A CFD STUDY ON BLADE LEADING-EDGE

MODIFICATION OF SMALL SCALE WIND TURINE

TO IMPROVE AERODYNAMIC PERFORMANCE
A PROJECT REPORT
submitted by

Ramanathan P ( 114009131 )
towards partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree
of

Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering

- School

of Mechanical Engineering

SASTRA UNIVERSITY
(A University established under section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956)
Tirumalaisamudram-613 401
APRIL 2014

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that A CFD STUDY ON BLADE LEADING-EDGE MODIFICATION OF SMALL SCALE WIND TURBINE TO IMPROVE AERODYNAMIC PERFORMANCE is a bonafide record of the work carried out by

Ramanathan P (114009131)

student of final year B.Tech., Mechanical Engineering, in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical
Engineering of SASTRA UNIVERSITY, Tirumalaisamudram, Thanjavur 613401,
during the year 2013-14.

Internal Guide
K.R Dhananjay
AP, SoME

External Guide
K.Radhakrishanan
Director, Fichtner

Project viva voce held on

Internal Examiner

External Examiner

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

As with any project there are a variety of people without whose help this project would
not have come to its fruition.

First, thanks to my guide, Mr.K.R.Dhananjay,AP,Sastra University for his constant

guidance and support of my project work. Im indebted to him for his constructive criticism and beyond all the patience to guide me through this work. His knowledge and skills
are unique and make any learning look trivial. He has been a source of motivation.

My heartfelt thanks to Mr.G.Radhakrishnan, Director, Fichtner for having conceived

the idea of a sub-urban house being powered by a wind turbine which forms the basis
for this project. Secondly, for providing me with the opportunity to use the resources of
Fichtner,Consulting Engineers during the course of my study.

Thanks to, Mr.Adithya Srikanth, Student, SASTRA University for having thought me
how to work efficiently and for lending me his workstation, without which I would not
have been able to conduct my CFD studies. Secondly, Mr.Devanand, Student, SASTRA
University for having taken the pain to teach me SolidW orksT M and Flow Simulations.

ABSTRACT

The traditional approach to power generation included the setting up of large power
plants near the source of raw materials and fuels. This reduced transportation cost and
large power plants proved economical due to their scale. However, this results in huge
transmission losses as the load centers were often situated away from the power plants.

With an energy crisis imminent and unavoidable there is a need to generate environment
friendly power that not only raises energy efficiency but is also sustainable. Wind power
proves to be a good alternative for a state like Tamil Nadu, having a huge coastline. Tamil
Nadu has the highest installed capacity(Grid Interactive) of wind energy in India at 6987.58
MW. There is a an estimated potential of 5374 MW.[? ]

The capital cost of large wind farms and the availability of space plays a major role in
its acceptance. Socio-Economic difficulties in setting up of large wind farms has setback
developments.Low speed wind turbines are a promising source of renewable energy and can
act as an alternate source of power for the coastal and rural areas of India which have good
wind energy potential.Here however, Wind turbines experience huge variations in angle of
attack and cross-wind conditions causing stall and reducing the efficiency of the turbine.

In large and medium scale turbines variable pitch control turbine blades or vortex generators are used to vary the effective angle of attack, delay boundary layer separation and
combat stall. It is observed that hump-back whale flippers do the above using a wavy leading edge.

ii

This project is an attempt to study the effect of leading edge perturbations on the aerodynamic performance and stall characteristics of a wind turbine blade, using the Naca-4412
asymmetrical profile and non-linear shear mapping to imitate the tubercles on a whale flipper using SolidworksT M and SolidW orksT M Flow Simulation.

Flow data was obtained for the smooth profile and the stall characteristics were identified
and calculated. The designed wavy leading edge turbine was simulated and its aerodynamic characteristics studied.

iii

Contents

Introduction

1.1

Problem Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.2

Small-scale wind turbine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.2.1

Horizon Gitano-Briggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.3

Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.4

Outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Literature Review

2.1

The Weibull Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.2

Turbine Blade Aerodynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.3

Turbine blade Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Requirement and resource analysis

19

3.1

Power Requirement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

3.2

Wind Potential and Resource Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Smooth surface blade

23

4.1

CAD Modelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

4.2

CFD Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.2.1

Pre-Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

4.2.2

Analysis

4.2.3

Post-Processing and result analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Modified Blade design

29

iv

5.1

CAD Modelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

5.2

CFD Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Pre-processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

5.2.2

Analysis

5.2.3

Post-Processing and result analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Evaluation
6.1

5.2.1

32

Comparing results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Conclusion

34

A Flow Simulation

35

A.1 FAVRE-AVERAGED NAVIER STOKES EQUATION . . . . . . . . . . . 35

A.2 K-EPSILON TURBULENCE MODEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

B Power Requirement

38

C Scilab Code

40

List of Tables

1.1

Horizon-Gitano Briggs turbine blade specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3.1

Hourly Mean Wind Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

4.1

Station data for chord length and twist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

4.2

System Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

4.3

Pre-processor and input for a imitated blade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

4.4

Smooth blade output data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

5.1

Modified blade output data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

B.1 Power consumption at a sample sub-urban household - Year - 2011 . . . . . 38

B.2 Power consumption at a sub-urban household - Year - 2012 . . . . . . . . . 38
B.3 Power consumption at a sub-urban household - Year - 2013 . . . . . . . . . 39

vi

List of Figures

A HAWT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

xi

A VWAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

xi

1.1

The Horizon-Gitano Briggs turbine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.1

A simple Aerofoil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.2

Various angle of attack configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.3

Difference in rotational speed of a HAWT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.4

Effect of twist on a blade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.1

The Nacc-4412 aerofoil Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

4.2

Section of the blade showing the aerofoil profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

4.3

Imitated blade: isometric View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

4.4

vs Cl

4.5

vs l/d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

5.1

The Modified aerofoil sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

5.2

The modified blade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

5.3

vs Cl

5.4

vs l/d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

6.1

vs Cl

6.2

vs l/d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

vii

NOTATIONS

A Surface area.
B constant used in turbine optimization equations.
b Interference Factor.
C Chord.
Cl Lift co-efficient.
Cd Drag co-efficient.
Cp Co-efficient of performance.
D drag force.
E Energy.
F Force.
K constants used in turbine optimization equations.
L Lift force.
m
mass flow rate.
P Power.
R Overall radius or length of the blade.
r local radius of the balde.
s length of free stream of air.

viii

t Time.
V Volume.
v Velocity of the turbine.
vavg Average wind velocity.
vp Mode of Weibull distribution.
v Velocity of free stream air.
v1 Velocity of upstream stream air.
v2 Velocity of down stream air.

