and had a decrease in its rotation rate as speed increased

thereafter. This still leaves these VAWTs at below performance levels for the wind speed

expected on roof tops in the Worcester area. The flat bladed design performed better than

expected and outperformed the airfoil design in this test. The decrease in speed was at

about 2.5 miles per hour which is below the expected wind speed the product would
encounter. The results are also encouraging because at 6.24 miles per hour the flat bladed

design had a similar rotation rate to the airfoil designs without a shroud at over 35 miles

per hour. Again, this is without a load attached so we can expect when attaching a load that

the rotation rate will decrease as a resistance is applied.

* Shrouded Wind Turbines

Currently there is not much research about how a shroud will affect a vertical axis

wind turbine. Still, the funneled shroud concept has been used since the 1920’s for

horizontal axis wind turbines. While there is supporting facts that a funneled shroud does

increase airspeed to the turbine, it does also increase the size, weight, and cost of the

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project. These negative factors deter large wind turbines from having a funnel, as well as

the fact that none have been commercially used that can compete with a modern 3 bladed

horizontal axis wind turbine. However, current research shows a promising future for

shrouded horizontal axis wind turbines with some currently being tested with claims of a

2-5 times increase in power generation in comparison to similarly sized non shrouded

horizontal axis wind turbines.

* Savonius VAWT
The Savonius VAWT design was created by Finnish inventor S.J. Savonius in the

1920’s. The design utilizes an open overlapping two half cup designs that is very beneficial

to wind turbine design. Some of the most appealing benefits of the Savonius design are it

simple and cheap to construct, it has low noise and angular velocity when in use, and it can

accept wind from any direction and can withstand extreme weather conditions without

significant damage. In addition there are multiple variations to the design that change the
performance of the turbine depending on blade configuration. According to Dept. of

Mechanical Engineering at IIT, a split Savonius has a coefficient of power of 0 .35

compared with the simple two half cup design with a coefficient of Power of 0 .15. (Saha,

2008)

Some of the disadvantages of the Savonius design are that the turbine is not a very

stable design. Large scale models of a Savonius are not applicable because the design is not

sturdy enough to handle the heavier weight of the turbine blades for large sizes. Some

additional facts that should be considered when using a Savonius design are that they are

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most effective at lower speeds rather than high speeds and they can operate in turbulent

winds.

* Mounting system
The most common method for a mounting structure for wind turbines is a

monopole design. This consists of some sort of base, usually concrete, with a steel

structured pole that extends to the owners desired height. As the progression of turbines

has grown there has been desire for roof mounted systems. These roof mounted systems

have not had the amount of research as the traditional monopole design. As the growth of

roof mounted turbines rises there is an urge to design out the flaws that has been

shadowing previous roof mounted systems.

*Noise and Vibrations

Wind turbines can create a constant humming noise that is considered an

annoyance as well as produce vibrations that over time can ruin the integrity of a roof. This

has hindered the popularity of consumers wanting to have wind turbines mounted to their
roof. This has limited wind turbines to be mounted on poles next to houses but many city

ordnance laws prohibit this in residential areas. As a wind turbine is spinning and

producing electricity it creates a constant vibration. This constant vibration can damage the

shingles around the base as well as damage the trusses around the area where they are

mounted. These vibrations are very difficult to prevent, so it is important to have a

mounting system that will disperse the vibrations before reaching the actual structure of

the house. Many roofing companies do not put a warrantee on the roof if there is a wind

turbine due to the result of the vibrations. . This will dissuade a consumer away from

having a wind turbine mounted on the roof. Another issue that dissuades a consumer from

using wind turbines is the constant humming noise produced when a turbine is generating

electricity. A VAWT as opposed to a horizontal axis turbine does not produce as much noise

as the traditional turbines due to design differences of the turbines as well as the path of

motion of the blade. Another reason that VAWT are more for residential areas is their

ability to operate at peak efficiency with turbulence that is produced by roof contours.

When wind is traveling over roof peaks and different slopes of roofs they produce a

turbulent wind pattern that actually disrupts horizontal axis turbines from producing

electricity. This turbulent wind pattern caused by roof peaks does not disrupt the

functioning of VAWTs, as well as produce as loud of noise compared to HAWT systems. The rise
in popularity of roof mounted VAWTs is opening research into a way to

eliminate harmful vibrations from turbines that cause roof damage. This project goes into

solving and improving the flaws of roof mounting systems as well as improvements to the

overall design of the VAWT blade design in methodical steps that can be seen in the next

chapter

* Generators
The generator used for the prototype is the 443540 Low RPM permanent magnet

DC generator created by Wind Stream Power and is a 12 volt step generator. The generator

has an internal resistance of 21ohms, yet it requires an additional load in order to produce

power. Without an additional load no power can be generated. The additional load is a

Wheatstone bridge called a wave bridge. This can be created with regular resistors.

However, if the objective is to store energy rather than record it, the Wheatstone bridge

must be made of single direction resistors to prevent the voltage from the battery from

reversing direction back into the generator.

The current generator can only operate continuously with a current of 1.5 amperes

and at a max of 1.5 minutes with a current of 3 amperes. To control the amperage the wave

bridge described in the equation above must act as a load and control the amperage of the

system.

*Power output from the generator

Power output tests included recording power from the split Savonius and the four

flat bladed turbines. The first test is the split Savonius. We tested the turbine first without

an enclosure and then with the 90° enclosure. We ran the wind tunnel at 22, 25, and 30

hertz.

The adjustable angle wind turbine followed similar testing procedures as the

Savonius, although we started with the blades at a zero degree angle of attack and

increased the angle of attack by 4 degree increments up to 28 degrees. Then, we analyzed

the data and performed further testing with the most effective angle of attack. We also

included an orientation with the blades inverted on the adjustable angle turbine, since a

few studies suggest that this could potentially improve efficiency as well.