Performance Prediction and Demonstration of a Miniature Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine
Publication: Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 3
Abstract
A miniature wind turbine (MWT) has received great attention recently for powering low-power devices. In this paper, a physics-based comprehensive model for predicting the performance of a miniature horizontal axis wind turbine (MHAWT) was established. The turbine rotor performance was investigated and an approximation of the power coefficient of the turbine rotor was made. Incorporation of the approximation with the equivalent circuit model, which was proposed in accordance with the principles of the MHAWT, in addition to its overall system performance versus the resistive load and ambient wind speed, was predicted. To demonstrate predictive modeling capability, the MHAWT system comprised of commercially available off-the-shelf components was designed and its performance was experimentally tested. The results matched well with those by prediction modeling, which implies that the proposed model holds promise in estimating and optimizing the performance of the MWT.
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Acknowledgments
This work was financially supported by the National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51178415), Shanghai Natural Science Foundation for the Youth (Grant No. 12ZR1440500), Doctoral Scientific Fund Project of the Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. 20120075120016), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central University, and the Key Laboratory of Cryogenics, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 139 • Issue 3 • September 2013
Pages: 143 - 152
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 20, 2012
Accepted: Feb 21, 2013
Published online: Feb 23, 2013
Discussion open until: Jul 23, 2013
Published in print: Sep 1, 2013
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