Angle Of Attack.
Blade twist angle.
Scale parameter.
The Gamma Function.
Density of air.
amplitude of preturbations.
angular velocity.

ix

GLOSSARY

WECS-OVERVIEW
Any wind energy conversion system primarily consists of
Turbine Blade Captures the translational energy from the wind and transfers it to the rotor
in the form of rotational energy.
Shaft This connects the rotor and the generator-gearbox. The orientation of the shaft classifies wind turbines as Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines(HAWT) and Vertical Axis
Wind Turbines(VAWT).
Generator This is where the mechanical energy is converted into electrical energy.
Gear-box Used in medium and large-scale turbines it is used vary the speed and torque of
the shaft to generally match the synchronous speed of the generator.

HAWT Horizontal axis wind turbines have the main rotor shaft and generator mounted
on top of a tower and usually facing the direction of the wind. Most turbines have gearboxes which speed up the slow rotation of the rotor to match the generators speed. The
rotor blades are usually placed upwind since the tower produces turbulence behind it.

VAWT Vertical axis wind turbines have the main rotor shaft arranged vertically. This
arrangement allows the wind turbine to access the wind from any direction i.e. the turbine
blades need not point to direction of the wind.

Comparing HAWT and VAWT

Figure 1: A HAWT

Figure 2: A VWAT

Source: [? ]

Source: [? ]

1 The optimum Angle of attack() can be maintained in HAWT using pitching and yaw
control thus, accessing the maximum energy in the wind. VAWT works at varying
angles since the blades do not necessarily have to face the wind.
2 HWATs have higher efficiency() as the aerofoil always moves perpendicular to the wind
however, in VAWTs there are losses in efficiency due to the drag the blade faces when
it is spinning against the wind.Thus it is only 50% efficient.
3 HAWTS have less structural problems and maintenance is easier compared to VAWT.
4 HWAT can be raised to heights where we can access undisturbed wind while VAWTs are
operated generally at low heights or ground heights.
5 VAWT have lower start-up speed than HAWT.

xi

Throughout this project the term wind turbine shall be extensively used for HWATs as it
is the type of turbine being optimized.

xii

Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION

The increasing price of fossil fuels in recent times has spurred interest in wind turbines.
Today there are a wide variety of wind turbines commercially available for low and medium
speed winds. However, even low power turbines are designed for relatively high speed
winds,typically around 10 15m/s. Considering the power requirements of a Indian suburban coastline city like Tuticorin it was decided to look at small wind turbines as a good
alternative source of energy.

1.1

PROBLEM STATEMENT

This project initiated as an effort to develop a wind turbine that was capable of powering a
household at Tuticorin. However upon analysis of the wind speed data in the region it was
discovered that the site had very low wind speeds and cross wind conditions. This caused a
problem in effectiveness of the turbine.It was decided to optimize the existing design using
leading edge planform modifications.

1.2

SMALL-SCALE WIND TURBINE

The main advantages of small horizontal axis wind turbine are non-complexity set-ups and
small space requirement. Thereby, small horizontal axis wind turbine is appropriately used
in urban and sub-urban environment where wind speed is low. To extract the maximum
possible power from the wind, blade of the wind turbine should be designed to easily start
the rotation at low wind speeds. The generated electricity can be used at the site of installation, and the owner of the building can use this as publicity for a green image that
1

provides more commercially interest. SHAWTs should not be seen as alternative to large
turbines but as a complementary technology. Therefore, SHAWTs could be redesigned to
gain higher energy output at the same wind velocity. At the low wind velocity, one method
to produce more energy from wind is optimization of the wind turbine blade to improve its
aerodynamic efficiency. Conventional aerodynamics suggests irregularities on the surface
and the shape of an aerofoil is normally disastrous to its performance. However, geometrical modifications such as winglets, vorticity generators have been used earlier to improve
the performance of a blade. This project attempts to study the effect of such a geometrical modifications of the leading-edge of the blade to study the change in its aerodynamic
characteristics.

1.2.1

Horizon Gitano-Briggs

[? ] This is a SHAWT that was developed by Dr. Horizon Walker Gitano-Briggs as an

Figure 1.1: The Horizon-Gitano Briggs turbine

Source:[? ]

optimization of the well publicized small turbine design of Hugh Piggot. Leveraging off
this design the turbine blade was imitated in SolidworksT M and its aerodynamic char2

Parameter

Value

Wind Speed

5m/s

Power

350W

Blade Radius

2.25m

Number of blades

Cp

.36

Tip-speed Ratio()

17

Profile

Naca-4412

Table 1.1: Horizon-Gitano Briggs turbine blade specifications

acteristics were studied at 5m/s wind velocity and angles of attack() {-5,0,5...45} using
SolidworksT M F lowSimulation.

1.3

MOTIVATION

Conventional optimization of turbine blades for better stall performance is done using active pitching control or blade profile modifications such as changing the aerofoil shape
to increase the performance ratio.However, researching further unconventional naturally
occurring modifications (tubercles) of hump-back whale flippers. This attracted attention
since they improved the stall characteristics of the aerofoil which was the problem being addressed in this study. The functionality of these tubercles meets the objective of the study.It
serves as the motivation behind this project.

