Whale inspired tubercles for passively enhancing the performance of a Wind Turbine Blade

R. Supreeth, S. K. Maharana, K. Bhaskar

Abstract


In the underlying study, significant efforts are made to passively augment the performance of a 2kW small horizontal wind turbine blade by employing bioinspired humpback whale tubercles. Using blade element momentum theory, a baseline blade with smooth leading geometry was obtained. Subsequently, tubercle with amplitude ALEP =5% and wavelength ?LEP =7% of the local chord ci was interspersed to the leading edge of the baseline blade. Later, the performances of the baseline and modified blades were ascertained analytically, numerically and experimentally for wind speeds U=1-20m/s and tip speeds 1-20 respectively. The extensive investigation proves the tubercled blade to exhibit superior performances. Experimental outcomes demonstrated the tubercled blade to have an early cut-in at 3.26m/s against 3.71m/s of the baseline blade that was a crucial factor for achieving sub-optimal operation and early power production. Additionally, the numerical results displayed the tubercled blade to exhibit higher torque Q, power P and power coefficient CP that were 14%, 17% and 13% greater than the baseline blade. 


Keywords


Leading Edge Tubercles; Renewable Energy; Small Scale Wind Turbines; Wind Energy

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References


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DOI (PDF): https://doi.org/10.20508/ijrer.v13i1.12713.g8707

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