Studies of Mini-Turbines

Urban environments are inaccessible to large wind turbines of the classical ``windmill'' design. By exploring small-scale vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs), wind energy can possibly be harvested from the constrained spaces within cities. We present a comprehensive study of blade offset pitch angle and relative blade size (ratio of blade chordlength/turbine diameter, c/D). We find that the optimal pitch angle for a symmetric blade is the angle at which the midpoint chordline is tangent to the turbine circumference. Also, a turbine with conventional blades of small c/D ratio (c/D $=$ 0.12) -- typical of large scale turbines -- do not operate well at low Reynolds numbers. On the other hand, the maximum coefficient of power for turbines with larger c/D ratio (c/D $=$ 0.36) is much higher than for the conventional small-blades. As blade size increases, the operating range of TSR (Tip Speed Ratio) also increases, making large-chord turbines more robust to the prevailing wind conditions. Surprisingly, the regime of TSR for maximum power extracted, at these low Reynolds numbers, corresponds with small or even negative power predictions, based on streamtube theory.