1.4

OUTLINE

The domain of the project and its objectives were initially described. Chapter 1 gives a
brief description of the power requirement, resource analysis and the small-scale turbine in
consideration, the problem statement and the motivation behind the optimization. Chapter
2 deals with the turbine blade aerodynamics and its concepts that are used in the project.
Chapter 3 is a literature review of the the Weibull distribution model, the Horizon-Gitano
briggs turbine that has been modified and the blade planform modification technique that is
used to optimize the blade. The study is split into three phases. Phase 1 each explained in
chapter 4 and deals with the power requirement of Tuticorin and the wind resource available
in the area. Phase 2 deals with the CAD modelling and imitation of an existing turbine
and a CFD study of the turbine and result analysis. This is followed by phase 2 where
the leading edge of the turbine blade is modified using the parameters established in the
literature analysis.

Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1

THE WEIBULL DISTRIBUTION

The probability density function (PDF) of the Weibull distribution is

.
f (v) =

!1

v
. exp

(2.1)

and the cumulative distribution function (CDF) is

F (v) = 1 exp

(2.2)

Eqn.(2.2) is linearized to determine the shape and scale parameters.

The following are the steps to used to linearize the CDF.

v
1 F (v) = exp

1
v
= exp
[1 F (v)]

(2.3)

(2.4)

using double logarithmic transformation eqn.(2.4) becomes.

"

1
ln ln
[1 F (v)]

!#

= ln(v) ln()

Eqn.(2.5) represents the equation of a straight line and is of the form

Y = mX + c

(2.5)

where, by comparison;

"

1
Y = ln ln
[1 F (x)]

!#

m=

c = ln()

X = ln(x)

A best-fit line is now determined for the probability distribution and the mean1 (vavg )
and mode2 (vp ) are determined using the least-square method.
since, eqn.(2.5) is liner we can describe the following from basic algebra.

n
1X

ln xi
Y =
n i=1

X
1
=1
ln ln 
X
n i=1
1


i

n+1

n
=

Pn

i=1 (ln xi ) .

ln ln



Pn

i
i=1 ln ln (1 i )
)
(1 n+1
n+1
o
Pn
Pn
2
2
n. i=1 (ln xi ) { i=1 (ln xi )}



Pn

i1 ln xi

X
= exp Y

The values of the shape parameter and scale parameter is used to compute the mean
vavg and the vp using the following relations.

vavg = 1 +

1
vp =

!1

Where, is the gamma function.3

1A
2A

wighted average of possible values.

value of the highest probability.

Z
(n) =

xn1 .ex dx

(2.6)

(2.7)

2.2

TURBINE BLADE AERODYNAMICS

Wind turbine blades are shaped to generate the maximum power from the wind at the
minimum cost. Primarily the design is driven by the aerodynamic requirements. The choice
of aerofoil is of prime importance as the entire wing is made up sections of aerofoils. The
lift generated by the aerofoil is responsible for the rotation of the blade, the performance of
the blade is highly dependent on the aerofoil.

Figure 2.1: A simple Aerofoil

Source:[? ]

Chord is defined as the straight line joining the leading and trailing edge of the aerofoil.

Forces As in an aeroplane wing, wind turbine blades work by generating lift due to their
shape. The more curved side generates low air pressures while high pressure air pushes on
the other side of the aerofoil. The forces generated by the aerofoil are resolved into lift and
drag forces. The net result is a lift force perpendicular to the direction of flow of the air.
Unfortunately, there is, also a retarding force on the turbine blade know as the drag force

in the direction of the free stream of wind.

1
2
L = .Cl ..A.v
2

(2.8)

1
2
D = .Cd ..A.v
2

(2.9)

Angle of attack () is defined as the angle between the chord line and the free stream
air. The lift force increases as the blade is turned to present itself at a greater angle to
the wind. However, at very large angles of attack the blade stalls and the lift decreases.
Meanwhile, the drag force increases with angle of attack. The lift force is generally greater
than the drag for aerofoils, but at very high angles of attack, when the blade stalls, the drag
increases drastically. Therefore, at an angle slightly less than the maximum lift angle, the
blade reaches its maximum lift/drag ratio. The best operating point will be between these
two angles.

Figure 2.2: Various angle of attack configuration

Source:[? ]

Apparent Wind

Since the drag is in the downwind direction, it may seem that it wouldnt

matter for a wind turbine as the drag would be parallel to the turbine axis, so wouldnt slow
the rotor down. It would just create a thrust force that acts parallel to the turbine axis hence
has no effect on the rotor. When the rotor is stationary, this is indeed the case. However,
the blades own movement through the air means that, as far as the blade is concerned, the
8

wind is blowing from a different angle. This is called apparent wind. The apparent wind
is stronger than the true wind but its angle is less favourable: it rotates the angles of the
lift and drag to reduce the effect of lift force pulling the blade round and increase the effect
of drag slowing it down. It also means that since, the lift force contributes to the thrust on
the rotor the blade must be turned further from the true wind to maintain a good angle of
attack.

Blade Twist

The closer one gets to the tip of the blade the faster the blade is moving and

the greater is the apparent wind speed and angle. Therefore, to achieve an optimum angle
of attack the tip must be turned further away from the root i.e. there must be a twist along
the length of the blade.

Rotational Speed The speed at which the turbine rotates is a fundamental choice of the
design of the rotor. This is generally governed by the choice of generator, its braking torque
and operational speed and output power. If the rotor of the wind turbine spins too slowly,
most of the wind will pass straight through the gap between the blades, therefore giving it
no power.

Figure 2.3: Difference in rotational speed of

a HAWT

Figure 2.4: Effect of twist on a blade

Source:http:
www.kidwind.org

Source:http:
www.kidwind.org
9

But if the rotor spins too fast, the blades will blur and act like a solid wall to the wind.
Also, rotor blades create turbulence as they spin through the air. If the next blade arrives
too quickly, it will hit that turbulent air.

