Desirable airfoil characteristics for large variable-speed horizontal axis wind turbines

Journal Article · Fri Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1997 · Journal of Solar Energy Engineering

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2888028· OSTI ID:563902

Giguere, P; Selig, M S ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL (United States). Dept. of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering

In an effort to define the desirable airfoil characteristics for large variable-speed wind turbines, a systematic study was performed using a series of airfoils designed to have similar aerodynamic properties, except for the amount of lift, which varied over a wide range. For several airfoil combinations, blade shapes were designed for a 750-kW wind turbine with a 48.8-m diameter rotor using the optimization code PROPGA together with PROPID, which is an inverse design method for horizontal-axis wind turbines. Roughness effects, including the consideration of dirty-blade performance in the blade-shape optimization process, were also considered and are discussed. The results and conclusions reveal practical design implications that should aid in the aerodynamic blade design of not only large but also other sizes of variable-speed wind turbines.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 563902
• Journal Information: Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Journal Name: Journal of Solar Energy Engineering Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 119; ISSN JSEEDO; ISSN 0199-6231
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

17 WIND ENERGY
AIRFOILS
COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN
HORIZONTAL AXIS TURBINES
P CODES
ROUGHNESS