PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND WAKE STUDY OF A MICRO WIND TURBINE

Abstract

In preparation for a study on icing of wind turbine blades, we tested a horizontal axis micro wind turbine in a low speed wind tunnel. The ratio of wind turbine rotor area to wind tunnel cross-sectional area resulted in highly blocked experimental configuration. The turbine was instrumented to measure rotational speed of the rotor, axial thrust and power output. Performance characteristics were calculated and compared with the manufacturer’s published data. In addition, the near wake of the turbine was measured with a Kiel probe. One dimensional axial momentum theory, including a modification that includes channel walls, was applied to determine power extracted from the wind by the rotor. The results were compared to actual power output and show that though the assumptions of the model over-predict power by 50 % the basic trend is followed.