Tip-speed ratio () is the ratio between the rotational speed of the rotor and the free
stream velocity of the wind. It is fundamental to the design of a turbine rotor since it
dictates the rotational speed,chord along the length of the blade and the blade twist.

A High tip-speed ratio results in the aerodynamic forces acting in a direction almost
parallel to the rotor axis. Hence, a blade with high relies on good performance (lift/drag)
ratio. However, the (l/d) ratio is affected drastically by surface finish and cannot be relied
upon for constant power generation.

On the other hand, a low tip-speed ratio would seem like a better choice,unfortunately
this results in lower aerodynamic efficiency. The lift force on the blades generates torque
and has an equal but opposite effect on the wind, tending to push it around tangentially in
a direction opposite the rotation of the blade. This causes the air downwind of the turbine
to swirl or spins in the opposite direction to the blades. The swirl represents lost power and
therefore there is a reduction in the available power that can be extracted from the wind.
Lower rotational speeds requires higher torque for the same power output,consequently
lower tip speed results in higher wake swirl losses.

A compromise is generally made based on the requirements of the turbine and an optimum tip-speed ratio is chosen to have maximum aerodynamic and structural efficiency.

.R
v

10

(2.10)

 is the angular velocity of the blade

R is the rotor radius
v is the free stream velocity.

The optimal Tip-speed ratio for maximum power extraction is inferred by relating the
time taken for the disturbed wind to establish itself(tw ) to the time required for the next
blade to move into the location of the preceding blade(tb ). These may be expressed mathematically as follows.
tw =

s
v

(2.11)

tb =

2.
n.

(2.12)

where is the angular velocity of the rotor; s, the distance of the undisturbed stream of
wind and n, the number of blades.
When tw > tb , some wind is not allowed to flow through the turbine and in the case where
tw < tb , some wind is unaffected. When tw = tb .

tw tb

2.
s

n. v

n. 2.

v
s

thus the optimal angular velocity is given as

2..v
n.s

(2.13)

optimal .R 2. R

vinf ty
n s

(2.14)

optimal =

comparing eqn.(2.10) and eqn.(2.13) we get

optimal =

11

empirically it is observed that s is approximately 50% of the blade radius,r. Applying this is
eqn.(2.14) the value for optimum tip-speed ratio for maximum power output is given using
eqn.(2.15)
optimal =

4.
n

(2.15)

Power The power content in a cylindrical column of air can be expressed as a rate of
change of kinetic energy of the air column.

P=

E
t

(2.16)

Expressing kinetic energy as

1
3
E = ..A.v
2

(2.17)

A is the swept area of the rotor

substituting eqn.(2.17) in eqn.(2.16) we get,

P=

1
3
..A.v
t 2

(2.18)

expanding eqn.(2.18) by chain rule of differentiation. We get,

1
2 v
2 .A.v
P=
2..A.v
+ v
2
t
t

for a constant air stream

v
t

(2.19)

is 0 then the above equation eqn.(2.19) becomes,

1
3
P = .A.v
2

12

(2.20)

finally expressing the swept rotor area in terms of the diameter of the rotor.

1 .D2 3
P = .
.v
2
4

(2.21)

Mass conservation,continuity equation Considering the free stream as a case of incompressible flow the continuity equation can be expressed as follows.

m
= .A.v = .A1 .v1 = .A2 .v2 = k

(2.22)

the force exerted on the turbine by the wind is,

F = m.a

F = m.

v
= m.v

F = m.
(v2 v1 )

substituting eqn.(2.22) in the above,

F = .A.v. (v1 v2 )

(2.23)

subsequently the power of the free stream air can be described as

P = F.v

(2.24)

P = .A.v 2 . (v1 v2 )

(2.25)

from eqn.(2.23) and eqn.(2.24)

13

Energy conservation The rate of change of kinetic energy of the wind stream is
termed as power. Mathematically,

P=

E
t

1
2
2 .m.v2

1
2
2 .m.v1

using the mass continuity eqn.(2.22) in the above,



1
P = .A.v. v22 v12
2

(2.26)

comparing eqn.(2.25) and eqn.(2.26)



1
P = .A.v 2 . (v1 v2 ) = .A.v. v12 v22
2


1 2
. v1 v22 = v. (v1 v2 )
2
1
. (v1 v2 ) . (v2 + v1 ) = v. (v1 v2 )
2

(v2 v1 ) 6= 0

1
(v2 + v1 ) = v
2

v1 6= v2

(2.27)

Eqn. (2.27) implies that the turbine rotor must reduce the speed of the wind from v1 to v2
but not reduce it to v = 0 at which point the eqn. (2.27) is not valid. It also suggests that
the turbine rotor velocity v, can be taken as the average of the upstream and downstream
velocities.

14

Energy Density It is the amount of kinetic energy present in the wind per sqr. meter.
The Kinetic energy in any wind is given by the following expresion.

1
3
E = ..v
2

(2.28)

is the density if air.

v is the velocity of free stream of air.

