A design for high-torque, low-speed vertical axis wind turbine

Abstract

Since last few years, there has been an enormous thrust on the development of alternative energy sources to cope up with the diminishing reserves of conventional energy resources. Because of its continuous availability, wind happened to be element for conversion into an alternative energy resource. The design of high-power wind turbine has geared up to the requirement, but unfortunately there are not much literature that contain any functional design for low-speed, high-torque micro-wind power generation system. In this paper, a methodology has been presented for the design of vertical axis wind energy conversion systems suitable for low-power domestic purposes. This design facilitates the manufacturer to easily select the turbine blade tilt angle and the ratio of overall L/D. This design is based on the Gorlov helical structure concept applied to Savonius turbine. A workbench for the simulation has been developed, and the design is simulated. The vertical axis turbine that is designed avoids the use of gearbox, and it is more suitable for direct mounted generation system.