Experimental and theoretical study on a wind energy unit

Abstract

The conversion process in the wind turbine, from mechanical (kinetic) energy to electrical energy, is affected by many factors that increase or decrease the useful output of the wind energy convertor. In this paper, three factors were studied experimentally on a Horizontal Axis Wind Energy Unit "EEEC" in laboratory-scale. The aim of this experiment was to study the influence of the number of blades, the angle of attack and the incident angle on the wind energy unit parameters to optimize its efficiency. For this purpose, the effect of the number of blades was studied firstly, in order to select the number of blades where the maximum inputs obtained at lab ambient temperature 25 °C and atmospheric pressure. Then, different readings of the incident angle and angle of attacks were taken. The data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel software. The results show that the maximum parameters of wind unite energy that produce the maximum efficiency, namely: voltage (volt), current (ampere) and rotational speed (rpm) are obtained when the number of blades is 4, the incident angle is 0° (when the rotor direction is with wind direction) and the angle of attack is 75°. Finally, these results were implemented in a simulation program (HOMER software) that uses this turbine in a resident along with storage to cover the needs of a selected house.