Interference factor & Power Coefficient We introduce the ratio know as interference factor b, to express the power with respect to only the upstream velocity.

b=

v2
v1

substituting eqn. (2.27) in eqn. (2.25) and using the interference factor,



1
P = ..A.v13 . 1 b2 (1 b)
4

(2.29)

the total energy present in the upstream wind is the same as the free stream wind. i.e.
v1 = v . The ratio of the extractable power to the available power in the wind is termed as
the power co-efficient, Cp


Cp =

1
3
2
4 ..A.v1 . 1 b
1
3
2 ..A.v

(1 b)

(2.30)

since v1 = v from the above eqn.(2.30)


1 
Cp = . 1 b2 (1 b)
2

15

(2.31)

differentiating eqn.(2.31) w.r.t interference factor b, and equating it to zero we get the maximum performance factor Cp as

1
Cpmax = . (1 3b) . (1 + b) = 0
2
1
b=
3
1
v2 = .v1
3

v1 1
=
v2 3

meaning for optimum performance the downstream velocity v2 , must be one-third the upstream velocity v1 . Using this in eqn. (2.31).we get the Cp as 0.5926 or 59.26%

Betzs limit is analogous to Carnot cycle efficiency in thermodynamics suggesting

that a machine cannot extract all the energy from a given reservoir and must reject a part
of its energy input into the environment.Carnot cycle efficiency deals with inlet and outlet
temperatures of the heat engine whereas, betzs limit deals with upstream v1 and downstream v2 speed. The loss in efficiency is caused by viscous drag, swirl and power losses.
German physicist Albert Betz discovered that the theoretical maximum amount of power
that any wind turbine can harness from the wind is only about (CP )59.26%.

2.3

TURBINE BLADE OPTIMIZATION

Although, conventional aerodynamics suggests that smooth leading edge and surface finish result in better aerodynamic performance of aerofoils nature seems to disagree. There
has been a growing body of empirical[? ], analytical [? ]and computational [? ] evidence
that attributes wavy-leading tubercular edge in the pectoral flippers of hump-back whales
to their agility in water and performing tight-turning maneuvers.

16

As the radius of curvature is inversely proportional to lift generated, one can conclude
that the modifications on the leading edge of the flipper might contribute to the increased
lift. [] shows that due to sectional stall at troughs of the tubercles the maximum lift coefficient of a smooth wing is never reached. Conversely, for the entire wing to stall even the
most slender section near the bumps must be at stall. The overall stall angle is much higher
than a smooth wing which begins to stall simultaneously at all sections.

To optimize the blades of the turbine and enhance its stall performance the aerofoil
leading edge was to be modified to mimic the flippers of a hump-back whale. To do this the
chord was described as using the eqn(2.32) from [? ].

C(z) = C0 sin(z) (1 + .xL.E )

(2.32)

the leading edge perturbation xL.E is described by eqn(2.33)

xL.E = 0.04 cos(k..z)

(2.33)

To imitate the bumps on a whale flipper the leading edge of the aerofoil is modified by
a non-linear shearing transformation eqn. This maintains the position of max-chamber and
the aerofoil shape behind the point, ensuring a smooth trailing edge.

(1 + B. sin(.)) ,

< .4

.4

17

(2.34)

x0 xL.E
=
C0

x0 xL.E
=
C0

C0
1
C0

B = k0

integrating the above w.r.t we get,

. cos . + k1 ,

< .4

.4

0 =

(2.35)

for the < .4 case the scaled co-ordinate is then.

x = x0 C

C0
x0 xL.E
1 . cos
+ k1
C0
C0
!

0 ko

(2.36)

when 0 is equal to 0,

k0
k1 = xL.E x0,L.E +

x0,L.E xL.E
C0
1 C 0 cos
C0
C0
!

(2.37)

the k0 term can be determined when = 0 = 0

k0

k1 =

C0
C0 1

cos 0.4
(2.38)

k0 =

C0
C0 1

x0,L.E xL.E

C 0 cos

x0,L.E xL.E
C0

18

cos 0.4

Chapter 3
REQUIREMENT AND RESOURCE ANALYSIS

The Phase-1 of the project has been discussed here. In here the power requirements and
wind resource available in Tuticorin are studied. To study the power requirement a sample
survey was conducted picking a random house-hold. The wind resource in Turicorin was
studied using the data from [? ]. The data was recorded using an anemometer place at
20m height. The anemometer recorded data for a period of three years1987-89. Thought
the data seems outdated it was the most reliable source of data available for the study. A
Weibull distribution model was constructed using the literature analysis and scilab.

3.1

POWER REQUIREMENT

Since no early work had been done in the industry for very small-scale wind turbines
in Tuticorin it was necessary to understand the power requirements of an Indian sub-urban
household as it was of prime importance in the design of the WECS. A sub-urban household
was chosen at random and the power consumption data for three consecutive years(201113) was recorded.1

Though a conflicting assumption the overall average of the power consumed was taken
as the power requirement for a sub-urban household. Thus, a sub-urban household required
4.11 kWh/day.
1 refer

to B

19

3.2

WIND POTENTIAL AND RESOURCE ANALYSIS

Although obvious, understanding the wind is fundamental to a wind turbine blade design.
The first step to building a wind energy system for any geographical area must be to perform
a Wind Resource Analysis (WRA) specific to the area. The potential of the wind in the area
should be analyzed. This requires vast data analysis and a simple average of the wind
speed for a specific period in history will not tell us the available potential. The Weibull
distribution model2.1 is one of the most widely used. It uses a probabilistic analysis of
a random variable(velocity of the wind). The probability density function (PDF) and the
cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the random variable is studied and the shape and
scale parameters are determined. A weighted average of possible wind velocities and the
value with the highest probability thus determined is used for design of the wind turbine.

The site(Tuticorin is situated along the coastline of Tamil Nadu) experiences huge variations in wind direction and cross-wind conditions causing stall at higher angles of attack().
Since, small scale turbines do not use pitching control they tend to be less effective at higher
angles of attack(). Considering the lower efficiency without pitching control and cost of
automatic pitching control systems of HAWTs it was decided to modify and optimize the
existing turbine blade for better performance during stall conditions.

To design a turbine blade that powers a house hold at Tuticorin the values of vavg and vp
are computed using scilab. [C]. The input data includes the hourly mean wind speeds for a
three year period and is indicated in the table below.2
2 refer:

Wind Energy, Resource Survey for India-1, Anna Mani, ISBN 81-7023-297-X

20

The Code generated the following output for the given input values.

vavg = 5.1668197
vp = 4.9679657

A wind turbine operating at 5m/s wind speed is necessary to generate power at the site.
However, most commercial wind turbines have a rated speed of 10-12m/s and their power
productions is minimal or negligible at wind speeds of 5m/s. The power required for a
Tuticurin house-hold from the earlier calculations(4kWh/day) was used as a starting point
for the turbine design. The wind speed data clearly indicates 12-hours of wind speed above
5m/s everyday. Thus, we would need to generate 4kWh in 12-hours at 5m/s wind speed.
That is approximately equivalent to 350W. Similar design parameters were used in cite
here Low speed wind turbine design - Horizon Gitano-Briggs. It was decided to adopt
this design since it would meet most of the site requirements.

Table 1.1 shows the blade and wind related parameters of the design. With a Cp of .36
using eqn(3.1) we would hence require a swept area of 15.9m2 leaving us with a blade
radius of 2.25m.
1
E = Cp ...(R2 ).V 3
2

21

(3.1)

S.No

Time

Mean speed(V)

4.41

4.06

3.74

3.53

3.38

3.24

3.18

3.47

4.21

10

4.64

11

10

5.07

12

11

5.57

13

12

5.93

14

13

6.27

15

14

6.49

16

15

6.66

17

16

6.59

18

17

6.32

19

18

5.96

20

19

5.68

21

20

5.36

22

21

5.13

23

22

4.95

24

23

22

4.80

Table 3.1: Hourly Mean Wind Speed

Chapter 4
SMOOTH SURFACE BLADE

Phase 2 of the project deals with the study the characteristics of the existing smooth
turbine blade. It was imitated and designed in SolidworksT M using the Naca-4412 aerofoil
profile and lofted-boss-base feature. Twist and chord length was calculated at nine stations
along the length of the blade each situated 250mm apart using eqn.((4.1)) and eqn.((4.2))

2R

= arctan
3r.


(4.1)

, is angle of twist.
R, is total blade length.
r, is distance at the station.
, is tip-speed ratio.
, is angle of attack.

C=

16..R2
9r.n.2 .cl

(4.2)

n, is the number of blades.

cl , is the co-efficient of lift of the profile at the given .

The angle of attack () was set to 0 deg and the twist and chord was generated using the
expressions (4.1) and (2.32).The data for the ten stations is given in table 4.1.

23

Station

Blade length(mm)

Chord Length(mm)

Twist(deg)

250

38

6.2

500

35

5.8

750

32

5.4

1000

30

4.9

1250

27

4.5

1500

23

3.7

1750

19

3.2

2000

17

2.8

2250

15

2.5

10

2500

14

2.2

Table 4.1: Station data for chord length and twist

4.1

CAD MODELLING

SolidworksT M was utilized in this project to develop a 3-d model of the turbine blade.
Its functionality in modelling features and a wide variety of tools and add-ons such a Flow
simulation which was used for simulations in this project was the major reason for using the
software. The parametric modeller was used to model the configurations of the blade along
the sectional length. Different angle of attack () configurations were modelled to conduct
CFD analysis using the same CAD model. The system information pertaining to modelling
and simulation is listed in table4.2. The Naca-4412 aerofoil data was taken from UIUC
aerofoil database. The Naca-4 series aerofoil has max thickness of 12% at 30% chord and
max chamber of 4% at 40% chord. The Fig.4.1 shows the aerofoil profile for a chord length
of unity.
24

Processors

4 x Intel(R)Core(TM) i7-3632QM

CPU Speed

2.20Gz-3.20Ghz

Memory

12000MB

Cache

6MB

Operatin system

Microsoft Windows 8 Version 6.2.9200 Build 9200

CAD Version

SolidW orksT M -2013 SP03

Simulation Software

Flow Simulation 2013 version 21.03.006

Table 4.2: System Specifications

Figure 4.1: The Nacc-4412 aerofoil Profile Figure 4.2: Section of the blade showing the
Source:http://www.ae.illinois.edu/maerofoil profile

selig/ads/coord/naca4412.dat

4.2

CFD STUDY

The imitated blade was subjected to a simulation study in SolidworksT M Flow Simulation which uses Favre-averaged Navier-Stokes Equations and the  model perform the
simulations. The geometry of the CAD Model is easily transported to Flow Simulation an
integrated tool in SolidW orksT M at various configurations of angle of attack ()

25

Figure 4.3: Imitated blade: isometric View

4.2.1

Pre-Processor

Computational Domain
The flow setup for various configurations of the blade is done using the same CAD Model.
Defining the computational domain is the first step of simulation. The boundaries of
the computational domain was selected in such a way that the enclosure volume allows
sufficient length around the model to simulate fluid flow conditions. Figure shows the
computational domain. the dimensions of the domain are listed in table.

Flow Setup
Air was defined as a working fluid. Initial Flow parameters such as density, temperature
and pressure are specified at Normal Temperature and Pressure(NTP) conditions. The flow
velocity was the output velocity derived from the wind resource analysis. The boundary
conditions at the wall of the model was defined as ideal - i.e. no-slip condition.

26

Mesh Settings
The automatic mesh size setup tool was used to generate the mesh. It provided a scale of 1-8
for meshing. The automatic meshing is done using various algorithms for each scale.It was
found that a mesh setting of 5 was optimum based on the automatic settings. this offered
the suitable curvature and mesh refinement settings needed for analysis.It was seen that the
mesh distribution was most concentrated at the leading and trailing edge and the tip where
the curvature is very large.

The input and mesh related parameters for the simulation are as given in the table 4.3

4.2.2

Analysis

CFD analysis stage was where the output goals were identified .Lift, Drag forces with the
associated Coefficient of lift and Coefficient of Drag. The lift (L) and Drag (D) forces were
defined as a global goal where net resultant pressure forces about the Y and X axis of the
model respectively. These were then used to define equation goals for Cl and Cd using the
eqn.(2.8) and eqn.(2.9) respectively. The projected surface of the turbine blade was used
to calculate the coefficients. The various angle of attack () configurations ranging from
5 deg to 45 deg were analysed and monitored till convergence was reached at which point
the analysis was terminated and the results were extracted using post-processing tools.

4.2.3

Post-Processing and result analysis

The lift,drag and their respective co-efficient values for the various configurations were
extracted post CFD analysis. They are listed in table 4.4.

27

Parameter

Value

System Units

SI

Analysis Type

Externa Flow

Co-ordinate System

Cartesian

Boundary Condition

no-slip

Static Pressure

101325.00 Pa

Temperature

293.20 K

Velocity

5m/s only in X-direction

Turbulence length

1.000e-004 m

Turbulence intensity

0.10 %

Mesh Details

Initial Mesh

335221

Fluid Cells

316046

Partial Cells

19175

Mesh Refinement Level

Table 4.3: Pre-processor and input for a imitated blade

The data was used to plot the graph 4.4. It was noticed that the L/d ratio drops beyond
0 deg this was because the Angle of attack () was set at 0 deg while defining the blade
twist so that it may be easier to study the stall characteristics. It was also discovered that
the stall angle of the turbine blade is nearly 25 deg.

28

Cl

Cd

l/d

-5

.196

.036

5.459

.347

.037

9.48

.503

.080

6.32

10

.664

.134

4.941

15

.766

.218

3.51

20

.854

.313

2.726

25

.846

.415

2.04

30

.889

.589

1.51

35

.889

.767

1.16

40

.877

.885

.99129

45

.922

.769

.833

Table 4.4: Smooth blade output data

Figure 4.4: vs Cl

Figure 4.5: vs l/d

29

Chapter 5
MODIFIED BLADE DESIGN

The leading edge of the aerofoil of the imitated wing was modified using the transformation
equations discussed in the literature review. This helped generate a wavy-leading edge.
The figure 5.1 shows the modified aerofoil profile that has been used to generate the wavyleading edge planform.

Figure 5.1: The Modified aerofoil sections

5.1

CAD MODELLING

The parameters of the wavy leading edge are amplitude and wavelength of the perturbations. The amplitude was fixed since the aerofoil shape cannot be modified beyond the
point of it max chamber. The wavelength was fixed at 10mm to obtain a wavy-leading edge
as seen in figure 5.2

5.2

CFD STUDY

The same procedure as in section4.2 was followed to study the modified model. The air velocity was maintained at 5m/s. On running a test simulation the automatic mesh generation
tool suggested refinement of curvature due to the presence of tubercles. The refinement

30

Figure 5.2: The modified blade

option was chosen to a level of 2 and the study was carried on with the model at various
angle of attack() configurations.

5.2.1

Pre-processor

The same initial parameters were used as in the case of a smooth blade. A local computational mesh was also created on the surface of the blade to increase the accuracy of the
study. The same automatic mesh scale of 5 was maintained.

5.2.2

Analysis

The CFD analysis performed at various angle of attack () configurations from 5 deg to
45 deg with a step interval of 5 deg. The same global goals and equation goals set however,
due to the modification in the surface area caused by the perturbations the new surface area
was measured by projecting the body over a plane and identifying the projected surface

31

area using the measuring tool in SolidW orksT M .

5.2.3

Post-Processing and result analysis

Figure 5.3: vs Cl

Figure 5.4: vs l/d

The extracted values of lift,drag and their respective co-efficient from the CFD analysis
was studied for it aerodynamic and stall characteristics. The value of Cl , Cd and performance ratio for the various tested configurations are listed in table 5.1.

32

Cl

Cd

L/D

-5

.187

.033

5.72

.342

.036

9.48

.497

.075

6.66

10

.651

.140

4.66

15

.780

.211

3.69

20

.829

.304

2.72

25

.885

.411

2.15

30

.965

.600

1.60

35

.905

.694

1.31

40

.934

.846

1.10

45

.920

.983

.94

Table 5.1: Modified blade output data

33

Chapter 6
EVALUATION

6.1

COMPARING RESULTS

The CFD analysis and results show that the modification on the leading edge of the turbine
blade improves its aerodynamic performance, thus meeting the objective of the project. The
smooth leading edge turbine blade begins to stall at 25 deg while the modified blade shows
increase in stall angle and Cl post stall of the smooth blade. The effect of the modification
is becomes noticeable only at higher angles of attack ()

Figure 6.1: vs Cl

Figure 6.2: vs l/d

Small-scale and slow-speed turbines which generally do not have pitching control owing
to the cost of the equipment may make use of such blade design modifications to increase
its efficiency and combat the problem of stall at varying wind conditions prevalent at urban
and sub-urban conditions. This simple modification can save cost and increase energy
production in the long run.

Since, the project concentrates only on CFD analysis the results to be validated with
further experimental verification. Although there have been claims of the lift and drag
forces of a modified blade to be lesser than that of a smooth one in the pre-stall regime it
34

was observed that difference was not a dominant one. Future work in CFD should include
a study of isosurface and isocutplots to analyse the generation of local vortices near the
leading edge that were identified as the reason behind the increased efficiency post stall
during literature review.

The data considered for wind speed analysis although reliable is not recent due to lack
of a reliable source. The turbine design and Weibull distribution study may be performed
on more recent and reliable data to be able to design a turbine for the present need. A 2
analysis of the Weibull distribution used in the project can be performed as a future work
to reduce the error in the input wind speed.

Furthermore,An optimization study may be performed on the parameters of the tubercles

to find the effective wavelength and amplitude of the perturbations for the specific wing
profile.

35

Chapter 7
CONCLUSION

The objective of the project viz To improve aerodynamic performance of a wind turbine
blade by leading edge modification, has been met successfully by utilizing an imitation of
hump-back whale flipper tubercles on the leading edge of the blade. CFD analyses were
performed on the smooth blade model and subsequent analyses on the perturbed blade have
been found to aid in aerodynamic performance of the blade.

The final result produced presents a 4.41% increase in Cl and a 5.12% increase in L/D
aerodynamic performance.

36

Appendix A
FLOW SIMULATION

A.1

FAVRE-AVERAGED NAVIER STOKES EQUATION

The conservation laws for mass, angular momentum and energy in the Cartesian coordinate system rotating with angular velocity about an axis passing through the coordinate
systems origin can be written in the conservation form as follows:

+
(ui ) = 0
t xi

(A.1)


ui
+
(ui uj ) +
=
ij + ij R + Si i = 1, 2, 3
t
xj
xi xj

(A.2)



 
H ui H
ui
=
+ + Si ui + QH (A.3)
+
uj ij + ij R + qi +
ij R
t
xi
xi
t
xj
2

H = h + u2

where u is the fluid velocity, is the fluid density, is a mass-distributed external force
per unit mass due to a porous media resistance (Siporous ), a buoyancy (Sigravity = gi ,
where gi is the gravitational acceleration component along the i-th coordinate direction),
and the coordinate systems rotation (Sirotation ), i.e., Si = Siporous + Sigravity + Sirotation , h
is the thermal enthalpy, is a heat source or sink per unit volume, is the viscous shear stress
tensor, is the diffusive heat flux. The subscripts are used to denote summation over the three
coordinate directions.
For Newtonian fluids the viscous shear stress tensor is defined as:

ij =

 u

xj

uj 2 uk 
ij
xi 3 xk

37

(A.4)

Following Boussinesq assumption, the Reynolds-stress tensor has the following form:

ijR = t

 u

xj

uj 2 uk  2
ij
kij
xi 3 xk
3

(A.5)

Here ij is the Kronecker delta function (it is equal to unity when i= j, and zero otherwise),
is the dynamic viscosity coefficient, t is the turbulent eddy viscosity coefficient and k is
the turbulent kinetic energy. Note that t and k are zero for laminar flows.

A.2

K-EPSILON TURBULENCE MODEL

In the frame of the k- turbulence model, t is defined using two basic turbulence properties,
namely, the turbulent kinetic energy k and the turbulent dissipation ,

t = f

C k 2

(A.6)

Here f is a turbulent viscosity factor. It is defined by the expression

f = [1 exp (0.025Ry )]2 1 +



where RT =

k2
 , Ry

ky

20, 5 
RT

(A.7)

and y is the distance from the wall. This function allows us to

take into account laminar-turbulent transition.

Two additional transport equations are used to describe the turbulent kinetic energy and
dissipation,
k

t  k 
+
+ Sk
+ (ui k) =
t
xi
xi
k xi

(A.8)


t  
+ (ui ) =
+
+ S
t
xi
xi
xi

(A.9)

38

where the source terms Sk and S are defined as

ui
+ t PB
xj

(A.10)


2
 R ui
f1 ij
+ t CB PB C2 f2
k
xj
k

(A.11)

Sk = ijR

S = C1

Here PB represents the turbulent generation due to buoyancy forces and can be written as

PB =

gi 1
B xi

(A.12)

where gi is the component of gravitational acceleration in direction xi , the constant B =

0.9, and constant CB is defined as: CB = 1 when PB >0 , and 0 otherwise;



0.05
, f2 = 1 exp RT2
f1 = 1 +
f

(A.13)

The constants C , C1 , C2 , k , are defined empirically. In COSMOSFloWorks the following typical values are used:

C = 0.09, C1 = 1.44, C2 = 1.92, k = 1, = 1.3

(A.14)

These equations describe both laminar and turbulent flows. Moreover, transitions from one
case to another and back are possible. The parameters k and t are zero for purely laminar
flows.

39

Appendix B
POWER REQUIREMENT

S.No

MM/YY

Units Consumed(kWh)

02/11

260

04/11

245

06/11

235

08/11

280

10/11

300

12/11

180

Table B.1: Power consumption at a sample sub-urban household - Year - 2011

S.No

MM/YY

Units Consumed(kWh)

02/12

200

04/12

270

06/12

290

08/12

250

10/12

270

12/12

220

Table B.2: Power consumption at a sub-urban household - Year - 2012

40

S.No

MM/YY

Units Consumed(kWh)

02/13

260

04/13

250

06/13

280

08/13

210

10/13

220

12/13

290

Table B.3: Power consumption at a sub-urban household - Year - 2013

41

Appendix C
SCILAB CODE

clc ;
x= i n p u t ( ' E n t e r t h e d a t a s e q u e n c e : ' ) ;
n= l e n g t h ( x ) ;
x1 = 0 ;
y1 = 0 ;
w =0;
z =0;
a =0;
b =0;
c =0;
d =0;
f o r i =1: n
w= l o g ( x ( i ) ) ;
z= l o g ( l o g (1 ( i / ( n + 1) ) ) ) ;
x1=x1+z ;
y1=y1+w ;
a=a+z * w ;
c=c+w * w ;
end ;
a=n * a ;
b=x1 * y1 ;
c=n * c ;
d=y1 * y1 ;
x1=x1 / n ;
y1=y1 / n ;
q = ( ( ab ) / ( cd ) ) ;
p= exp ( y1 (x1 / q ) ) ;
v=p * gamma ( 1 + 1 / q ) ;
vmp=p * (1 1/ q ) ( 1 / q ) ;

42

Bibliography

[1] G. o. I. National Statics Organization, Energy statics. Ministry of Statics and Programme Implementation, 2013.
[2] D. W. Combs, Design, analysis and testing of wind turbine blade sub-structure,
Masters thesis, Montana State University, 1995.
[3] H.

Gitano-briggs,

Low

speed

wind

turbine

design,

in

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53141, InTech, 2012.

[4] M. A. Al-Fawzan, Methods for estimating the parameters of the weibull distribution,
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